The C2C Berlin Sit Down with McCoy Moore
With an uncanny power to meld the God’s-honest-truth into casual, clever hooks – plus a disarming charm that can’t be faked, singer-songwriter McCoy Moore makes the kind of country that never tries too hard but always hits just right. The 24-year-old from Lakeland, Florida has an instant-classic vocal and a no-pretence style, mixing modern sonic energy with timeless heart which is shown through his seven-track self-titled EP and his live performances demonstrated throughout opening runs with Kip Moore and Chase Rice. This has brought his gaze to Europe where he performed at C2C: Country to Country in both Rotterdam and Berlin (where Jamie hung out with McCoy on Sunday afternoon) before heading to the sister festival in London this weekend.
How’s your first time in Germany been treating you so far?
“Amazing. I've tried the food and I've seen the places, I feel like I've done a lot in the last two days and our hotel is like right across from the Berlin Wall. I've read about that in history books when I was in school and stuff but never thought I'd get to see it and now I'm getting to see all this stuff, it's cool.”
How crazy is it, not just coming across the pond, but starting out, you went to Rotterdam first and now here in Berlin which are two countries where people don't speak our language.
“Yeah, I feel like in the Netherlands, there were definitely more people that spoke English, but in Germany, it's kind of fun because there are people that speak English, but also they do have a totally different language so they can teach me a few things. I don't know how to say it anymore, that quick I don't know how to say it but they taught me how to say squirrel and taught me how to say thank you, it's a bunch of oo’s, you know?”
This is my fifth trip to Germany and I find you only really pick up words that you never really need because they sound funny, well apart from counting to five and bier bitte which means beers please so is pretty essential. Beyond that, I've learned the word for aardvark which is “Erdferkel” and sounds like a great insult.
“Ha-ha you big erkferkel!”
Then the other highly useless one that you always use in every day conversation is the word for bagpipes and that is dudelsack.
“That is German for bagpipes?”
Genuinely!
“Dudelsack? Ha-ha, you shouldn’t have told me that, I’m saying that on stage tonight.”
I learnt that here two years ago because there’s a Canadian girl who lives in Nashville now called Alli Walker and she plays the electric bagpipes on stage, then when someone told her the word for it she couldn’t stop laughing. I think it’s the best word ever because you can be so naughty with it and that one sticks but before we completely obliterate more of the German language, what did you think of Rotterdam compared to here?
“Dude, we spent a day in Amsterdam the day before, we flew into Amsterdam and I had never been, obviously, I've never been overseas, so we had a blast in Amsterdam. I wanted to do a little bit of everything, try the foods, there's bars that are open all day, every day and we explored that a little bit, then we took a train. The first train ride I've ever been on was from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, then we get to Rotterdam, awesome town and the same thing that kind of blew my mind though, is everybody is on a bike. The people there are so nice and I think it's cool seeing the world that we get to come over here, but they appreciate us coming over here just as much as we are excited to be here and that is the coolest thing in the world, so we had a great time.”
How’s your first time in Germany been treating you so far?
“Amazing. I've tried the food and I've seen the places, I feel like I've done a lot in the last two days and our hotel is like right across from the Berlin Wall. I've read about that in history books when I was in school and stuff but never thought I'd get to see it and now I'm getting to see all this stuff, it's cool.”
How crazy is it, not just coming across the pond, but starting out, you went to Rotterdam first and now here in Berlin which are two countries where people don't speak our language.
“Yeah, I feel like in the Netherlands, there were definitely more people that spoke English, but in Germany, it's kind of fun because there are people that speak English, but also they do have a totally different language so they can teach me a few things. I don't know how to say it anymore, that quick I don't know how to say it but they taught me how to say squirrel and taught me how to say thank you, it's a bunch of oo’s, you know?”
This is my fifth trip to Germany and I find you only really pick up words that you never really need because they sound funny, well apart from counting to five and bier bitte which means beers please so is pretty essential. Beyond that, I've learned the word for aardvark which is “Erdferkel” and sounds like a great insult.
