Single Review: Kip Moore, “I’m to Blame”

Kip Moore I'm to Blame
“I’m to Blame”
Kip Moore

Written by Westin Davis, Kip Moore, and Justin Weaver

When Kip Moore puts on the outlaw boots, they actually fit just right.   He’s not posing.  He’s not playing a character.  He’s singing his truth, and he can get done singing that truth in two minutes and seventeen seconds.

Which in one sense makes “I’m to Blame” somewhat unnecessary.  The whole “I mess up”, “I go down the wrong road” pathos is so engrained in his performances that he’s only telling us what we already know.

But where else…from who else…are you going to hear a line like “Where there’s a do not touch, my fingerprint done stained it?”, delivered with a growl and not a grin?   I keep waiting for this guy to break through big, for listeners to pick up that he’s the real deal.   He’d do great in the Americana scene, but mainstream country music would be a lot less interesting without him.

Grade: B+

8 Comments

  1. I actually really like Kip Moore. “Beer Money” is one of the best drinking songs of the last several years.

    He has a sort of Eric Church-lite vibe that really works for him.

  2. Kip Moore is one of about a dozen country artists who for whatever reason seem to be stuck on the outside. If they were in another era, they would be superstars of country radio, but for whatever reason, just can’t seem to catch fire on radio like they deserve.

    I think he does much better when he sings these types of songs. Hopefully this will get played enough that listeners will appreciate it. But I highly doubt it will.

  3. Kip is hands down an acquired taste you like him or you’re just meh is the way I see it. A B+ seems right. Kip has a real raspy energetic voice the production is a nice country-rock vibe. My one problem with this song is how short this song is it feels like it could’ve gone on longer but it feels cut short.

    I still hope Kip can somehow make his comeback he deserves it and I’m looking forward if he releases a new album.

  4. I still haven’t figured out how I feel about Kip Moore. I loved “Mary Was The Marrying Kind”, and “Faith When I Fall” is the best mainstream country religious song so far this decade, but I’m in terms of his singles (with the exception of “Dirt Road” which was just awful) I agree with Andrew that he’s consistently good, but never great. “I’m To Blame” continues that trend, at least for now. We’ll have to see how this one wears on me.

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