SMALL TOWN USA SINGER’S DEBUT ALBUM FEATURES USC LOGO

With his hit song “Small Town USA” burning up the country music charts, I recently decided to pick up Justin Moore’s self-titled debut album. For only $10 at Wal Mart, the 10 track CD — including two music videos — was an absolute steal.

I have had it cranking in my car non-stop for two weeks now, so it wasn’t until Thursday that I noticed something interesting — the artwork on the CD features a gamecock. It’s not just any Gamecock, though, it is almost an exact replica of the gamecock used by the University of South Carolina.

My first thought was that it was a subtle tribute to the Gamecocks. But Moore hails from Arkansas, and it would be hard to believe that an Arkansas boy would be a USC fan.

So why the gamecock on his CD?

Well, after some searching, I found an interview in which Moore briefly explained the image.

“With our first single having a rooster on the beginning of the track, I thought a fighting cock would be a cool logo,” Moore said earlier this year. “We put that logo on every piece of merch we have.”

Moore apparently even used the moniker to name his band “Double Barrel Ace,” which Moore said is “the meanest fighting rooster.”

But, with that said, why use the USC Gamecock logo? Regardless of the answer, this is a CD EVERYONE needs to pick up.