updated 11/02/2014 AT 08:00 AM EST  •originally published 10/31/2014 AT 12:00 PM EDT  Kip Moore grew up in southern Georgia listening to country icons like Willie Nelson with his dad, who was a country music lover. "He was the coolest guy on the planet to me and whatever he thought was cool, I thought was cool," Moore tells PEOPLE. That included watching the CMAs together, so when Moore, 34, learned of his own nomination (his second in the category – Kacey Musgraves won last year), "I was ecstatic," he says. "It validates all the hard work and it means everything to me."  Moore's own musical loves (including rock and Motown) were instilled in him by his dad, who passed away three years ago. "I know my pops is going to be watching," the singer says of Wednesday's awards.  Read on to find out his faves and firsts:  , I think it was a greatest hits record. I was in fifth grade and Bob Seger was my dad's favorite. I wore out that CD."  in Albany, Georgia, with my buddy. I was in seventh grade and couldn't see over the people so I had to stand on my chair. The people behind me were yelling 'Sit down!' but I wanted to see them so bad, I stayed on my chair. I remember being completely blown away, thinking how cool it was and how cool it would be to be able to do that every night."  . I've seen Bruce six times and I saw Garth probably three years ago. They know how to pull an audience into their world – and that's a lot more difficult than it sounds. With them it's effortless and you feel like you are in a living room watching their show."  . There are so many layers on that record. He makes you feel different with every song and not only that, you'll feel one way listening to it one time and the next time you can feel completely different."  . I just love the soul of Motown music. It makes everybody want to sing. That and we listen to a lot of  on the bus. We love musical arrangements and he's got really interesting melodies."  "We usually blare Springsteen pretty loud.  is one of my favorites. It's just wide open and it hits you in your soul."  "I don't listen to music when I work out. I'm old-school – I just go in there, bare balls, and do it."  . I have a difficult time sleeping and something about that is just soothing for me. It helps shuts my brain off and puts me in a peaceful place. I sleep better when I put that record on."  "I have a lot of  . I think he was a genius long before his time. I just love the passion in his music."  by Smokey Robinson. It's one of the saddest lyrics you could ever see on paper but it just makes you feel good when you hear the music."  . For my own personal reasons, that song slays me."  's 'Purple Rain'. It's so cliché and everybody wants to sing along to it."  by AC/DC. His phrasing and verses just make you want to shout out."  air live on Wednesday, Nov. 5, on ABC.
Classic rock fuels him and Coldplay soothes him: The raspy-voiced singer gives us a peek inside his record collection