“Ha-ha you big erkferkel!”
Then the other highly useless one that you always use in every day conversation is the word for bagpipes and that is dudelsack.
“That is German for bagpipes?”
Genuinely!
“Dudelsack? Ha-ha, you shouldn’t have told me that, I’m saying that on stage tonight.”
I learnt that here two years ago because there’s a Canadian girl who lives in Nashville now called Alli Walker and she plays the electric bagpipes on stage, then when someone told her the word for it she couldn’t stop laughing. I think it’s the best word ever because you can be so naughty with it and that one sticks but before we completely obliterate more of the German language, what did you think of Rotterdam compared to here?
“Dude, we spent a day in Amsterdam the day before, we flew into Amsterdam and I had never been, obviously, I've never been overseas, so we had a blast in Amsterdam. I wanted to do a little bit of everything, try the foods, there's bars that are open all day, every day and we explored that a little bit, then we took a train. The first train ride I've ever been on was from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, then we get to Rotterdam, awesome town and the same thing that kind of blew my mind though, is everybody is on a bike. The people there are so nice and I think it's cool seeing the world that we get to come over here, but they appreciate us coming over here just as much as we are excited to be here and that is the coolest thing in the world, so we had a great time.”
As much as you'd probably heard about audiences here before you came, how weird is it and you've probably seen it today, that when you finish a song, they don't react straight away because they listen so intently and there is a second or two before they start clapping which is so different to back home in the States.
“When I first moved to Nashville, I was just writing songs so I would play the Bluebird Café, The Listening Room and like small bars where we were just doing writers rounds, so it was kind of a similar vibe. A lot of people back home, they didn't care about the song you're playing, they were just chit-chatting with their friends while you're playing, but here, it reminds me of the Bluebird and The Listening Room a lot because people in there genuinely sit and they come to listen to lyrics. They want to know what you're saying and they dive into the song, like how we do it when we're writing them and I think it's the coolest thing in the world they’re respectful in so many ways. Then it's awesome when they cheer at the end though, because you think the whole time as the song's going by that they hate this song and then at the end of it, they're like screaming and I'm like this is great, it's perfect.”
You mentioned about moving to town as a writer, so we’ll go down that road first and talk about working at SMACK. I know Johnny Clawson was involved with quite a few of the songs on the EP and you have Shane there too so how beneficial has it been to have guys like that around so frequently to work with?
“Yeah, honestly, when I started writing songs, I moved to Nashville and when you move to Nashville, you just find your crew and I found my crew then we were writing songs and we still write a lot of songs, but those opportunities when you get to write with guys, you know, Shane McAnally wrote some of my favourite songs that I listened to when I was growing up, before I'd ever picked up a guitar, done this, or done that. Casey Beathard is another guy that I go back to, he wrote ‘No Shoes, no Shirt, No Problem’ by himself and that was like the soundtrack to my growing up, so to have the opportunity to write with people that I look up to, but also they are invested into this thing that I've built. I started building it at my mom's house in Lakeland, Florida but the fact that they're interested in investing in that, means a ton to me. It's really special, like to look at the names on my record that are the guys who I write songs with, there's a lot of guys that I met when I first moved to town, there's guys that kind of taught me songwriting and then there's guys that I didn't even get the opportunity to write with until I got to a certain point and the fact that all of them are on there and showing my journey, that is the coolest thing to me. It means the world and songwriting is always gonna have a special place in my heart.”
You put seven tracks out as a collection that you batched together at the back end of last year, but you've had another new song out since then. Was ‘Prayin’ for Me’ something that just came after all of those or just wasn't a fit with the others?
“It wasn't necessarily that it wasn't a fit, it was more so that I bundled those seven songs together and I was like, it makes the most sense to put these out and I wanted to have one off the record to put out at the top of the year. So, ‘Prayin for Me’ just felt like that song. I talked to everybody and it felt like that was the song that we needed to put out in January, so we did that and I felt like it was a good introduction for people starting the Hardy tour and doing all that. I had the idea and in my head, it was going to be this like ballad thing, but now it's moving the whole time. So, it just turned into something that I didn't think it would be before I wrote it and it felt right to put it out.”
