CMA Fest 2024: Chat With Noah Hicks

1) You’ve recently signed with Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment, part of the Big Machine family. Take us into that signing…why do you feel like this is the right label home for you and your music?

I met Jimmy (Harnen) in 2021, and I’ve watched Big Machine create the artists that I grew up listening to and loving. They don’t just sign the next big thing, but they build the artist and make sure that they stay true to themselves. That’s something that I think is very important; To not lose sight of who you are and why you moved to town.

2) You’ve just released your brand-new single, “Dirt Roads Dirt,” ft. Justin Moore. Talk a little bit about the song and what people can expect from it when they hit play.

That song is for anyone who knows anything about a dirt road. I grew up in a small town in Georgia, and every time I hit my county line, the first thing I do is find a dirt road. We tip our hat to anything that comes from a small-town on the song. Justin is a small-town man, “Mr. Small Town USA.”

3) We’ve seen some fun teaser videos on your socials with you and Justin chatting about collaborating. How did that all come about that he ended up on the song?

My producer is Justin Moore’s producer, Jeremy Stover. He writes a lot of songs with Justin and has been producing him from the very start. When the idea for a feature came up for this song...I’ve always wanted to ask, but you have to find the right timing. Jeremy asked Justin if he would, and he did.

4) “Dirt Roads Dirt” is your first single since “Red Clay Summer.” Why is this new song the perfect follow-up, but also, the right way to introduce this new chapter?

If there’s one thing I want to display in my artistry, it’s that all those cliché things that people make fun of live in my bones. Everything from the water towers to the barbed wire fences; that’s just the stuff I grew up on and who I am. There’s a lot of people out there who are just like me, so I just want to portray to everyone that I’m a country boy through and through.

5) Before this new tune, you certainly weren’t a stranger to many country music fans with millions of streams on several of your releases including “Dirt On It,” “I Can Tell You’re a Small Town,” etc.  What about your music and style do you feel has made it resonate so strongly with the listeners?

It’s honest. Growing up, I tried to reenact the songs I heard on my radio. I ended up getting on my iPod and actually tried, in real life, to do the things that we heard; drinking Boone’s Farm in the back of a truck in a field with a fire. That was Friday, Saturday nights for us...Tuesday nights if we were lucky.

I want fans to listen to my music and feel me keeping that tradition and livelihood alive. That’s my goal…keeping people country.

6) We have so many aspiring songwriters and artists that read our website, so we always like to end by asking this…what is the best piece of advice you can offer?

Keep your head down and if you believe in it, you believe in it. Don’t ever let anyone change your opinions because you’re the head chef in that kitchen. Your other chefs might know certain things, and you do have to trust your other chefs, but if you know in your gut that it ain’t right, then it ain’t right. Stick to your guns!

(Interview by: Jeffrey Kurtis/Photo By: Joel Alexander)