FEATURE: Spotlight: Megan Moroney — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Oceanna

Megan Moroney

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I am fairly new…

to Megan Moroney, but I can recognise that she is an amazing artist that is among the most exciting Country acts around. Born and raised in Georgia, U.S.A., she is a hot name in Nashville. An exceptional vocalist, songwriter and performer, Moroney grew up in a household where legendary and classic Country and Americana artists were played. After writing her first song at a young age, Moroney developed a love for storytelling. Her debut E.P., Pistol Made of Roses, is one that everyone needs to hear. There are not a tonne of interviews I can bring in here at all. There are a few that I can source. Upstar spoke with Megan Moroney back in 2021. It is interesting learning about her start and how she wrote her first song:

"Okay, so I'm from Georgia, born in Savannah. Didn't live there long. I moved to Douglasville, Georgia - which is west of Atlanta. For college I went to UGA. My parents moved about 45 minutes away from Athens, because my brother also went to UGA and it made sense. I got into music early on, as my dad was in a band and my brother plays guitar, so I just grew up around it. My whole life, as far back as I can remember, we had a music room in my house. Now we have 2 music rooms - one that has wood floors and wood furniture so the sound is great, then we have a "live" room that has microphones and stuff. That's where I practice. I have always been able to sing and did a lot of talent shows growing up so I got comfortable singing in front of people. Growing up I would listen with my dad to The Eagles, Jackson Browne, James Taylor and so many others. Because of that I have always listened to words. As I started to grow up, I never thought of music as a profession - like I went to school to be an accountant. I just always loved lyrics so I started songwriting, fell in love with the process and I wasn't too bad. I moved to Nashville like 8 months ago. I graduated in the middle of COVID so I didn't know if it was a good time to move, but I went for it. There hasn't been much for me to do besides write songs, but shows are starting to pick up which I'm excited for."

Fresh to Nashville, Megan Moroney flew out of the gates with her vibey debut single "Wonder" on February 26th and has instantly turned heads. This song is different and one of a kind, taking you through a conversation and putting some catchy word choice and compelling instruments to complement Megan's voice. You know a song is hittin' when you listen to it for the first time and have an obnoxious head bob going …. and you have no idea you're doing it. That may or may not have been me listening to "Wonder" for the first time and looking like a complete dumbass, but hey a good song is a good song. In a town filled with artists chasing sounds that "work", Megan is showing her authentic sound and is putting out music with both heart and soul. A very bright future for this Georgia native.

"I actually wrote this song alone. I started a lot of my songwriting alone because I was at UGA and it was hard for me. I'm a very outgoing person, but I wasn't just going to go up to people and be like "hey you write? You wanna write some time?" I'm starting to write with people more now but this was back in May 2020 and I wrote it alone. I came up with the hook which was "it ain't always gotta be lightnin' and thunder...he won't make you wonder". Then I went to the beach. I had that small snippet on my phone and my friends and I were at the beach having a good time. One of my best friends Nat was upset over a guy. Literally everyone is on the beach and I just walked off down the beach and wrote the first and second verse. I didn't have the bridge or the change in the last verse yet. When we got back to the house, I got my guitar and recorded everything I had written. It is a very conversational song and that's because I was telling my friend like "hey, we are here trying to have a good time and you deserve more to feel like that." Natalie and I don't even remember what the whole issue was, I guess the guy is just that irrelevant."

Q: What was that "light bulb" moment for you where you knew you wanted to pursue music?

A: "At the end of my freshman year I got to open for Chase Rice at the Georgia Theater and that was my first real gig ever. I had played at my high school, in my living room and some talent shows, but other than that I wasn't playing out. For my sorority philanthropy event we got Jon Langston to come out. They used our whole budget to get him to perform and we needed an opener. The philanthropy girl was like "oh you sing don't you?" I hadn't played anywhere but I went up there and performed three cover songs for Jon. Chase was actually at that show, heard me sing and wanted me to open for him, but he told me I needed original songs. So for the next three weeks I wrote some songs. At the time, I was also an accounting major, casually getting 50's on my tests and thought to myself I should probably be studying instead. After that I switched my major to marketing and did music business. Playing my first real show at Georgia Theater was special."

Q: If you could go back 5 years what advice would you give to your younger self?

A: "Music. I would say stick with piano, because I gave that up. I didn't think it was cool. Looking back, I really wish I had stuck with it because I think it's one of the prettiest instruments. Life advice, I would say trust that God has a plan for you. There are a lot of things that I thought I wanted and am very happy that they didn't work out. That is probably the most important thing”.

Before getting to a Billboard article that was written back in November, there is a People interview that caught my eye. One of the big successes of last year was the reaction to her single, Tennessee Orange. That song came out in September, and there was this huge amount of positive reaction and coverage:

“For Megan Moroney, the release of her single "Tennessee Orange" and the success that followed is the pinch-me moment she'd been waiting for. Now, she's opening up to PEOPLE about the whirlwind she's experienced since.

"I don't think I realized how special the song would be. It was one of those things where I'd worked on for so long and I didn't know if it was good or not," Moroney, 25, tells PEOPLE. "Then we decided last minute when we got the opportunity from Spotify to put it out. And it's crazy. I'm new to all of this. But I'm like, this is cool."