“When I first moved to Nashville, I was just writing songs so I would play the Bluebird Café, The Listening Room and like small bars where we were just doing writers rounds, so it was kind of a similar vibe. A lot of people back home, they didn't care about the song you're playing, they were just chit-chatting with their friends while you're playing, but here, it reminds me of the Bluebird and The Listening Room a lot because people in there genuinely sit and they come to listen to lyrics. They want to know what you're saying and they dive into the song, like how we do it when we're writing them and I think it's the coolest thing in the world they’re respectful in so many ways. Then it's awesome when they cheer at the end though, because you think the whole time as the song's going by that they hate this song and then at the end of it, they're like screaming and I'm like this is great, it's perfect.”
You mentioned about moving to town as a writer, so we’ll go down that road first and talk about working at SMACK. I know Johnny Clawson was involved with quite a few of the songs on the EP and you have Shane there too so how beneficial has it been to have guys like that around so frequently to work with?
“Yeah, honestly, when I started writing songs, I moved to Nashville and when you move to Nashville, you just find your crew and I found my crew then we were writing songs and we still write a lot of songs, but those opportunities when you get to write with guys, you know, Shane McAnally wrote some of my favourite songs that I listened to when I was growing up, before I'd ever picked up a guitar, done this, or done that. Casey Beathard is another guy that I go back to, he wrote ‘No Shoes, no Shirt, No Problem’ by himself and that was like the soundtrack to my growing up, so to have the opportunity to write with people that I look up to, but also they are invested into this thing that I've built. I started building it at my mom's house in Lakeland, Florida but the fact that they're interested in investing in that, means a ton to me. It's really special, like to look at the names on my record that are the guys who I write songs with, there's a lot of guys that I met when I first moved to town, there's guys that kind of taught me songwriting and then there's guys that I didn't even get the opportunity to write with until I got to a certain point and the fact that all of them are on there and showing my journey, that is the coolest thing to me. It means the world and songwriting is always gonna have a special place in my heart.”
You put seven tracks out as a collection that you batched together at the back end of last year, but you've had another new song out since then. Was ‘Prayin’ for Me’ something that just came after all of those or just wasn't a fit with the others?
“It wasn't necessarily that it wasn't a fit, it was more so that I bundled those seven songs together and I was like, it makes the most sense to put these out and I wanted to have one off the record to put out at the top of the year. So, ‘Prayin for Me’ just felt like that song. I talked to everybody and it felt like that was the song that we needed to put out in January, so we did that and I felt like it was a good introduction for people starting the Hardy tour and doing all that. I had the idea and in my head, it was going to be this like ballad thing, but now it's moving the whole time. So, it just turned into something that I didn't think it would be before I wrote it and it felt right to put it out.”
Is it almost kind of like a bridge, where you've pulled songs together as a self-titled EP and then I guess there'll be a point when there'll be something else that comes along so you wanted something out between them?
“That's where I'm at with it. I chose my favourite songs and some of the songs that are on the EP will probably be on the album. It's one of those things where I just choose the ones that people are reacting to, but also the ones that I'm like, you know what? I don't mind this being in the set every night, I kind of want to sing it every day.”
Then importantly, you're coming to see us next weekend and I’ll let you know it’s a very different festival to here as London is more like an indoor CMA Fest type vibe and you’ll do about five times as many steps a day. I would say a rowdier crowd and different types of venues where they're predominantly standing spaces rather than bars and restaurants like here. I know you nearly came last year but what's kind been the real appeal that it's been somewhere you really wanted to hit?
