Backwoods

Album: Justin Moore (2009)
Charted: 69
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Moore wrote this song with Jamie Paulin and producer Jeremy Stover. He recalled to Great American Country: "We were in Jeremy's house and we were discussing my keyboard player, who grew up in Eastern Kentucky. My guitar player also grew up in Eastern Kentucky. We've become really good buddies. I went up to where he's from, Pike County, Kentucky. I thought I grew up in the backwoods! I found out that they grew up in a holler called Greasy Creek. I came back and said, 'Y'all would not even believe how backwoods this is.' One of us just started playing the melody, the guitar stuff on it, and Jeremy just started rambling, 'Rifle on my gun rack, hanging in my back glass.' That was one of those songs that we wrote in 30 or 40 minutes. We wrote it and were like, 'It could be cool,' and when we demoed it, we loved it. It's a fun song to play live."
  • This was released as the third single from Moore's self-titled debut album.
  • Moore told AOL's The Boot about the song's lyrical content: "I grew up in a little bitty town in Arkansas, back in the sticks. I've got a guitar player from Pike County, Kentucky - it's actually called Greasy Creek where he's from! I went up there, and he and I played a couple of gigs together up there. I came back home and called my producer. I said, 'Dude, I grew up out in the woods, but you wouldn't believe how backwoods this place is!' It was a song we wrote in about 20 minutes. One of us just started rambling, and the other one started playing the groove of it. Some songs you write and know it's a really good song, then some of them you get into the studio and it comes to life then. This was one of those songs. I liked it when I wrote it, but when we got done doing it in the studio, we both went, 'Man, this has got to go on the album!'"
  • Moore told The Boot about the song's music promo: "It was our first night shoot. It was a fun shoot. I was glad to have my band in the video. Probably my favorite thing about it is my guitar. They made me a camouflage guitar for the video. It's the simple things in life that make me happy!"
  • A copyright infringement lawsuit was filed by Tennessee songwriter Bobby Carmichael and Louisiana fiddler Britton Curry against Moore and his record company, Big Machine Label Group, in August 2012. The suit claimed that "Backwoods" sounds strikingly similar to a song they wrote in 2003. The pair alleged that when they tried selling their tune in Nashville in 2005, Jamie Paulin "heard and/or secured the song."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Martin Page

Martin PageSongwriter Interviews

With Bernie Taupin, Martin co-wrote the #1 hits "We Built This City" and "These Dreams." After writing the Pretty Woman song for Go West, he had his own hit with "In the House of Stone and Light."

Director Nick Morris ("The Final Countdown")

Director Nick Morris ("The Final Countdown")Song Writing

Nick made some of the biggest videos on MTV, including "The Final Countdown," "Heaven" and "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)."

Barry Dean ("Pontoon," "Diamond Rings And Old Barstools")

Barry Dean ("Pontoon," "Diamond Rings And Old Barstools")Songwriter Interviews

A top country songwriter, Barry talks about writing hits for Little Big Town, Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean.

Charlie Daniels

Charlie DanielsSongwriter Interviews

Charlie discusses the songs that made him a Southern Rock icon, and settles the Devil vs. Johnny argument once and for all.

Strange Magnetics

Strange MagneticsSong Writing

How Bing Crosby, Les Paul, a US Army Signal Corps Officer, and the Nazis helped shape rock and Roll.

Harold Brown of War

Harold Brown of WarSongwriter Interviews

A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history.