When Maren Morris burst onto the country music scene nearly ten years ago with her debut major label single “My Church,” she quickly skyrocketed from a lesser-known country songwriter to the world stage. The track resonated with vast audiences, eventually going on to secure Morris her first Grammy award and top five spot on the Billboard country charts.

But throughout her decade-long career in country music, she’s resisted filling the typical mold often expected of women within the genre – as she sings on her 2019 sophomore album GIRL, “I speak my peace, don’t do what I’m told / Shut up and sing? Well, hell no, I won’t.”

Following a few public disputes with fellow country stars and an expressed frustration with the industry, Morris released The Bridge, a two-track EP featuring the songs “The Tree” and “Get the Hell out of Here,” in 2023. Produced by Jack Antonoff, the pair of releases seemingly reflected an unwillingness to compromise her own values in favor of an establishment that hasn’t historically welcomed diverse perspectives – and while Morris has certainly unapologetically burned bridges within the genre, she’s also built other ones.

“My crowd is diverse for a reason, and that’s from occasionally putting myself in the social line of fire, and I wouldn’t change any part of that,” she tells V over Zoom, adding that creating a welcoming environment for fans is a priority as she embarks on a tour in support of her fourth studio album D R E A M S I C L E this summer.

The album and accompanying tour are her first since her public divorce from ex-husband and musical collaborator Ryan Hurd, which adds to the season of loss, growth, and change detailed on the project.

“I’m so excited – it feels like it’s all mine, and there’s no one to let down or live up to or freak out,” Morris shares of The Dreamsicle Tour. “It’s truly my baby, and I can just be fully present for it each night – you’re on your own, but you have this community around you.”

But the Arlington, Texas native is quick to clarify that just because she’s criticized parts of the industry does not mean she’s left country behind, sonically or otherwise.

“It’s always just me with a few more years under my belt – whether there’s a slight twang on a vowel, or a steel guitar, or an 80s synthesizer, a listener of HERO to D R E A M S I C L E will always be able to tell who’s singing.”

V caught up with the multifaceted singer-songwriter over Zoom as she reflected on the significant shifts she’s experienced in both her career and her personal life throughout the last decade.

V Magazine: D R E A M S I C L E  is your fourth studio album — but it’s your first full-length body of work since you made headlines for your remarks that you were “taking a step back” from parts of the country music industry, which was misinterpreted by many as a declaration that you’d never make country-sounding music again. However, listeners will find similarities in much of this album that feel reminiscent of your roots on your debut album HERO nearly ten years ago. How, if at all, did you draw that distinction when it comes to genre-bending?

Maren Morris: My method of making music is all very dependent on who I’m in the room with that day, but I think I’ve always just come at it as a songwriter – whether I’m writing for another artist or for myself, I have to go through this lens of my unique perspective. I think over the years, my vocals have been extremely bendable to whatever type of music or collaboration I’m doing, and that’s such a superpower that I’ve had. In my 10 years of being in this public facing space, I’ve been able to really take musical risks from the jump. I was doing that from day one with HERO. A lot in my life has changed since that first album – I’m single for the first time in over a decade, I’m a mother to a five year old, I’m living in my own space for the first time, and I’m making this record truly just for me with no one to bounce off of, because my ex was also a songwriter and was on all of my records. So, it’s just a new way of doing things in all terms. Musically, I’ve always tried to get out of my comfort zone and work with people who inspire me. But in terms of where it’s headed, to address the misquoting – you can’t find it in any article where I said I’m “leaving the genre of country music behind.” It doesn’t exist, because I never said that. But I also can accept and own up to the fact that I am extremely passionate and vocal and independent, and my advocacy for marginalized people within country music has become so important to me as a boss, on the road and in the crowd – I want everyone to feel like they’re in a safe space. But I haven’t left anything behind; there’s nothing to really step back to or revisit. I still live here in Nashville, I still work with my community of friends and co-writers that I worked with on HERO to this day – I wrote “I Could Use a Love Song” and “The Bones” with my friends Laura Veltz and Jimmy Robbins, they’re both on this record. I haven’t really changed up my game. I’ve always wanted to be in rooms with new people that excite me on each record – working with Jack Antonoff, Joel Little, MUNA, it’s all just me being a music fan, and then it goes through the portal of my point of view and storytelling prose. I haven’t really changed anything, so that’s why maybe there’s confusion when people listen to this record and think, “Wait, there’s country elements still on here.” And it’s like, “Yeah, bitch, because I never left country.” She’s here, she’s just older and somewhat wiser and a little bit more traumatized, but also a lot happier and no apologies necessary. I hope I never lose that part of myself – like I said, it’s a superpower, being able to storytell here in Nashville with my friends. It’s just something that I would never want to rebrand. It’s always just me with a few more years under my belt – whether there’s a slight twang on a vowel, or a steel guitar, or an 80s synthesizer, a listener of HERO to D R E A M S I C L E will always be able to tell who’s singing. So I don’t worry about the genre reception thing, because I just don’t think people listen to music that way anymore.

