Spotlight On: MAREN MORRIS

ABOUT this week’s guest:

It takes a lot of courage to chart your own path in music, especially once you have had the kind of massive success that Maren Morris has. And the perceived risk gets even higher as a woman. But looking back at the arc of this Arlington, Texas native’s already long career, Maren Morris has always followed her intuition, and playing it safe or small has never been her strategy. Maren Morris grew up in the 90’s, the daughter of hair salon owners. By the time she was 11 she got her first guitar and within a year had written her first song. It wasn't long before Maren was on stage performing and developing her craft. At 22 Maren had saved up enough money from working in her parents’ salon to pack up her belongings and take her dreams to Nashville, thinking she wanted to work on music row as a songwriter. But about a year later, Maren took her first trip to los angeles to work with the late producer Busbee and she wrote the first song that she became protective of - a track called “My Church”.  It was then that she realized that her true calling was as an artist. She released the song independently, it immediately went viral on Spotify, and she was signed by Columbia Records. Flash forward to 2017, that song would earn Maren Morris her first Grammy, following the release of her debut Hero in 2016. Maren has now been Grammy nominated every year since 2017, racking up seventeen nominations and one win thus far. And that’s just scratching the surface of her long list of awards and nominations. Her sophomore album Girl dropped in 2019, and Humble Quest in 2022. She also teamed up with Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Amanda Shires as The Highwomen in 2019, and released their self-titled debut. With all of her success, Maren Morris has long been an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, for inclusivity in Country music, and for trans-rights. I caught up with Maren Morris in Philadelphia at the WXPN studios just days before her brand new album dreamsicle dropped - another new high water mark and new chapter in what is already an inspirational story.