Niko Moon's Musical Identity Shaped by Thanksgiving on an Ironing Board and Finding Joy in Simplicity

As a child, Niko Moon's favorite Thanksgiving was the year his family had no kitchen table, and his dad set up their feast — a rotisserie chicken from Kroger and some canned cranberry sauce — on the ironing board.

Another time, the family had no heat, and his dad pulled the mattress from the bedroom, positioned it in front of the family's fireplace and told him it was a camping game.

"There was all the love in the world in that trailer, and for me, it really brought home what life is all about," Moon, 38, told PEOPLE. "Sometimes the moments of the most hardship, when you're in it with people that you love and care about, and you get through it together, those can be some of the most beautiful moments in life."

The soulful singer/songwriter grew up in a working-class family near Atlanta. Sometimes there wasn't enough money to make ends meet, but his father shielded him from the family's financial anxiety. From an early age, the singer learned by example how to look for joy in burdensome situations. The lesson not only shaped the man he's become but is also the creative cornerstone of his music.

Moon's debut album GOOD TIME, home to his platinum debut single of the same name and new radio hit "Paradise to Me," is out now. Moon co-wrote 13 of the 14 songs on the album and recorded it in his luxe at-home studio during the pandemic.

Moon engineered his lyrics and melodies to make listeners feel happy; his sound is an amalgamation of his roots. His hometown, Douglasville, Georgia, is equal distance from Atlanta's hip-hop hotbed and Newnan, the birthplace of country music's beloved Alan Jackson. The combination of country and hip-hop isn't novel, but Moon's relaxed boundary-pushing interpretation has further universal appeal than the more aggressive concoctions. Layer in his love of artful storytellers John Prine and Kris Kristofferson, and the result is an artist that people want to not only engage with but weave into their daily lives.

"Niko is creating his own sound," said SVP of RCA Nashville promotion Dennis Reese. "He didn't try to follow someone. He knows who he is. There is no way to listen to Niko Moon music and not feel happy. The guy exudes joy. He is mind-blowing."

Both of Moon's parents were recreational songwriters — a love they instilled in him. Their son followed in their footsteps, and after bumping into Zac Brown of Zac Brown Band in a Georgia club, the men became fast friends and regular collaborators. Moon co-wrote five of Zac Brown Band's No. 1 hits: "Loving You Easy," "Homegrown," "Beautiful Drug" and "Keep Me In Mind," in addition to "Heavy Is the Head," which topped the rock charts and featured Soundgarden's Chris Cornell on lead vocals.

Moon joined Brown in his progressive sideband Sir Roosevelt, which coincided with his move to Nashville. While his experience with Brown influenced his music, Moon is decidedly his own artist.

When Moon landed on a vision for his major-label debut solo album, he enlisted his wife Anna and their friend Joshua Murty. They only wrote as many songs as they needed for the album — a feat he could accomplish because he was focused on themes and writing songs with specific messages about particular times in his life.

His new single "Paradise to Me," he said, is an example. Moon grew up going to lakes. When he thought about it, he discovered there were plenty of songs about vacationing at the beach and not very many about relaxing on the lake. He wanted to remedy that.

"All my memories growing up are on the water," he said. "The lake was integral to my growing-up experience, and I feel like it's a big part of a lot of people's life experience, especially when it comes to, hitting that reset button in like just enjoying life. So I was like, you know what? There needs to be more lake songs and I'm going to do it."

Moon — the Opry NextStage spotlight artist for September— describes himself as a "simple guy with a simple message."

"My idea is almost like hearkening back to Prine and how he made the complex simple," he explained. "It's important because this is my very first album, and you can't get a second first impression. I want to make sure that I am representing myself as clearly as possible. I think if you boil it all down, just take all of the songs, melodies, and lyrics and throw them in a blender and siphon it down into like one drop; you get 'Good Time.'"