Nashville native pop singer MORGXN has spent years fighting to tell his story — and on April 8, he’s taking the stage at Bridgestone to encourage others to do the same.
On the heels of a new album release, Morgan Karr, known by his stage name MORGXN, has been slated to perform at the inaugural Freely Fest alongside headliners The Killers, T-Pain, Avery Anna, Janelle Monae and Dominic Fike on Wednesday.
Nashville-based singer-songwriter Morgan Karr, known by his stage name Morgxn, at Love Circle Park in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025.
The festival is a creative event sponsored by the Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan nonprofit which works to promote the First Amendment, seeking to mix music and advocacy for the First Amendment in the heart of Music City.
For Morgxn, the opportunity to perform at Nashville’s biggest indoor arena in the name of First Amendment freedoms is a dream come true.
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“I use my platform to speak about the freedom of all humans to live and love on this earth,” he said. “Music is a place where the full expression of humanity is on full display. There’s no better view into how important the First Amendment is than through music.”
Morgxn has all the hallmarks of classic talent born from Music City: a third-generation Nashville resident and musician, he writes and performs while running his farm in Sumner County.
But on top of using his voice for song, Morgxn uses it for change: he is an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights and gun reform in Tennessee. His experience as an activist has made him passionate about encouraging others to use their voices, too.
MORGXN performs in Washington, D.C. with American Pops Orchestra on Sunday, Sept. 21.
“I had a manager tell me in 2011 that I would never make it in music as an openly gay person in Nashville,” he said. “I like to say that’s probably the least interesting thing that I’ll say (with my music).”
Morgxn has been a regular fixture of advocacy events and protests at the state capitol for years. His new album “Heartland,” released on March 6, came out amid a lengthy slate of legislation proposed at the Tennessee General Assembly that focuses on limiting the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people and challenging the protections of two U.S. Supreme Court decisions on state law.
More: Tennessee Equality Project rallies against legislative “crisis”
He said the timing of the album, and the Freely Fest, “felt like destiny.”
“The First Amendment is for everybody,” he said. “That’s not a partisan issue. That’s a human issue. If we go gray on the First Amendment, we lose the rainbow. We lose the whole the whole point of America.”
More: Reclaiming the Heartland: Why pop singer MORGXN, a Nashville native, never gave up on home
Without giving away too much of his set at Freely Fest, Morgxn said he will be singing songs that have previously seen censorship efforts and pushback. Between the festival and his new album, he hopes the songs encourage people to be courageous in the face of societal and governmental pressure to be silent.
Nashville-based singer-songwriter Morgan Karr, known by his stage name Morgxn, at Love Circle Park in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025.
“We have a democracy problem where people don’t remember their weight when it comes to voting and making a difference,” he said. “The line between delusion and hope is a fickle one, but I choose to believe. And that is what the First Amendment affords me — the right to remember and remind myself through music that I’m not alone and feeling the weight of this time.
“I think about what it would have been like for artists to live freely as themselves, not just with the weight of the First Amendment, but the weight of cultural shifts that afforded me the ability to be so open,” he said, audibly tearing up. “And this makes me so emotional. I can never go backwards, because so many artists came before me, pushing in this direction of hope.”
Freely Fest tickets are on sale now at FreelyFest.org.
The USA TODAY Network – The South region’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: MORGXN to perform at Freely Fest with The Killers, T-Pain, more
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