“Anything anyone can say about me has already been said on the internet, and I’ve read it myself on TikTok,” country singer Megan Moroney candidly says.
The 28-year-old is in the midst of her biggest year yet, so it’s not that surprising that she doesn’t have time to dwell about what people who don’t know her have to say online. Moroney’s latest album, Cloud 9, landed the singer her first No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Her current tour is the biggest she’s ever embarked on, playing to arenas across the U.S. for the first time.
Moroney learned quickly, though, that being the open book she aims to be means that people are going to make connections between her lyrics and her personal life, even if they’re not there. “The Band-Aid’s already been ripped off,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter on a recent Zoom in between tour stops. “It was pretty brutal at the beginning when I realized that when I write about things, people are going to hyper-analyze my personal life. I didn’t realize how crazy it could get.”
The singer’s never been one to shy away from sharing details about her life in her music, and she’s not looking to change that anytime soon. She brings up “Who Hurt You,” a song from Cloud 9 that many fans online have speculated is about country singer Riley Green. Moroney has never explicitly confirmed the song’s about him or anyone else. And while she’s never named anyone as the track’s muse, she’s not coy about her intentions.
“I might as well have named first and last names,” she says about the song. “With more confidence, I can say my side of the story and this is how this situation made me feel. Maybe the other person took it a completely different way, but this is how my story went.”
But Moroney’s weary about going too far down that line of thought because it circles back to the overanalyzing people are quick to do. “It’s also not that deep,” she emphasizes.
“People forget that you can write songs about a feeling that maybe you felt really strongly for 10 minutes,” she says. “You’re super heated, and you can write that song and that song lives forever. But maybe 30 minutes later you’re like, ‘OK, it was never that serious.’”
Moroney’s headstrong outlook has helped her push through the ever-increasing country crowd to find mainstream success. The country genre’s had an upswing in recent years, and the singer’s glad her name has been part of the conversation. “I think that people really gravitate towards authenticity and country music has that, of course, and really, really deep storytelling,” she says. “After COVID people really craved realness and they wanted to hear stories where they could find music that would help them get through situations.”
Below, the country singer dishes on tour life, being recognized in public and her thoughts on being a woman in country music.
We finished the first leg, and the shows have definitely exceeded all my expectations. It’s so much fun. My fans sing every single word so loud, and it feels a lot bigger than a concert. It’s definitely an experience. It’s just one of those things where I haven’t really processed yet. I just moved to Nashville in 2020, so to even have two sold out shows at State Farm Arena — that’s the arena I grew up going to go see Justin Bieber as a kid. I have to process that this is real, but I’m sure in the coming months I will process.
Obviously an arena tour is different. It comes with new challenges and new fun things too. Have you noticed a difference in the way that touring at this scale has been for you?
Honestly, it’s just been a lot more fun for me because I always had a vision of being able to maximize my creativity and my ideas, but at the smaller venues and that kind of thing, you can’t really do all of the fun bells and whistles. On this arena tour, everything feels super intentional and thought out. It’s a very creative show. For that reason, I have more fun with it every single night because I’m getting to do everything I could ever want to do in a show.
What does a day off on a tour look like for you?
I love a spa day. I always try to find a Pilates studio or a Lagree [fitness] studio because that makes me feel better. Sometimes on tour, you’re too tired to work out, but it does make a huge difference in my mental health, as well as physically, obviously. I always try to get a workout in or a spa day, sleeping, watching Netflix and maybe shopping, or if there’s a body of water, I like to find a boat.
Have you noticed an increase of people recognizing you when you’re doing these things? What does those interactions with fans look like?
I actually was just on vacation down in Florida, and it’s definitely one of those things where now when I’m on vacation, my security guard comes, which is a new thing that definitely years ago I didn’t need. But it’s honestly so much fun. I grew up going to this place in Florida. It’s like down in 30A. I remember when I was in college, I had written four songs and was just a college student down there. Now, when I go down there, it’s like I can’t go out without people recognizing me and wanting photos, but they’re so nice. I also know if I wanted a true vacation, where I’m just relaxing, I should probably go somewhere random, not somewhere that everyone knows I go.
They definitely recognize me, but they’re always so sweet, which obviously makes a huge difference. I’m always happy to take pictures with people. I would say on the days where I just truly am not feeling it — because there are definitely some days where I can’t have any human interaction. I just stay at home and that would be a bed rot day. My friend Kenny Chesney said there’s a lot worse things people could come up to you and say other than like, “Hey, I love your music, love you.” I guess I’m kind of new to it still, so I definitely don’t mind.
Do you ever have any anxieties around like maybe you are having an off day and you aren’t the most into talking with people?
Yeah, I do. Honestly, the only time I’m truly anxious is if I am somewhere without my security guard because then it becomes a safety thing. I want to assume people are nice, but when I’m approached and don’t have someone with me, that’s been starting to freak me out for whatever reason. But honestly, even when I’m not feeling it, I just take the picture anyways. If I’ve got time to, obviously. If I’m going somewhere and don’t have time to take pictures with 20 people, then we got to keep it pushing. But anytime I do have time or if anybody recognizes me in person, even if I’m not feeling it’s like, well, this will take 20 seconds of my time, and it’ll make their life. I can go be in a shitty mood after this, but I should at least smile for two seconds.
How do you feel about carving out your own space as a woman in country music? Being a woman in popular music at all, you’re often held to a different standard than your male counterparts.
Honestly, I don’t even view anything like that as an issue or something that can’t be overcome. I kind of just focus on my goals, and it’s like, maybe this will be harder for me to get here because of this reason, but I think it can become really negative when you think about it that way. It’s kind of just got to be like, “Well, this might be a little bit harder for me, but I’m going to do it and this is my goal and I’ll get there.” It might be annoying that it requires me a little bit more effort, and I’m judged more harshly and all this other stuff, but I don’t think dwelling on that stuff has ever been productive.
How do you feel about social media these days? Do you think comments ever stop you from wanting to share about yourself?
I definitely feel just overall more confident. I used to let everything that I saw about myself on the internet really stress me out. But like I said, dwelling on the negative stuff, it never does anything productive. It’s difficult, but whenever I see something where someone’s misunderstanding me and they don’t get it or they’re twisting my words or whatever it is — there’s a lot more people out there that love me and my music, and perhaps this person just had too much time on their hands that day, and I kind of just keep it pushing.
Source: Hollywood Reporter — This article was automatically imported from the source. Read full article at original source →
