Wake up, Nashville! It’s a big day: Today, multi-instrumentalist Hudson Moore—he can do it all and do it all incredibly well, so don’t label him merely a “triple threat,” because his talent is way beyond that description—delivers the only jams you’ll need to get through the summer of ’16. His new album (on the Moorejamz label) is titled Getaway and it’s the perfect CD or download to go with any getaway you have planned this summer (and the fourteen tracks are so powerful in their own ways that they will all work, no matter what direction you decide to head).

Most of the songs on the album are smooth, shiny, blends of country, pop and rock. There are also delectable journeys into the territory of soul. No matter which style, each song benefits from an urgency and passion that Moore provides. Moore’s voice comes across with such a natural ease that when it floats between a conversational phrase and a soaring melody line, you cannot tell the transitional difference. He lets the emotion decide his delivery. Because of this, it’s easy to believe that you know who Hudson Moore is after a few listenings. That’s just one more sign of a successful album.

In the past, Hudson Moore has opened for artists/bands such as ZZ Top, Alan Jackson, Rascal Flatts, Pat Green, Chris Young, Randy Rogers Band, and many others, but this album makes it clear that he is headed for the headline slot. On Getaway, it’s hard to decide which is more impressive—his seductive, honey-dripped vocals or his mastery of virtually any instrument you might bring to a recording session (Hudson played eleven instruments on the album, and his lead guitar riffs are incredible). In the end, it doesn’t matter which; it’s all one—one idea, one vision, one story, and one amazing talent. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he is taking up photography or maybe entertainment law next. Nashville, be warned: be good to this guy or he might just prove to you someday that he could take care of every aspect of what it takes to make a hit record all by himself.

Because, clearly, he can.

Essential Downloads: “Some Are,” “Girl Like You,” “Sand in the Bed,” “Bring On The Rain,” “Getaway.”

I caught up with Hudson Moore just days before Getaway would be released. In the middle of what had to be an incredibly busy media day, Hudson took the time to share some thoughts about the music he makes and the career he’s carving out for himself. Here’s some of that conversation.

Greg Victor: Do you have any shows lined up for this summer?

Hudson Moore: We have a fun show planned with The Brothers Osborne at Summerfest in Milwaukee on July 7th, and we’re also opening up for Chris Young in Fort Collins, next Saturday… and we are going to do some select dates with Martina McBride this fall. We’re really looking forward to that. We’ve kind of been in “album mode,” but now that the album is coming out we’re going to take it to the road, and start doing shows and playing these new songs.

GV: When you’re out there on the road, what do you miss most about home?

HM: I definitely miss sleeping in my own bed. And I miss seeing my wife—that’s for sure. And you miss other things. You know, when people get “off work,” we’re going “to work,” so you end up missing a lot of the normal life events (weddings, parties…) There’s a lot of sacrifice, but I feel blessed to get to do something I love.

GV: You’re originally from Ft. Worth, Texas… and you’re living in Nashville, Tennessee now…and you went to school at the University of Texas at Austin.

HM: Mmm-hmm.

GV: I totally understand why; it’s Austin, Texas! I went to school in Austin myself, so I can appreciate your decision to go there. Did you love it as much as I did?

HM: Austin is one of the—it’s my favorite city, arguably, in America. It’s such a cool place.

GV: I know you studied Radio/TV/Film at UT. Did studying that increase your desire to make videos for your music?

HM: Oh, for sure. I’m always thinking of storyboards and different ideas for treatments. I’ll get in there with the director and stage the shots… I’ll essentially co-direct every video I ever put out.

GV: Did you make a vow to yourself to end up in Austin, eventually… the way everyone who ever went to school there does?

HM: Texas will always be my home, and I’d love to be able to get my career to a point where I can settle down there, but I’m more than happy to be in Nashville and chase down this dream and put in the work to get to that point. It’s a fun adventure—stepping out of your comfort zone, moving to a new place, meeting new people and all that good stuff. I look at successful people and they’ve made the sacrifice and the move, so I’m embracing that.

GV: You co-produced Getaway with Dwight Baker. How did you two come together to collaborate?

HM: Well, I was kind of at a crossroads. I hadn’t yet found that person in Nashville who was going to be my producer. I was looking for that magic someone, who was going to make the album that I really wanted to make.

GV: And what was the record you always wanted to make?

HM: You know how there are always those albums where an artist gets a new producer and it just clicks… Like with Jay Joyce and Eric Church… or George Martin and The Beatles… it’s just works, right?

GV: Like you said: it’s magic.

HM: I hadn’t really found that relationship yet, and I was just going to produce the album by myself, which I was a little hesitant about that. But I was looking around, and my wife found Dwight’s name on the back of a record. I looked him up and I was already a huge fan of his band and the work he’d done, so we met up in Austin. I told him where I was and my vision for the record and he said he could help me do it. He said, “ I just want you to be you, and I want to encourage you to be the best you can be.” So it’s a perfect producer/artist relationship.

GV: How did you decide which songs to include on the album? Did you write most of the material?

HM: It was hard to narrow it down. I wrote three of the songs and co-wrote the rest.

GV: Stylistically, it’s a pretty diverse album, which is fantastic. This isn’t one of those albums with a single or two and a whole bunch of filler. These are all good songs.

HM: I appreciate that. I tried to only include songs that deserved to be there. I wasn’t just trying to make a long album; I truly had a hard time narrowing it down. We cut twenty songs. I dove my wife crazy with different lists. I would rearrange them over and over. These little pieces of paper sat on our kitchen counter for about two months. It was difficult, but I’m really happy with the songs that we ended up with.

GV: Hudson, I’ve been listening to Getaway and I have to say, for the record, this could very easily be the album that changes your life. Don’t you agree that this could be “the one”?

HM: You know when you’ve worked hard on something, and you just feel like it’s going to click. My wife and I—and my family too—we kind of have that feeling. I’m knockin’ on wood, man, ‘cause I’m super proud of these songs. I’m hoping it’s going to be the album that gets the next chapter in my career started.

GV: It’s almost like the music has not only caught up to the current stage of your career, but the new level of sophistication in your sound is now leading the way to a new stage. When you sing these songs—all fourteen tracks on the album—they just all seem so true… and so instructive. You actually make it seem possible to say “What the hell,” turn up the volume, live in the moment and enjoy the days and nights we’re living… even in the confusing, confrontational times we are passing through. What more could anyone ask for in an album in June, 2016?

HM: Well, thank you so much. I want the emotion in the songs to come across. I want people to feel something. If they’ve felt the song, then I’ve done my job.

GV: It’s a very positive album. So, how have you managed to remain optimistic in such a challenging career?

HM: The one thing you really can control in life is your attitude. I try to stay positive and I’ve found that the more positive you stay, and the more you stay the course, the more likely you are to succeed. I try to discard the timeline in my head of when things “should” happen for me and I try to just keep going straight ahead, and stay creative as much as possible. I find that that yields the best results. So, yes, I guess the short answer is, “Yes, I am very optimistic.”

GV: For a guy definitely on the rise, I guess that’s only natural. Congrats and thanks, Hudson.

To preview or purchase Hudson Moore’s Getaway on iTunes, click here.

To keep up with Hudson Moore, visit his official website.

And don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook…

…and follow him on Twitter…

… and on Instagram, of course.