10 Questions with ... Maren Morris

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All Access completes its "10 Questions" series on Country Radio Seminar (CRS) "New Faces of Country Music" performers with Columbia Nashville's Maren Morris. Born and raised in Texas, Maren grew up listening to Sheryl Crow, LeAnn Rimes, and Patsy Cline. At 20, she moved to Nashville, where she worked as a songwriter, until finally scoring a record deal with Columbia Nashville. Her success has been instantaneous: she already has won a CMA Award for New Artist Of The Year and a Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance with "My Church," off her debut album, "Hero." In addition to her CRS "New Faces" honor, Maren was also recently nominated for ACM Awards for Female Vocalist, New Female Vocalist, Album Of The Year, and Single Record Of The Year. Maren sat down with All Access to discuss the CRS honor; her album, "Hero;" and what else she hopes to accomplish this year.

1. Maren, congrats on being selected for the "New Faces of Country Music" show at CRS 2017. You've played to most of these folks before, but the setting is a little bit different. Can you tell us what it means for you to play this show - and if there's any different preparation for the show?

Not really. I think I'm going to know so many of the people in the audience. I've done so much radio in the last two years. Or maybe I'm just trying to not psych myself out by saying I'm not going to approach it like any other show. It's going to be fun! It's going to be at the end of the week; everyone will be in high spirits. I'm excited to be up there representing the new class!

2. You did bring up a good point. The nice thing is that you've probably met every person in that audience at least once, and you've probably played shows for some of these radio stations. So it's not like you're jumping into a room full of unfriendly strangers.

Exactly. I've already dipped my toe in the water. They've already heard these songs. I've already done CRS once before, and done a showcase, but obviously not at this magnitude. I feel like so many people that I know now were at that tiny showcase I did last year, so to be able to be on the big stage this time and be up there with Jon [Pardi] and Drake [White] and Granger [Smith] - I feel like it's going to be a big night!

3. So where were you when you found out that you had been selected to perform at CRS 2017 New Faces, and how did you react?

I think I was on the road. I was probably on my way to do another radio show! It was close to the holidays, and we were gearing up for all of that. I got the call from my manager that we had gotten "New Faces." I was so excited, because I remember the lineup last year was such a powerful one with Kelsea [Ballerini] and Brothers Osborne. To see what they've done in the year post-"New Faces" is incredible! I'm excited to be representing this new crop and to see what happens to all of our names in the next year.

4. You talk about the new crop. Obviously last year was a good year for female artists. Your exposure has expanded a little beyond Country. It's sort of more mass appeal. Do you feel any kind of leadership role in continuing the momentum for new female artists?

It's kind of a new thing where you feel: oh, I'm not just doing this for myself. I'm doing this for a generation of girls and guys that are listening to my music and feeling some connection to what I'm saying. There is a responsibility I've taken a hold of in the last year, where as long as I'm not stagnant, and I'm constantly scaring myself into being outside my comfort zone, that's the best way I can really represent this genre and also push it forward - not just for females, but the genre as a whole. I feel like there needs to be diversity all around. It's cool to have these opportunities within Country and outside Country music - winning Best New Artist at the CMAs and then being nominated for Best New Artist all-genre with Kelsea at the Grammys and getting to do things like "Saturday Night Live." It's really cool to represent Country, but also the new kind of Country! I don't take that lightly.

5. This leads into another question. There were a lot of things happening for you at the end of the year. A lot of people at that time were compiling year-end lists, where they were putting your album as the best Country album of the year. You played on the CMAs and won an award that night. Shortly after, the Grammy nominations were announced, then you were announced as a New Faces artist; next you were on "Saturday Night Live." All of these things are happening within a short period of time, and I'm just curious how you process that as a young person and a new artist?

That's a great question. I feel like I'm just now processing a lot of that. Even the CMA win and performance. That was such an overwhelming emotional night that it took me a second to realize what had happened and to let it sink in. I think having some time off around the holidays and spending a couple of weeks with my friends and family really just made it feel real finally. I have so many people around me that I keep really close, that keep me aware and humble as a person. At the end of the day, that's the person they knew before last year had happened. I know they keep me sane, so I feel really lucky to have a really great core group of friends in Nashville when I'm home and we all catch up. A lot of us are on the road as musicians so they get the life and that it has sort of reached a fever pitch for me. That is sort of how I've processed everything, to spend time with friends and have context for all of these moments and have it start to sink in and feel real. I think if this had happened in my teens or early twenties, I don't know how I would have processed anything. I think now that I'm about to be 27 and have had time to grow and not be as shocked by these things - they're shocking in a good way, but they're not going to change my identity as a human being. I think that it's a sweet spot to be in.

