Maren Morris is ‘Very Concerned’ About the Status of Country Music

Maren Morris is one of a few female artists who has consistently found success on the charts in country music, but that doesn’t mean she’s immune to the problem her peers are facing.

“I’m so appreciative of the success I’m having right now, and I never want to make it sound like I’m sad about it,” Morris shared on the Ty Bentli Show. “But I am very concerned for my friends that are putting great music out that are women. It’s so confusing. I’m very proud when they told me I was the most played woman on the radio, country radio, this past year.

“That’s such a huge honor,” she continued, “but I also am like, ‘Where’s Carly [Pearce]? Where’s Cassadee [Pope]? Where’s RaeLynn?’ I want those people to be championed as well. And I also thought Carrie Underwoood gave such a great interview on the Women Want to Hear Women podcast, because she’s the most successful in the whole genre, and she even is vocal about needing more of that love for women’s perspective, or just the human perspective.”

Morris might have been the most played woman on country radio, but she hasn’t been immune to struggles. The 28-year-old admits she had her own setbacks along the way, and still battles insecurity.

“There was a label here in town that passed on me twice,” Morris revealed. “I did two different showcases for them, and even after ‘My Church,’ I had written that and was performing it, and they passed again. I was like, ‘Okay, either this song sucks, and I have deaf ears for it, or they just don’t get me, and that’s okay.’ I didn’t feel like quitting, but I definitely was putting all my eggs in this one label’s basket, and I was like, ‘If they don’t get it, they don’t get it, and I maybe need to seek elsewhere.’

“It all worked out,” she added. “Even two weeks ago, I’ll have a mental breakdown and I’ll be like, ‘Everyone hates me and I need to get off social media,’ and all that crap.”

Morris just released her debut single, “GIRL,” from her upcoming, still-untitled sophomore album. The song, which Morris co-wrote, addresses the struggles she, and likely other females, face.

“There’s a line in the verse where it says, ‘I don’t like myself right now,’” Morris told SiriusXM’s The Highway. “That’s a really tough message to admit, that I’m not killing it right now. I’m really not on my game. And I just need to accept that for today, and tomorrow is a new day.’ I think that allows people to realize, just because you’re an artist, doesn’t mean that you’re successful every single day, and you’re celebrating that success every day.

“There’s dark sides to everything,” she continued. “I’ve had to do a lot of soul-diving this past year, personally and professionally. Getting married, and going into this new phase artistic-ness with this song, and this album.”

Morris will kick off her GIRL: The World Tour on March 9 in Chicago. Find dates, and download “GIRL” at MarenMorris.com.

Photo Credit: Getty images/Mat Hayward