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2 WHAT'S UP! JUNE 7-13, 2020 PODCASTS Justin Moore Plants Seeds In Garden And New Medium JERRY McLEOD Arkansas Democrat-Gazette L ater this summer, when it's time for fresh purple hull peas in Arkansas, Justin Moore just may be the man to call if you need a bushel or two. The revelation — that the country music singer from Poyen who usually spends weeks and months on the road on concert tours has planted a garden for the first time — was one of the highlights of the first episode of Moore's new project, "The Justin Moore Podcast," released May 19. "I got enough to feed the state of Arkansas," says Moore, who recently turned 36, when asked about how large a crop of the always popular and often hard-to-find peas he planted. Moore says his grandfather, "Papaw," who grew up on and still lives on the land that Moore now owns, used to plant "big, huge gardens" that he'd help take care of as a child. "We've always loved purple hull peas," Moore says, adding that along with peas, his new garden has okra, bell and jalapeno peppers, tomatoes and cabbage. He says he has no idea how it all will turn out, but he's thankful he has his cousin's six sons nearby to help him — although he has nothing but time on his hands right now with his tours sidelined by the covid-19 pandemic. Moore has done projects around the house like most other folks in "quarantine," bought his wife for Mother's Day a chicken coop that she'd been wanting but that he has yet to put together or buy chickens for, and has been keeping up with fans via social media and helping his girls practice their softball. The avid bass fisherman still hasn't stocked the pond in the middle of his property. But, hey, he has learned how to make a podcast and launched it in a matter of weeks. With that, he discovered a use for his previously underused office and also brushed up on his computer skills. Thus the title of the podcast's first episode, "High-Tech Rednecks," which is plural because Moore's tour manager and sidekick JR, aka The Handler, is also his podcast partner. "We've worked together for a number of years in different capacities, and he and I and our families have become great friends. He's one of my best friends in the world," Moore says. "He is the godparent to three of my children, and we're just super close, we're like brothers. And he's one of the funniest human beings on the planet. He and I are just hillbillies from Arkansas and Alabama and have a lot of the same views on life and other things. But we also differ, you know, a little bit, so I think that'll be a fun dynamic to kind of navigate moving forward." With No. 1 country hits, awards and fan-packed tours under his belt, Moore has mastered music. (He was on the road with one of his idols, Tracy Lawrence, when the virus outbreak began shutting things down.) But with the tour bus parked and no stage to climb onto, Moore found time to reconnect with his computer, which he admits is not his favorite toy but is essential to stay connected with fans. "You know, it's funny because when we built our house four years ago, I built myself an office. It's not in the house because I've had those before. I seemed to get, 'Hey, Dad, can you do this? Can you do this? Can I do that?' if I'm in the house. But that being said, I've yet to use my office for four years until, you know the last three, four months, and so now I'm like, 'Oh, so this is what this place looks like? Cool.'" Moore says the plan for the podcast is to do about 15 episodes per season, with musical guests and performances from the road when it's safe to go back out there. New episodes are published each Tuesday. To download "The Justin Moore Podcast," visit thejustinmoorepodcast. libsyn.com or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify, Stitcher or YouTube. Justin Moore, 36, is a country music star from Poyen who chooses to raise his family in Arkansas instead of Nashville, Tenn. Moore is spending time between tours making "The Justin Moore Podcast," recorded in tiny Poyen, in Grant County. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Cody Villalobos)