V: I love that. You mentioned working with such a wide range of producers on this record, from Jack Antonoff to Joel Little to MUNA, which is so cool. Has your creative process evolved with a mix of new and familiar faces on this record? 

MM: It’s sort of like blind dating, when you’re working with someone for the first time and you have to get vulnerable really quick. I know how to do that because of years of living in Nashville, writing with people that at one point I did not know at all, and now they’re great friends of mine. You’re like, “Okay, where are you from? Sick. So what traumas have you been through lately that we can write about today? Let’s make it a hit!” It’s awkward, but that’s also what’s endearing about doing this on a professional level. I learned so much about my willingness to show up and have no ego in the room, even as the artist – I will absolutely stand up for myself in a line that I love or a vocal take that I preferred, but I do think and hope that to this day, I always maintain a humbleness in the space, rather than coming in with a hollowed-out, preconceived notion of what the song should sound like. I always crumble when I meet someone in a room and they’re being so bossy. I’m just like, “Okay, you’re not really a team player, and I’ll probably never write with you again after this, but we can get a song today.” I instantly hit it off with every new collaborator represented on this album. Jack Antonoff and I did a song on the album called “Grand Bouquet.” We respect and inspire each other’s work, but when you haven’t worked with someone in the booth yet, I’m like, “Okay, I’m going to blow his socks off and do a crazy vocal pass with all these ad libs and runs.” And at one point during that song I’ve been recording the vocal, and he’s like, “Maybe just ease up a bit and do something a little bit more whispery and tender” – and he was right. I was like, “Wow, I’ve never really heard this version of my vocal where it’s just so underhanded that it’s obviously intentional.” It just makes the song so much more emotional, because I’m not playing volume olympics or trying to prove anything – the lyrics needed to shine. I always learn something amazing in a collaboration. Sometimes you don’t click with someone, and that’s okay too. There’s a lot of people on this planet that you could work with, and if you don’t get the right vibe, just don’t waste your time or theirs.

V: Yeah, definitely. Reflecting on your years as part of the music industry, you’ve remained resilient through a period of heartache, loss, and immense change. Some of your peers’ experiences parallel your own in certain ways – Kelsea Ballerini, Kacey Musgraves, your fellow Highwomen, to name a few – whether it’s going through the fallout of a public relationship, or standing your ground and speaking up in an industry that’s sometimes not as welcoming to that. Have you been able to find relatability in those shared experiences?

MM: Oh, yeah. I mean, women have truly pulled me through so much of what I’ve gone through the last few years, and some are people you’ve mentioned, and also my friends and my team are all women. Just knowing that you’re not alone in something that feels so isolating – and on the level of the public sphere, when you go through something that feels like it should be private, like a divorce, but you’re both public figures. It can feel extremely heavy and hot and critical in that moment, and you just feel like you’re being suffocated by people’s perception of something that you thought you could privately mourn. So yeah, when my peers, like Kelsea, The Highwomen, a lot of my writer friends, Julia [Michaels], reached out, they were like, “I’m so sorry,” but also, “fuck yeah, you’re gonna do it. You’re going to get through it.” And they were right. I’m sure in any professional capacity, having women allies that understand what you do, and knowing that they’ve had to lick those wounds as well, is definitely heartwarming in a business that sometimes feels so disconnected from humanity.

V: Yeah, that’s great to hear that there’s that camaraderie there. I think that theme of resilience and growth throughout the record is best exemplified by its lead single “carry me through” – sonically, the soul and gospel-inspired elements shine, and lyrically it appears to be the thesis of the project. You’ve said the single was actually written prior to the “big storm of changes” in your life – what was that songwriting process like?