“Man, when we found out last year that we were going to get to go with Hardy, I was super excited. Those shows ended up getting cancelled but I knew that I wanted to come back over here and it was just as crazy to me then as it is now that I get to. I'm just excited to play a show there and see the difference, because I've seen the crowds in Germany, I've seen the crowds in the Netherlands, then obviously the US and Canada, we've done that and man, it's just so cool, I can't even describe how it feels to go to the UK. I've always heard about it and I met a lot of people from there, so it’s just exciting and I hope people show up.”
Well, I think they will, there's probably four or five times many people going to London but you've got a couple of shows before that around Germany. They will be fun, James Barker and his boys played here on Friday and they just bring it, they're fantastic, then you may not have met Tyla (Rodrigues) yet. She’s an Australian girl that’s amazing, she’s great fun, super chatty and her voice is really, really special so you’ll get on great, but it must be quite nice to get some of those sort of club shows in, as well as doing the festivals on the trip.
“One hundred percent, I was on the road with Kip Moore a lot last year and we played clubs, we played theatres and we did all that. Obviously C2C is awesome but it'll kind of be like me just going and playing in Columbus, Ohio or somewhere, where it's kind of my wheelhouse where I know where I'm at, what I'm doing and all that, but it'll be in a place that I've never been. I hear Munich and Frankfurt are both awesome, so I’m excited.”
As if being in a portacabin in Germany, talking to a Brit wearing a Sabrina Carpenter t-shirt already wasn’t on your bingo card for 2026, I want to make this even more random to finish up. I know you’re a big Florida Gators fan so it’s really nice for me as an Auburn fan to talk to someone who’s team had an even worse year in the SEC than we did.
“Are you saying the Florida Gators are worse than Auburn?”
Well, they won more games last year than the Gators did! To answer the question that you are about to ask of how I became an Auburn fan is that I picked them because I was on a train over here where a group of Bama were on vacation and I decided that they were the WORST people in the world, which I’m sure we can agree on (McCoy’s manager, Trey chipped in at this point with “I love this guy!”) so I picked the school that they hate the most.
“So, you’re an Auburn fan, have you ever been to Auburn? Have you ever seen a tiger there? Have you ever been to Florida? There’s Gators everywhere.”
Very valid point and yes to be fair you have got more tigers in Florida because we all saw the Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin thing during COVID.
“That's where I'm at with it. I chose my favourite songs and some of the songs that are on the EP will probably be on the album. It's one of those things where I just choose the ones that people are reacting to, but also the ones that I'm like, you know what? I don't mind this being in the set every night, I kind of want to sing it every day.”
Then importantly, you're coming to see us next weekend and I’ll let you know it’s a very different festival to here as London is more like an indoor CMA Fest type vibe and you’ll do about five times as many steps a day. I would say a rowdier crowd and different types of venues where they're predominantly standing spaces rather than bars and restaurants like here. I know you nearly came last year but what's kind been the real appeal that it's been somewhere you really wanted to hit?
“Man, when we found out last year that we were going to get to go with Hardy, I was super excited. Those shows ended up getting cancelled but I knew that I wanted to come back over here and it was just as crazy to me then as it is now that I get to. I'm just excited to play a show there and see the difference, because I've seen the crowds in Germany, I've seen the crowds in the Netherlands, then obviously the US and Canada, we've done that and man, it's just so cool, I can't even describe how it feels to go to the UK. I've always heard about it and I met a lot of people from there, so it’s just exciting and I hope people show up.”
Well, I think they will, there's probably four or five times many people going to London but you've got a couple of shows before that around Germany. They will be fun, James Barker and his boys played here on Friday and they just bring it, they're fantastic, then you may not have met Tyla (Rodrigues) yet. She’s an Australian girl that’s amazing, she’s great fun, super chatty and her voice is really, really special so you’ll get on great, but it must be quite nice to get some of those sort of club shows in, as well as doing the festivals on the trip.
“One hundred percent, I was on the road with Kip Moore a lot last year and we played clubs, we played theatres and we did all that. Obviously C2C is awesome but it'll kind of be like me just going and playing in Columbus, Ohio or somewhere, where it's kind of my wheelhouse where I know where I'm at, what I'm doing and all that, but it'll be in a place that I've never been. I hear Munich and Frankfurt are both awesome, so I’m excited.”
