“Good Time”: How Niko Moon almost gave his breakthrough hit to Blake Shelton

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Matthew BerinatoNiko Moon is currently enjoying his first big hit as an artist right now, as his debut single, “Good Time,” continues its climb in country’s top ten. 

But “Good Time” is hardly Niko’s first taste of success: Previously, he wrote five number ones for Zac Brown Band: “Heavy is the Head,” “Homegrown,” “Beautiful Drug,” “Keep Me in Mind,” and “Loving You Easy.”

In fact, Niko’s breakthrough hit barely missed being cut by someone else. 

“We originally were wanting to pitch this song to Blake Shelton,” he tells ABC Audio. “But the way that we wrote it was kind of a little more R-and-B-ish and a lot slower. It ended up not getting any bites.”

“And then a year later,” Niko continues, “I started making my album, and I remember thinking, ‘That song would just fit in really well with all these other songs I’m doing with the whole thing that I’m wanting to do with my music. If we sped it up and kind of put my twist on it, I think it would be great.'”

“And so, we rewrote some of the lyrics,” he recalls, “and ‘Good Time’ just kind of came to life and, you know, became a song for me at that point.”

Niko keeps the good vibes going on all the tracks on his Good Time EP. 

“They’re all really positive,” he reflects. “That’s why I wanted ‘Good Time’ to be the first single, because it really sums up the way I like to look at life and music, which is, you know, life is short, have a good time.”  

Niko just put out his new Good Time Campfire Sessions EP which features live performances of the six songs from his original LP as well as the new track, “Dance with Me.” 

By Stephen Hubbard
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