One of the most enjoyable aspects of being a music fan is seeing who the next up-and-comers are. Can you spot them before they get big? Can you predict who will be shaking stadiums soon with their hit singles? Not to mention the joy and rush of energy when a new song from an unknown face sinks into your bones and makes you smile anew.
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It’s for those reasons and more that country singer Megan Moroney is climbing up the charts in the hearts of many. The photogenic blonde singer and songwriter with a keen, raspy voice is on everyone’s tongue these days. So, let’s dive into why.
[RELATED: Megan Moroney Talks Debut Album ‘Lucky’: “Everything I Love About Country Music”]
Her Origins
Born on October 9, 1997, in Savannah, Georgia, Moroney took to music as a kid, learning piano and listening to country tunes. Later, in college at the University of Georgia, Moroney interned for country artist Kristian Bush of the popular band, Sugarland. It’s through this connection that Moroney’s life changed, propelling her into modern country success. Indeed, Bush has described Moroney as “a vintage car that can fly.”
“My music and taste are influenced by a lot of different artists,” Moroney tells American Songwriter. “I had my mom’s taste growing up, which was country radio, and my dad who was really into James Taylor, Eagles, and Gram Parsons.”
She continues, “Then growing up, I developed a love for my own artists that I discovered. Those are Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert, and Taylor Swift. So I think that you’ll probably hear hints of all those people throughout the album.”
“Tennessee Orange”
In 2022, Moroney released her second single, “Tennesee Orange,” which she co-wrote (she writes or co-writes all of her music) and which was produced by Bush. That song rocketed Moroney to country stardom, even earning her first CMT Award for Breakthrough Female Video of the Year in 2022.
The song is about the love of a region and a football team as much as it is with another person. And if those conflict? Well, Moroney is so deep into it, that she’s willing to wear another’s colors. In the song, she plays on that heart-pounding moment when a girl wears her beau’s varsity jacket.
“I called my mom immediately after that happened,” Moroney tells American Songwriter. “I was just freaking out because I didn’t expect to win. I remember thinking, ‘Did I even speak English’ after I got backstage. I think I just blacked out.”
The success of “Tennessee Orange” came as a shock to Moroney, who released the song on an as-needed basis for a collaboration with Spotify.
“The only reason we released it was because Spotify gave us an opportunity where I needed to release an original song and the timing happened to be football season,” she says. “In the first five days, I had a million streams and my numbers weren’t like that on any of my other stuff.”
For Moroney, who often posts on social media, the song led to rumors that she was dating country standout Morgan Wallen, too, though she never did confirm.
Lucky
This year, Moroney released her debut album, Lucky, a 13-song LP that includes “Tennessee Orange” as well as the record’s second single, “I’m Not Pretty.” That song is about catty behavior in which, Moroney speculates, her ex’s new girlfriend begins to scroll through Moroney’s social media accounts, tearing Moroney down as her friends laugh, saying Moroney is not pretty.
The album also includes the melancholy song, “Girl in the Mirror,” which talks about emotional moments, crazed feelings, tears, and more. What happens when you don’t recognize yourself? That’s what Moroney croons about.
As for the album itself, it hit No. 38 on the Billboard Top 200 and No. 10 on the Billboard Top Country Albums. Of the record, Moroney tells American Songwriter, “I wanted my first record to be basically everything I love about country music. I wanted to make people feel all kinds of things. ‘Lucky’ is a party song. ‘Girl in the Mirror’ is obviously really sad. ‘Sleep On My Side’ is funny. It covers many things.”
Final Thoughts
In some ways, Moroney is the real-life person that is written about in Dolly Parton’s co-written novel, Run, Rose, Run. Like the fictional AnnieLee Keyes, Moroney is a beautiful, young ingénue with talent in spades here to shake up the country world with her own songs, fresh perspective, and unabashed skills.
Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images for CMT