As if being in a portacabin in Germany, talking to a Brit wearing a Sabrina Carpenter t-shirt already wasn’t on your bingo card for 2026, I want to make this even more random to finish up. I know you’re a big Florida Gators fan so it’s really nice for me as an Auburn fan to talk to someone who’s team had an even worse year in the SEC than we did.
“Are you saying the Florida Gators are worse than Auburn?”
Well, they won more games last year than the Gators did! To answer the question that you are about to ask of how I became an Auburn fan is that I picked them because I was on a train over here where a group of Bama were on vacation and I decided that they were the WORST people in the world, which I’m sure we can agree on (McCoy’s manager, Trey chipped in at this point with “I love this guy!”) so I picked the school that they hate the most.
“So, you’re an Auburn fan, have you ever been to Auburn? Have you ever seen a tiger there? Have you ever been to Florida? There’s Gators everywhere.”
Very valid point and yes to be fair you have got more tigers in Florida because we all saw the Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin thing during COVID.
“They were in Tampa. Dude, I mean they could be playing Kent State and I would still cheer them on, they could lose to Kent State and I'd still cheer them on. Let me just tell you, with Jon Sumrall, Billy Napier, he's a dudelsack, okay but Jon Sumrall is going to turn it all around. DJ Lagway, he went to Baylor or whatever, good for him, go be a bear, dude, they ain't got a bear in Waco, Texas either! Everybody has these mascots and they're not true to where they're from, the Florida Gators are the best, they're going to be the best. They’re about to win the national championship back to back in basketball, shout out Todd Golden but what you need to do, you need to let me know when you're coming to the States in the fall, go to a Florida game and you'll be converted. You'll understand the whole thing, you get to watch Tim Tebow highlights, Chris Rainey, all those guys and you'll love them.”
Hey, I’ve got a good feeling about the kid we grabbed from South Florida to be the new QB.
“We're playing y'all this year and we're going to see what happens but I'm going to call you when we win.”
Well, I do not need to expect that call ha-ha, but dude this has been great fun and we’ll see you again in London.
McCoy Moore will play at C2C: Country to Country in London with performances on Friday March 13th at the BBC Radio 2 Stage at 14:20, then on Saturday March 14th at The Bluebird Café with Ashland & Emily Ann Roberts at 10:30 (separate ticket required) before playing at 15:10 on The Dutton Ranch Stage in The Paramount+ Town Square. Full festival details and last minute ticket information for London are available on their WEBSITE or socials (INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK) whilst you can find more information on the Berlin event on their WEBSITE or can relive all of this year’s activity on their INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK.
The new single “Prayin’ for Me” from McCoy Moore is out now and available HERE. To keep up to date with all that McCoy is up to, you can check out his WEBSITE and socials to follow along on INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK & TIKTOK.
Hey, I’ve got a good feeling about the kid we grabbed from South Florida to be the new QB.
“We're playing y'all this year and we're going to see what happens but I'm going to call you when we win.”
Well, I do not need to expect that call ha-ha, but dude this has been great fun and we’ll see you again in London.
McCoy Moore will play at C2C: Country to Country in London with performances on Friday March 13th at the BBC Radio 2 Stage at 14:20, then on Saturday March 14th at The Bluebird Café with Ashland & Emily Ann Roberts at 10:30 (separate ticket required) before playing at 15:10 on The Dutton Ranch Stage in The Paramount+ Town Square. Full festival details and last minute ticket information for London are available on their WEBSITE or socials (INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK) whilst you can find more information on the Berlin event on their WEBSITE or can relive all of this year’s activity on their INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK.
The new single “Prayin’ for Me” from McCoy Moore is out now and available HERE. To keep up to date with all that McCoy is up to, you can check out his WEBSITE and socials to follow along on INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK & TIKTOK.
