Maren Morris: I'm trying to 'bend genres' like Sam Hunt
American country music singer Maren Morris has told Downtown Country of her inspiration behind breaking the mould of traditional country conceptions.
Last updated 29th Nov 2017
The 27-year-old was speaking to the station’s Stuart Banford during her recent performance in Dublin.
The singer-songwriter and record producer spent time on the road touring with Keith Urban and Sam Hunt.
She said their ability to touch on a number of different musical fields has influenced her product:
“I learned so much being out with Keith last summer because that was my first tour to ever be on, on that scale so watching him every night just deliver such a powerful show and energetic show, obviously he’s an amazing guitarist as well.
“I think I learned how to run a tour just from just watching him run a tour.
“I learned a lot about you know… how you treat your band and your crew and you want it feel like a family out there because you’re away so much from your actual family so you have to learn how to adapt out here and I learned a lot of that from Keith.
“And then from touring with Sam you know, he is just such a genre bender so I see a lot of myself doing that with my own music.
“It’s not just country, it’s not just pop, it’s a little bit of everything, R N B, soul, rock so it was cool to see Sam blend all those genres each and every night and have it translate so amazingly to the crowd.
“I learned a lot from both of those guys and I’m going out with Niall Horan next summer so I’ve really had some crazy experiences and very different experiences touring.”
Maren is currently touring with fiancé Ryan Hurd and says the experience makes a change from spending so much time apart:
“We tour all through the year and usually separately so Ryan and I being out the last month and then coming over here which is his first time to Ireland, it’s so cool to…it’s an excuse to see each other.”
“I’m also so excited to introduce my Irish fans to his music.”
Maren was full of admiration for the Irish country audience and said the fans here really invest in her music:
“I feel like the fans in Ireland which I got a little taste of at C2C em…they’re just so warm and inviting and that means so much especially when you’ve travelled all this way and you’re trying to kind of…get a grasp on the culture and em…you’re getting over jetlag.
“It’s nice to come here and you know have fans to begin with.
“I noticed when we played C2C it was just such an energetic crowd and they really knew every word to my songs and not just the ones that have been on the radio they knew all the deep cuts of my album too so that is always really amazing to see and hear,” she said.
The singer-songwriter has spent most of 2017 on the road and struggled with writing new material whilst touring. But she insists she has now mastered the art:
“It is hard for me to write on the road, I’ve gotten a little bit better at it this year just out of necessity em…just have not been home long enough to even write.
“I’ve had to write out on the road and eh… it’s an adjustment to write on the back of a tour bus but you figure it out.”
In October, Maren signed a major modelling contract with Wilhelmina Models. She says she is trying to change the conventional look and pave the way for shorter women.
“I think it’s just a really great step forward just for girls too or boys to just like look at me and I don’t look like a typical model, I’m 5’1’’ I’m very short.
“I’ve always looked a little bit different and I’ve been ok with that and I really celebrate it and I think they should too and so for Wilhelmina Models who has always signed really diverse looking people and their artist roster is really diverse as well.