On June 2nd, shell join Keith Urban for a massive, five-month nationwide tour.
As Morris puts it, the gamble paid off.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What key in of music did you listen to growing up?
Credit: Burak Cingi/Redferns
MAREN MORRIS:I grew up listening to everything.
Im all over the map.
My parents were products of the 60s and 70s so I grew up listening to their catalog.
Then, as a family we got into classic country music when I was about nine or 10.
So I just started singing country, but I grew up with a lot of rock and pop.
you’re able to really hear all those influences in your music.
It just comes out innately when Im in the writing room.
Musically, everything is here.
Its really exploded here, genre-wise.
What are you most excited to learn or take away from your tour with Keith Urban?
Its a little bit of everything.
Both your record and Keiths push boundaries, musically, in a really interesting way.
I think thats what he had in mind when he asked me to join the tour.
He was starting his record and musically he knew it would be a really cool, different fit.
It says a lot about his gut reaction to my music.
Maybe one day well see a Maren Morris duet with Pitbull?
Oh god (laughs).
Many have pointed out the soft, quiet confidence in your vocal approach.
Who are some of your biggest vocal influences?
Ive always gravitated towards listening to female vocalists.
I grew up loving people like Sheryl Crow, Etta James, Chaka Khan.
Its a lot of nuance and subtleties.
I feel like I sing like I speak.
Fans have really taken to your song My Church.
What do you think theyre reacting to?
Do you think people are hearing something in your music that theyre not getting anywhere else?
Ive had fans tell me that the first time they heard the song they instantly knew the words.
Thats a good example.
Thank god Im not alone in this feeling.
Its a really universal emotion.
Do you listen to lots of pop radio and R&B these days?
I was actually just listening to the new Beyonce record.
I love her, its a Texas thing.
Im just so constantly inspired by how she really has no boundaries and doesnt need them.
She can get away with anything at this point.
I also love that Leon Bridges record and the new Rihanna record as well.
Im inspired by R&B.
Im inspired by Top 40 pop.
Its great to hear you singing R&B songs and Beyonce recording a country-leaning song like Daddy Lessons.
Its really refreshing, and it just solidifies proof that good music is good music.
Thats what it comes down to for me as a listener, and as a writer.
