Welcome back to Takeover Tuesday, where each week Billboard taps chart-topping artists and tastemakers to compile their very own playlist exclusive to Billboard’s Spotify account. We give the artists free rein to base the list on whatever subject they choose. The only rule? Make it as creative and unique to them as possible.
Country music star Kip Moore is currently touring worldwide for his Plead the Fifth tour, hitting Australia, Canada, and many destinations in between. On Saturday (April 7), the Georgia native is headed back south to perform at the Tortuga Musical Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The three-day festival — which takes place April 6-8 this year — blends live country, rock, and roots music with ocean conservation awareness, as a portion of the proceeds go towards research for the cause. Along with Moore, Tortuga’s 2018 lineup features an array of country standouts including Keith Urban, Florida Georgia Line and LANCO, as well as classic chart-toppers Snoop Dogg and Cheap Trick.
Ahead of the beachfront event, Moore has put together a playlist inspired by the festival. He started off with Kings Of Leon’s fitting “Back Down South,” which Moore said represents his connection to his Southern roots. “I take little pieces of it with me wherever I travel whether its for a show on the road, a festival or exploring a new place I’ve never been,” he told Billboard.
Plenty of classic rock also makes Moore’s playlist including “Learning to Fly” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man.” The country singer had a hard time narrowing down his pick of Bruce Springsteen’s songs, but decided on “I’m On Fire, as its lyrics are so powerful, he says the song “fits on almost any playlist of mine, no matter the mood.”
The Slowheart singer even featured a few of his buddies who will perform alongside him at Tortuga, including The Cadillac Three. “The Cadillac Three’s ‘White Lightning’ is one of those ‘blow you away’ type of tracks,” Moore told Billboard. Another act on the Tortuga bill is Brothers Osborne, whom Moore highlighted on his playlist with their latest single “Shoot Me Straight.” As Moore declares, he and his fellow Tortuga Fest performers are setting the mood just right for the weekend: “It sounds like it’s gonna be a party.”
Check out Moore’s entire Tortuga-inspired playlist below.