"Tennessee Orange" dropped only two months after Moroney released her debut EP Pistol Made of Roses — which at first, she worried might work against her.

"I think it does a good job of letting everyone know who I am as person," she says. "The songs are very me. I released that in July, and we didn't know if it would water down the EP by putting out a single two months after. So we were looking for a sign and then Spotify called the next day and was like, 'We have this Fresh Finds thing. You have to put out a song this day.' And I was like, 'Wow, this is perfect.' It was definitely perfect timing."

"The growth of 'Tennessee Orange' has been incredible! The song is connecting with fans all over the world and the stats speak for themselves," says Claire Heinichen, the country music editor for Spotify. "This song has been a dream to watch grow through our playlist ecosystem — from Fresh Finds Country all the way to Hot Country."

Miller Guth, the artist and label partnership manager adds, "We've been watching Megan for a couple of years, so when she performed at our Fresh Finds stage and we saw the crowds reaction we knew she was on the cusp of a major moment. The success of "Tennessee Orange" is a testament to her authentic artistry. We're so excited to be a part of her story."

"Tennessee Orange" tells the story of a girl falling for a boy from her rival school — specifically, a Georgia girl (Moroney graduated from the University of Georgia) falling for a Tennessee boy.

"I met somebody, and he's got blue eyes/He opens the door, and he don't make me cry/He ain't from where we're from, but he feels like home," she sings. "He's got me doing things I've never done/In Georgia they'd call it a sin/I'm wearing Tennessee orange for him”.

I will finish off with a Billboard article. It does cover her earliest experiences, and Moroney also discusses the writing of Tennessee Orange. It is exciting that she is also working on an album at the moment. I think that the world is waiting for an L.P. from this remarkable artist:

“Moroney grew up in a musical family, taking piano lessons and singing with her dad. However, she “never really thought of music as a career,” and initially studied accounting at the University of Georgia, before transitioning to marketing and music business. She was in college when she began writing music and quickly integrated herself into the Music City co-writing scene once she moved to Nashville in 2020.

Moroney spoke with Billboard about crafting “Tennessee Orange,” working with Sugarland’s Kristian Bush (who produced “Tennessee Orange”), and her dream collaborations.

What do you recall about writing your first song?

I had the opportunity to open a show for Chase Rice at the Georgia Theatre and he told me I needed an original song to do the show. So I wrote my first song at 19, called “Stay a Memory,” to be able to do that—it was my first real gig. I didn’t grow up dreaming of being a music artist. As a little girl, I did music for fun, but I never would’ve thought that songwriting and being an artist could be a career.

Before you released the EP, you’d released a song called “Wonder.” How did that shape you as a songwriter?

I wrote that completely by myself, and it was one of the songs I demoed with Kristian. I was at the beach with my friend Natalie and she was arguing with this guy and was upset about it. I told her, “If he loved you and cared about you, you wouldn’t be wondering if he did.” I had a couple of drinks in me and just started rhyming s–t. We had a house full of people we went to the beach with and I played it for them and they were like, “How did you do that?” I think that was the first song that I wrote where I thought, “There is something here.”

You wrote “Tennessee Orange” with Ben, David Fanning and Paul Jenkins. What do you recall about the writing session?

Ben is my go-to writer, and I had not met David or Paul before. I woke up that morning and had the hook of “In Georgia they’d call it a sin/ I’m wearing Tennessee orange for him.” I felt like it was risky taking that idea for a song in, because I didn’t know two of the other writers, and I didn’t know if they even cared about football. But it was a great writing session, and I just became obsessed with getting the song right.

I went home and kept chipping away at it for a couple more hours and then I sent them the changed version — just changing things like [how] the line about “You raised me to know right from wrong” was in the second verse originally, but I felt like we needed that [in the first verse] to make the storyline — you have no idea what I am going to say until the hook, and the verse builds up that mystery.

What has the reaction been like when you play “Tennessee Orange” in Georgia?

I had two shows in Athens in November, and was so nervous to play it — but the crowds sing it really loud anyway. I played the Georgia Theatre this past week, and it was the loudest I’ve heard a room of people sing it. They are so supportive, which I am grateful for. I have a show in Knoxville this spring, and I’m sure it will go over really great there.

You are working on a full album. Where are you in the process?

We haven’t gotten into the studio yet, but it’s completely written. The songs are all very me. I don’t like cutting songs that I could just pitch to any female country artist. They all have to be very personal to me”.

Someone who is going to grow and continue to accrue a mass of fans, maybe not that many people know about Megan Moroney in the U.K. We have homegrown Country artists, but there are some in the U.S. that have not penetrated here. I think that Megan Moroney is someone that everyone can love and appreciate. Her music is so beautiful and memorable. With a beautiful and strong voice backing this amazing songwriting, she is a definite star. Someone who, like I say with many artists I feature, could also have a successful acting career, go and follow the Georgia-born musician. Her new E.P., Pistol Made of Roses, is tremendous! Glory and worldwide recognition…

LAYS ahead of her.

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