Kip Moore Regrets Not Keeping ‘Cigarette,’ But Loves Frankie Ballard’s Take
"I’d be lying if I didn’t say there’s a little bit of regret on my part for not cutting the song on the Wild Ones record," said Moore.
When it comes to songwriting, Kip Moore proves that inspiration can hit at any moment. During a writing session with Chris Stapleton and The Cadillac Three’s Jaren Johnston, the Georgia native was hit with a moment of clarity after stepping out for a smoke break.
“That’s one of my habits when I write music,” Moore explained (quote via CMT). “I stepped outside and saw a fairly attractive girl put out a cigarette right beside me. I saw the lipstick around the butt, and I just started singing that chorus in my head.”
That moment resulted in the song “Cigarette,” recently released by Frankie Ballard as a new single.
“I sang some of the chorus immediately, and they both loved it,” he recalls. “I was kind of playing the guitar riff. Then Jaren spruced it up, and it just took off. Chris jumped on the melody, and it just became a really cool collaboration that day. We all had a blast writing that song.”
The track landed on Ballard’s new album El Rio, and while Moore couldn’t be happier with the crooner’s take on the song, there is also some regret.
“I’m a fan of what Frankie does. I’d be lying if I didn’t say there’s a little bit of regret on my part for not cutting the song on the Wild Ones record. I had a lot of songs to choose from on my plate. I think I had written so many new songs that those kind of took precedence over that song. But I’ve always loved it,” he admitted. “I’m glad to see an artist like Frankie do it justice.”
Meanwhile, Moore is busy out on the road as part of Miranda Lambert’s Keeper of the Flame Tour before kicking off his headlining Me and My Kind Tour later this year.