MM: I had a session with Greg Kirsten, and I was going through some anxiety – I had just gotten off the tour for Humble Quest, and I was like, “I don’t know where to go now.” It just felt so tumultuous. I was just really having a shake of my sense of self, and so I was just writing that day from a sort of identity crisis, from my career’s perspective. It never occurred to me that later on that year, shit would really hit the fan, and I would be going through a divorce, and also have these questions about my devotion to country music. I was like, “This is interesting, because I feel so out of control in my own life. And now I really feel out of control with my intentions as a musician, an artist, and a songwriter.” It’s like, take the romantic love from me, but don’t take my credibility in this thing that I love so dearly and have put decades of my life into. It was just so hurtful, because it was just not anything that I had ever expressed. Expressing discomfort or the need for change within your work life, genre of music, or even your town, is not the same as saying, “I’m leaving this behind, and I hate it, and fuck everything I did prior.” That’s not how I felt at the time, and not how I feel now. It’s quite childish. I love all of the albums I’ve put out. I love my heroes that inspired me to want to sing and write country music, and the people that inspired me to move to and remain in Nashville. I think that’s why it’s important to me to reiterate that this record is going to sound and have elements of country in it, because that’s me, and it always was, and I’m proud of those parts of me. I wouldn’t have the things that I have without it. I wouldn’t have the fans that I have without the ability to tell the truth in that way. But I also think I’ve built a fan base and a vehicle of what this music is from being a risk-taker from the jump. I never wanted to be pigeonholed into anything. But I hope people know, from the horse’s mouth, I love country music, and I want to take whoever was there with me into this record. All are welcome. But be respectful to your fellow human and have a good time. We’ll cry it out, we’ll dance, we’ll laugh. But my crowd is diverse for a reason, and that’s from occasionally putting myself in the social line of fire, and I wouldn’t change any part of that.

V: Totally. And speaking of your roots, one of your surprise Coachella appearances this year was a stunning rendition of “My Church” alongside a live gospel choir and the Los Angeles Philharmonic – what was that experience like almost ten years since the release of the track that catapulted your songwriting career into stardom?

MM: I mean, it was deeply emotional, even during the rehearsal the day before – we were at the Hollywood Bowl, which is where they typically perform, just walking out on stage, seeing that many people creating live music around me. I knew a couple other artists that were doing weekend one, and I was excited. I was like, I’m singing a song from my first album, which maybe some people in the crowd will know at Coachella, but it feels like this is a reset for me too. With a crowd that isn’t really mine, I’m getting access to the most talented people in the country to play on this song that means so much to me, and still to this day, is this powerfully-emotional song in my set. I’ve done Coachella once before with Zedd back in 2019, but so much has transpired. This felt like a victory lap, a lead up into me putting music out again. Having it layered with the brass and the full orchestra and the singers was really impactful – I felt like I was levitating, it was sunset, and I’m doing this full-circle moment of a song that changed my entire life. It was really special.

V: Yeah, that’s so cool. It looked incredible. On the topic of live performances, you’re also going on tour this summer and fall alongside special guests including Trousdale and Miya Folick! Can you give us any hints about what to expect? 

MM: I’ve been mood-boarding this tour since before last summer, so we’re going on a year of sending stuff in. I love creating mood boards for my team and creative director – everything from what the set list could potentially be to stage design lighting to merch, all the things. I love crafting every single part of the experience for the fan. So, we’ve definitely got some amazing stuff in the works. I’m so excited to have all of these openers. I have not gotten to tour in the UK or Europe since before COVID, so this feels like a proper album and tour. We’re also doing a mix of bigger clubs and amphitheaters. It just meant a lot to me to do something that feels like the fan is getting an intimate experience. But also, I don’t want the anxiety every night of being like, “Are we going to sell this out?” So I wanted to do something that felt like an underplay and be able to continue writing while I’m on the road. So in my mind, I plan on rolling this tour into different phases and being out for, like, two and a half years. But yeah, I’m so excited – it feels like it’s all mine, and there’s no one to let down or live up to or freak out. It’s truly my baby, and I can just be fully present for it each night – you’re on your own, but you have this community around you.