Kip Moore, Tony Hawk Talk Intersection of Country Music, Skateboarding
Kip Moore staged his first ever Music City Skate Jam on Sunday in Nashville. Part concert, part skateboarding demonstration, the event united the country artist, who just released his new album Slowheart, with skate icon Tony Hawk.
The Skate Jam raised money for victims of Hurricane Harvey, as well as for Moore’s Kip’s Kids Fund charity, which helps build skateparks for children and teens in inner cities, and Hawk’s Tony Hawk Foundation.
“If I could connect with Tony and bring him here, we could maybe do something special together and raise a lot of money to build more parks for these kids. And also now with the whole Houston thing, we’re going to be able to help build houses in Houston for these victims,” says Moore. “The initial thing was just really trying to make something big and grand and get as much money as we could for these parks.”
For his part, Hawk says he was taken aback by Moore’s adrenaline junkie character.
“I was a little surprised that this country music star was a skater at heart and even surfed as well,” he tells Rolling Stone Country. “I’d never really associated those worlds very much, but at the same time I’ve seen everything have so much synergy these days, especially in Nashville – this is really the music capital of the world, even though it’s so country music-centric. So for us to be part of that was huge for us.”
“We got on the phone and started discussing, ‘Well what could we do? What would make the biggest impact?'” Moore says. “So I suggested bring your vert ramp down here and I’ll put on a concert and we’ll see what happens.”
Rising star Jordan Davis also performed, setting the stage for Moore to perform past hits and new songs off Slowheart.