TEXAS HURRICANE OF BLUE-EYED SOUL DROPS LIVE WIRE
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Maren Morris Voted “Best Female Vocalist” Six Years In A Row by Fort Worth Weekly
Maren Morris (www.marenmorris.com) relates to folk musicians/singer-songwriters like Patty Griffin in the most graceful way. But it doesn’t stop there. Maren’s country roots and indie spirit have forged a unique alchemy of sound beyond the confines of preset genre molds. No wonder Fort Worth Weekly, who called Maren a “tiny Texas hurricane of blue-eyed soul”, voted the diminutive songstress the Best Female Vocalist 6 years in a row. She doesn’t use the term “cross-over” although that’s what it is. She’s more likely to say she’s very excited that multiple audiences have found her work relatable.
In 2011, Maren Morris released her 3rd album, Live Wire, which includes “The Willow Tree” which she herself describes as “heartbreaking.” So you might wonder if Maren’s always so serious. She’s anything but.
“I don’t think I’m funny! Or, …I’m the only one that thinks I’m funny?” She ponders that, a smile on her lovely 21 year old face. She’s disarming, enchanting, and genuinely sweet. “Hilarious things happen to me if I’m trying to be too serious.”
Some of her deeply hypnotic pure poetry pieces like “Best of Me” encompass moving lyrics with surprisingly stirring music. With the unexpected chord changes, there’s an upbeat tune you’re not expecting.
Maren’s favorite writer is David Sedaris. “He’s hilarious and so relatable.” She reminisces about reading Me Talk Pretty One Day in class after completing an Algebra exam early, trying to keep busy and quiet. But she was laughing out loud. She says that she has learned that it is through laughter that we are able to go deeper. Humor helps us to trust ourselves.
“I can’t wear big dangling earrings on stage. Once, my earring got caught in my guitar strap when I was taking my guitar off.” She was playing to a large crowd at Fred’s Texas Café, a renowned burger joint in Fort Worth. “Five solid minutes of silence!” She laughs about it now, and tells the tale with a hint of embarrassment and a glimmer of giggles. “The guitar player had to help me! I got those earrings off and threw them in the trash.”
However, she isn’t referring to those kinds of comedy routines when she explains, “There’s a kind of beauty in a live performance.” Anything can happen. Maren says some accidents reveal a new sound or a new idea. She’s found new breath in some of those mix-ups: “The things you’d call mistakes.”
Maren has stretched her wings playing France’s Equiblues Festival in 2008 & 2010. She’s toured the UK, worked alongside David Foster and Paul Williams to assist musically inclined youth hone their songwriting skills for the Grammy Foundation’s Grammy Camp. She played Summerfest in 2006, America’s largest outdoor music festival, along with Heart, Social Distortion and Roger Waters. Her many achievements have brought her to this stellar nexus. If you loved her #1 hit single All That it Takes, you’re really going to love the new album, Live Wire.