Before he released his eponymous debut album in 2009, Justin Moore had lofty goals and big dreams: The singer wanted to have a career like that of two of country music's most iconic superstars. Then, Moore immersed himself in the music business -- and realized how hard it would actually be to reach that level of success.

"I wanted to be the biggest star in this town and sell more records than Garth Brooks and have more No. 1s than George Strait. Those were my goals," Moore revealed to The Boot and other reporters at a recent media event. "At the time, I had no idea how to even scratch the surface to achieving that.

"I don’t know if it’s age, or if it’s the amount of time I’ve spent in this business, [but] those [goals] have changed for me," Moore continues. "If those things happen, that would be fantastic. [But] I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and where we are in our career, and, like I said, if those things come with what we do naturally, that’s fantastic."

With four studio albums under his belt and more than a dozen hit singles to his name, Moore's ambitions, clearly, have shifted. The Arkansas native says that's for the better.

"I think my goal now is to just make the best music I can make," Moore explains. "I really admire artists like Strait and [Tim] McGraw. There are artists out there who seem to just get better and better and better, like a couple of those guys I just mentioned; they’ve always made great records, but I feel like maybe they’re making their best records right now. [That] is so inspiring to artists such as myself. I feel like I’ve been doing it a while, but compared to them, I haven’t been. So it’s inspiring to me to continue to grind and not only write, but find, the best music I can, or record the best music I can."

Moore acknowledges that he's recently stepped up his game when it comes to his live show: "I feel like our live show, right now, is the best it's ever been," he says. "We added a lot of bells and whistles this year for the first time. I finally came off my wallet and spent a little money."

"I’m really proud of what we’re doing out there, and I’m excited to just see how far we can go in this business," Moore continues. "But I want to do it in a way where we’re not chasing something; I want to do it by the music that I’m passionate about and that my fans are passionate about. And like I said, if it comes to the point where we can sell out stadiums, that would be awesome. But if it doesn’t, I’ll be proud anyway."

Now that his co-headlining American Made Tour with Lee Brice has ended, Moore will be playing festival dates and some solo headlining shows throughout the summer. A list of all of his upcoming shows is available on his website.

Who Else Is Touring in 2017?

More From TheBoot