Leading into International Women’s Day, Maren Morris joins The Kelleigh Bannen Show to discuss her role in supporting other women. Maren also acknowledges the women in country music who she believes are leading the charge — Mickey Guyton, Cam, Yola and Joy Oladokun. Tune in and listen to the episode in-full on-demand here.
Maren Morris on working with Greg Kurstin in Hawaii and how you can hear it on ‘Humble Quest’
I love coming into Greg’s world because he’s had his place out there for years. And he’s just got this tiny little studio with a drum kit, a piano, and his board. And so yeah, I went out there for a few weeks in January of 2021 and we just wrote and there was no deadline for the first time. And I wrote all of my last record on a tour bus because there was no time to just, la de da, stay home and write the album. It was, no, I’m touring nonstop.
So, it was very different with this one. I got to chill and just decide what the sound and shape was going to be. And so, yeah, Hawaii definitely was the backdrop for some of the songs that we wrote down there. And then some of it we did in Nashville, but yeah, it definitely has this… There’s no ukulele on the album or anything like that. We’re not diving that much in. But it’s definitely a very reflective record, very laid back, very relaxed, and comforting. And I think that’s why Hawaii had such an impact on me is because it’s all those things.
Maren Morris on ‘Humble Quest’
I didn’t really have anything to set out and prove with this one. It was just about letting myself heal from such a tumultuous time in the country, in the world, also from having my son, I had a rough delivery and back end of that. And so just really giving myself the time to not be such a workhorse, I feel, bred some of the most beautiful music of my career.
And I wasn’t trying to overly poeticize or do these like cutesie turn of a phrase of all these songs that I’ve done. And I love that about country music, but I also love the country music that has very lived in. And I try to say as much as these songs will hopefully comfort you, I think that they’re also beautiful soundtracks to your most warm vibes at home. I would love this album to be played at a dinner party or in the background while you’re taking care of your kid or making dinner. It kind of has that vibe where you can pay attention to it and let it move you if you want. But also it can be in the background and be really soothing.
Maren Morris on her song “Nervous”
Maren Morris: “Definitely left turn for me. And it’s so funny to say that because I have done so many random turns in my sound and my career, but I mean, I did an EDM song, so it’s like, “What do you do?” And I was just writing with Natalie Hemby that day. She brings it out of me … We’ve written together for 10 years, but that was a title she brought in and we didn’t have a ton of ideas yet. But then Jimmy Robbins just started playing on electric and I was like, “This is… Okay, let’s keep going.” And yeah, I don’t know, I just really channeled my inner Fiona Apple on this one.
Kelleigh Bannen: Yes, it’s so 90s, it’s a little grungy. It’s the dirtier-
Maren Morris: I loved that. Yeah, it was like, rough up the vocal, keep it super… It’s not a pretty song. But yeah, I definitely vocally, it was a fun challenge just to fire on all cylinders and not try to be coquettish or vulnerable. It was like, “This is just… F**k it.”
Maren Morris on what responsibility women have to each other
Maren Morris: I wish I had some loaded, poetic answer. I think for me the most simple way that I can support other women is to pay them.
Kelleigh Bannen Bravo.
Maren Morris: Whether it’s glam or styling or being on the road, openers that I choose to bring out with me, crew members. It’s not a leg up to pay somebody who is good at their job and also makes a safer environment on the road, which is a very, in some camps, toxic environment. I’ve seen them firsthand. That’s how I’ve decided that’s my power, is to pay them.
Maren Morris on realizing not all women are going to be friends
I think what I’ve also realized, even in the last year or so, and it’s tough, is that we’re not all going to be friends and the ones that I’ve realized, it’s totally okay that we’re not. I feel lighter because trying to force something because we were all to the same award moment or article or even playlist, we’re still people at the end of the day and vibes are vibes.
And I think not forcing relationships with just people… I would rather put more energy into people that I instantly get a great read on and feel safe around. And I think it was just a hard pill to swallow because it was like, “Why can’t we all just win together?” And it’s not going to look like that. Not every woman is going to be about women. Even if they’ve said so. It’s not the case. And so you’re like, “Okay, cool. Let’s respect each other from afar.” But arms distance. That’s totally fine.
Maren Morris on wanting to shift the conversation from just women to being even more inclusive
I think that we should shift the conversation to “Why are there so few queer people in our genre? Why are there so few people of color?’ That’s the sort of hidden thing behind the women argument that they didn’t want us to talk about. So, that’s what I wish… All about International Women’s Day, but I do wish that the actual conversation of that was happening more and not, what’s it like to be a woman in country?
Maren Morris on women she thinks are leading the charge in country music
Well, obviously our Superbowl queen Mickey Guyton. Is there a higher looked at performance than doing the Superbowl? I don’t think so. I think she’s carried that weight of what she has gone through with such grace and class. And I think that she’s finally, after 10 years, getting her due and she’s had to be so loud to get it. That’s how loud and beating down the door that she’s had to be just to get… And it’s not even translating to radio play. Everything she’s gotten press-wise or the Superbowl, she has gotten on her own.
I think Cam has done an amazing job. For me personally, as a white woman of privilege in this genre, particularly, I think Cam has really helped me understand what is going on, what the fake conversation is, and what the real one is. How hard it is to wake up and realize that you’ve been doing it wrong and you’ve been complicit, even if you weren’t trying to be. It’s not taking away from your talent or your hard work. It’s just saying that you’ve benefited from a system that is supposed to be only for people that look like you. She has helped me kind of articulate that better with me. And she calls it Racism 101. We’re all in that phase right now.
I love Yola so much. I want her around at all times. Just to talk to me and narrate my life, and also just her music is incredible. I love Joy Oladokun. If you haven’t heard of her-
Kelleigh Bannen: Yes, she’s amazing.
Maren Morris: She’s an incredible artist that lives here in Nashville. And just one of the most beautiful, she calls herself the trap Tracy Chapman, but I think she’s got one of the most soothing, gorgeous, honey type voices.
