Maren Morris made headlines in September when she announced that she would no longer participate in the country music industry, but the singer has now clarified that that doesn’t mean she has intentions to leave the genre fully.
Clarifies She’s Not Leaving Country Music
During a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Morris addressed her initial comments when a fan called in to ask how her art will sound in the future “since you are leaving country music.”
“I will clarify I’ve not left country music — that was the headline,” Morris replied. “What I said was I’m leaving behind the sort of toxic parts of it. And that’s like in any part of the music industry, just certain things that I’m in control of. I want to take the good parts with me.”
Says Initial Interview About Leaving Country Music “Click Bait”
The singer added that she has always written her music in a “genre-bendy” way, and because of where she’s from, there will always be country elements to her music.
“I’m from Texas, I grew up on all that music, so the way I write, the way I sing, that’s what comes out — whatever genre I’m doing or feature I’m doing,” she said. “I think it was a headline, clickbait that got blown up. I make music.”
The fan had also asked Morris about what it’s like working with producer Jack Antonoff, who produced her recently-released song “Get The Hell Out of Here.”
“I’m working with Jack, he’s amazing, I love him,” she said. “We’ve been working kind of on and off all year. I’m also working with a few other people too, so I’m in writing mode.”
New Project, The Bridge
Along with “Get the Hell Out of Here,” Morris also released “The Tree” in September, which was produced by Greg Kurstin. Both songs together were part of a project called The Bridge, which Morris likened to a metaphorical bridge from one part of her career to the next.
“These two songs are incredibly key to my next step because they express a very righteously angry and liberating phase of my life these last couple of years, but also how my navigation is finally pointing towards the future, whatever that may be or sound like,” she said in a press release at the time. “Honoring where I’ve been and what I’ve achieved in country music, but also freely moving forward.”
Feels “Very Distanced” From Country Music
Morris had initially made headlines for leaving country music after an interview with the Los Angeles Times, in which she said that she felt “very distanced” from the genre.
“I had to take a step back. The way I grew up was so wrapped in country music, and the way I write songs is very lyrically structured in the Nashville way of doing things. But I think I needed to purposely focus on just making good music and not so much on how we’ll market it,” she reflected. “The last few records, that’s always been in the back of my mind: Will this work in the country music universe?”
Morris added that the “drama” within the country music community is what led her to “step outside out of it” and noted, “I thought I’d like to burn it to the ground and start over. But it’s burning itself down without my help.”
The Los Angeles Times confirmed that Morris has moved to Columbia Records from its Nashville division, and Morris is now working on a new album.