6. Your album, "Hero," seems to speak directly from the perspective of millennial females and their experiences with relationships - many of which seem very complicated. How much of these songs are autobiographical, if we may ask?

They're definitely all autobiographical. Even if I'm in a song like "Rich," I'm poking fun at a relationship in a very extreme way. It's happened to me, so yeah, it's all from the heart and from experience. I wouldn't have put it on my record if it wasn't. It's something I was craving to hear from a female perspective - or really just any perspective. It's a really cool time to be young, but not so young, or fresh-faced. I've definitely had some knocks at me personally and professionally, and you learn from those experiences. I think the age I'm at where you're in this in between phase - you're not in college or high school anymore, but you're not ready for really big life choices like marriage and children. It's that really beautiful in-between where you are young, but you're not naïve.

7. Right now in the format, there are so many influences that bring this thing together. The kinds of things are Pop and Rock and R&B, and they're all merging to make today's Country sound different than it was 10 or 20 years ago. Did your music listening growing up encompass all the things that we hear in Country radio right now? What was on the radar screen for Maren Morris when she's growing up that formed what we hear on this album?

I listened to a lot of different things. I was really influenced by Sheryl Crow early on - just as a songwriter, and like a badass musician. I loved her voice and that her songs were deep and communicative and lyrically sound, but also had moments of really uplifting fun catchy-ness. I loved that she blended those worlds, and you couldn't really classify her as one genre. It was a little Country, a little Rock, and a little Pop. She created her own sound. I was really influenced by her. I loved the Dixie Chicks, and I loved Shania Twain. I grew up listening to a lot of Classic Country like Hank Williams and Patsy Cline. Also, Fleetwood Mac, and a lot of Motown; I loved Chaka Kahn. When you listen to my record, hearing me sort of list off these artists one by one, you can probably hear semblances of each person and their music. I was really heavily influenced by all of those things. I just loved music that made me feel something.

8. So 2016 was obviously a breakout year. This year is looking even better. How do you take that momentum into 2017 and do you have any specific goals for this year that you hope to accomplish; that you can be proud of at the end of the year?

I sort of live by the notion of taking things one day at a time, otherwise if I looked at my calendar, I'd be really overwhelmed and have anxiety. I'd be like, holy shit my calendar is booked out for the entire year already! I definitely take things a day at a time. I'm just excited to get into rehearsals for my headline tour that starts in a couple of weeks, and it was exciting to obviously take the trip to the Grammys and have my family out there for that. We're going to C2C for a couple weeks in London and Glasgow and Dublin. Those are the things on the forefront that I'm starting to focus on, but I'm excited for it all. I'm most excited to start writing again.

9. I'm sure it's hard to sit down and settle down and do that. I saw you twice on the Keith Urban show last year, both in New Orleans and here in Nashville. You had all that time to see him, and later in his show you came out to play with him. He's such a great live performer, and that's where he really brings it in. Did you learn anything about playing live and in big arenas like that when you're out on the road with him that you can share with us?

Yeah. I was so used to playing smaller stages, so to be out on a stage of that size, you really have to explore the space and up your game, because it's not this intimate feel anymore. You're playing and trying to shoot energy into the back of the arena or stadium. I definitely learned how to do that better and just be more confident onstage and have more fun. Keith was a great teacher of that, because he's always just so high energy and is so in tune with every section of his audience. Everyone leaves that show feeling like he spoke to them. That's not an easy task for one person. I learned a lot from him on that tour. We just sold out our club tour, and I'm excited to - sort of on my own terms - meet these fans, and play for them, and have a longer set, and just get into it. I feel really excited to do that. It's gonna be such a fun few months doing that, and I have this incredible new artist Devin Dawson coming out to open a few shows, and then Ryan Hurd as well. It's going to be a really fun time!

10. We always like to talk to artists about the first time they heard their single on the radio. When "My Church" came out, where were you and how did you feel when you first heard it on the radio?

I was in Nashville, and it was snowing. It was the early part of last year, and I remember being on the highway, and I think I was going to Target or something, and I heard them start to set up, "This new artist...the song is called 'My Church,' and this is Maren Morris." I freaked out, so I had to pull over and listen to my song in its entirety. As an artist, you never forget that - the first time you hear your song coming out of the speakers. I was at home in Nashville, and luckily didn't crash. I really soaked that moment in, and I'll never forget it.