Entertainment, Music - Army Times

Singer Justin Moore to be first-time dad

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Justin Moore is riding high on his first No. 1 song, “Small Town USA.” Early next year, he’s planning to celebrate another first: a baby daughter.

“Just found out I’m adding to my personal family,” he said. “My wife and I are having a little girl in February, so we’re really excited about that. I have a feeling that family is just going to get more and more important to me.”

Moore, and his wife, Kate, who appears as his love interest in the “Small Town USA” video, plan to name the baby Ella Cole.

At first, though, Moore was hoping for a little boy.

During the sonogram, “I kept saying, ‘Are you positive it’s a girl? Is it still a girl?’ ” he said.

But the results were clear. Moore said the technician told him, “Yeah, Justin, shut up, it’s a girl.”

Now that he’s accepted the fact, Moore is preparing for what’s to come.

“I’m not excited about killing a 14-year-old boy in a few years for looking at her, but it’ll be fun,” he said.

Moore grew up in Poyen, Ark., population 300, on 100 acres of land. He gives full credit to his parents and to the town that raised him for his success.

“I can’t say enough about the support that I’ve been given from all the folks back home, family and friends,” he said. “I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if it wasn’t for them, and if it wasn’t for my mom and dad paying my bills for five years, I wouldn’t be here, either.”

Moore has just released his third single, “Backwoods,” off his self-titled debut album. He will join Brad Paisley and Miranda Lambert on the road starting in January for the second leg of Paisley’s American Saturday Night tour.