Ryan Hurd Reveals How Maren Morris Helped Shape His Career

Ryan Hurd met his wife, Maren Morris, in a co-writing session, when they penned "Last Turn Home" for Tim McGraw. Although Hurd has a successful songwriting career aside from Morris, writing songs for Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line and more, the Michigan native says it's Morris who still has the most influence on his career.

"We do this together, this thing," Hurd shared on the Ty, Kelly and Chuck Show. "You're each completely invested in each other's passion or carer or whatever it is. She had a lot to do with me putting out 'To a T,' as a song. But I think it comes down to, she just said, 'You're a great songwriter, and you need to put out songs that showcase that. That was really cool for her to say, 'The thing that you do best is this, and that needs to be the center of what you show people.'"

Hurd released a few singles prior to "To a T," including "Love in a Bar," which, in spite of fan reaction, failed to crack the Top 40. But although Hurd's artist career never fully launched – at least not yet – Hurd is happy exactly where he is right now.

"It's not like I got stuck in any way," Hurd maintained. "I put out 'Love in a Bar,' and I feel like that song was really successful despite the fact that it wasn't a huge hit. That part of my career was really important, and I was just getting going as an artist. I had no idea how to talk about myself. No idea how to talk to the fans. I didn't really have any, to be honest, at the time. I was on all these giant tours. I didn't know how to play live, and I didn't really know what I did well on stage."

The 32-year-old admits he might have been discouraged, if not for the support of his adoring spouse.

"Somebody telling you, 'Just take a deep breath, and do what you do well. Trust the fact that if you put out great stuff, people will follow,'" Hurd said. "We don't have No. 1 hits of mine as an artist yet, but it's really fun to have a song that you know people really like, and it's fun to walk into a place like [a radio station] and be like, 'I have tons of people who love this song.'"

Morris's words gave Hurd the peace, and permission, he needed to spend time working on the things that mattered the most to him.

"I had toured for like 18 months, and was so burned out, because I just didn't have enough music to play for people," said Hurd. "When you're just pounding it and pounding it and pounding it, and you're like, I'm playing the same four songs for 45 minutes. I've got nothing to offer."

Hurd does have a few dates on the calendar, which can be found on his website. Download "To a T" on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Getty images/John Shearer