A couple of months ago, Justin Moore launched his own podcast, which you can listen to wherever you get your podcasts, as a way to give his fans a more personal look at him and his life when he’s not on stage. During a recent episode, Justin shared a story about a boating incident he had this summer that was more embarrassing than dangerous. It involved a party barge he had received a couple of years ago as payment for performing a show at a bass tournament weigh-in in Arkansas. Rather than get the boat out on the lake, Justin confesses, “I parked it in my driveway and it has not in budged since. I’ve carried insurance on it for two years and it has not seen the water.”
Recently, though, Justin finally decided it was time to get the party barge in the water and start using it. One evening a buddy of his offered to help him get it into his newly rented slip down at the lake before it got dark. As the story goes, “We got about an hour before it’s pitch black dark,” says Justin. “We pull to the boat ramp I back it down he jumps in my truck. This thing ain’t been started in two years, so, odds are it may not start. Well, it fires right off, like, boom! I’m like, man, this is great. This is gonna be easy, no big deal. My slip’s right over there. My slip is probably from the boat ramp six hundred yards. So, I get to puttin’ along there, he pulls off in my truck.”
About 20 seconds after his buddy pulled off in his truck and he had started slowly making his way to his boat slip, the party barge ran out of gas. As Justin explains, I’m in the middle of the lake, it’s pitch black dark and I’m in between these two slips full of like million dollar yachts. I’m floating. I ain’t got a trolling motor, I ain’t got a paddle. I’m gonna set all this up in the morning, right? I’m a sittin’ duck. I can’t do nothin’, can’t nobody see me, I ain’t got reception. There’s nothing I can do. I can’t get a hold of my buddy.
Luckily for Justin, another party barge was coming in off the lake and they spotted him and offered him some help. Just as Justin accepts the offer of help from one guy, he says, “‘Bout that time, the other guy goes, ‘Are you JUSTIN MOORE?’” And Justin just said, ‘Yeah. Yeah, I’m the dumbass that ran out of gas in my party barge twenty five yards from the boat ramp. Yep, guilty.’”
Justin’s pride aside, they managed to get the party barge into its slip, and Justin says, “God bless those good Arkansas folks for helping me out. I tell ‘em, ‘Here’s my cell phone, here’s my email, if I can ever give y’all any tickets to a show, if we ever get to play a show again, man, you guys are all access.”
It sounds to us like that story could provide material for a whole other verse to Justin’s current top ten single, “Why We Drink.” By the way, for more crazy stories from Justin, be sure to check out brand new episodes of The Justin Moore Podcast every Tuesday, wherever you listen to podcasts.
Justin Moore – party barge story 2:34
“I played a show a couple of years back. It was a weigh-in for a bass tournament in Arkansas, and I received a party barge for my payment instead of getting paid. And I parked it in my driveway and it has not budged since. I’ve carried insurance on it for two years and it has not seen the water. But I decide a few weeks ago, ‘I’m like, I wanna put this boat in the water before dark, because I had just purchased a slip to leave the boat in, that way we figure we’ll use the boat more. I ain’t gotta trailer it back and forth behind my truck. So, a friend of mine says, ‘Hey, you want me to go help you put your boat in the water before it gets dark?’ And I said, Yeah, I’d really like to do it before in the morning.
We got about an hour before it’s pitch black dark. We pull to the boat ramp I back it down he jumps in my truck. This thing ain’t been started in two years, so, odds are it may not start. Well, it fires right off, like, boom! I’m like, man, this is great. This is gonna be easy, no big deal. My slip’s right over there. My slip is probably from the boat ramp six hundred yards. So, I get to puttin’ along there, he pulls off in my truck. A low fuel gauge light flashes and I go, ‘Oh the marina’s right there. Tomorrow morning when I come get the boat out of the slip I’m gonna fill up right there. About 20 seconds later, boat just completely dies. I’m in the middle of the lake, it’s pitch black dark and I’m in between these two slips full of like million dollar yachts. I’m floating. I ain’t got a trolling motor, I ain’t got a paddle. I’m gonna set all this up in the morning, right. I’m a sittin’ duck. I can’t do nothin’, can’t nobody see me, I ain’t got reception. There’s nothing I can do. I can’t get a hold of my buddy.
So, God bless these people, there comes another party barge coming in from the lake and there was two guys, a wife and two kids. And one of the guys goes, ‘Hey man, you need some help?’ And I go, ‘You know what, yeah I do. I really do. I’m just flat out screwed here.’ ‘Bout that time, the other guy goes, ‘Are you JUSTIN MOORE?’ And I go, ‘Yeah. Yeah, I’m the dumbass that ran out of gas in my party barge twenty five yards from the boat ramp. Yep, guilty.’
So, anyway, he just kind of slingshots me in and we miss this hundred thousand dollar ski boat by a millisecond, and it was just a cluster. God bless those good Arkansas folks for helping me out. I tell ‘em, ‘Here’s my cell phone, here’s my email, if I can ever give y’all any tickets to a show, if we ever get to play a show again, man, you guys are all access.”