Audrey McGraw is nervous about cursing. \u201cMy mom\u2019s going to be so mad at me,\u201d she laughs after dropping an f-bomb as Sheryl Crow, quick to make her feel comfortable, rattles off a list of curse words in the background. \u201cOh my God, I love you,\u201d McGraw says, with Crow topping it all off with a grand \u201casshole.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crow, Maren Morris, and McGraw have come together at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City for Three Generations of Songwriters, the second episode of the new series that brings three women together for a cross-generational conversation. Crow is a genre-eclipsing music icon who\u2019s about to play a series of acoustic shows in Nashville, Tennessee, called the Love Now Sessions. Morris, a country-pop mainstay, recently released the deluxe edition of her album Dreamsicle and is currently on the road for her grand tour. McGraw recently opened for Brandi Carlile and is headlining a show at Cafe Wha? in New York City at the end of the month. The three women have many threads connecting them, and they come together to discuss the music industry, their outspoken natures, and how songwriting can truly impact the world.<\/p>\n
Watch the full video above, and read highlights from their conversation below.<\/p>\n
Camisol, vintage. Jacket, RRL. Jeans, Ramy Brook. Boots, Matiko.<\/span> Rona Ahdout<\/span><\/p>\n Maren Morris: <\/strong>You\u2019ve always been so supportive of me. I think one of my first \u201cI\u2019ve made it\u201d moments was getting a voicemail from you, and the fact that it was not an Instagram DM. You found my phone number and called me.<\/p>\n Sheryl Crow: <\/strong>I stalked you.<\/p>\n MM: <\/strong>You heard \u201cMy Church.\u201d It was before AI and all this stuff. I was like, \u201cIs this real? Is it really her?\u201d I had to confirm with someone we both knew that it was your number. You had been so influential for me since I was a kid, but it never occurred to me that I could just do whatever I wanted. You just fit where your music fit. You were blowing down these bumpers on the lanes. That voicemail you left gave me a lot of perspective. I could do this in any way I want. I have the co-sign of Sheryl.<\/p>\n Audrey McGraw: <\/strong>I used to sing \u201cIf It Makes You Happy\u201d to myself in the mirror all the time. Like, screaming, crying\u2026not even singing.<\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>I used to sing \u201cLandslide\u201d [by Fleetwood Mac] with the curling iron.<\/p>\n AM: <\/strong>I don\u2019t even know where it came from, because I was a kid. I\u2019m like, \u201cWhy do I have this much rage?\u201d<\/p>\n MM: <\/strong>Because it\u2019s in that iconic scene in Crossroads with Britney Spears.<\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>I met you, [Audrey], it might not have even been the first time, but early, early days. I was living in L.A., and you, your dad, and your sisters came and swam in the pool. Then I would run across Faith, and it was all about our kids. I was constantly hearing about you. Next thing I know, you\u2019re opening for Brandi Carlile.<\/p>\n AM: <\/strong>I still have to play [opening for Brandi] back in my memory. It was so cool, and she\u2019s just the best. This is how I feel about the both of you. You guys are able to inspire in a way where you don\u2019t have to confine [yourselves] to one thing. Yet, you still stay very grounded in what your artistry is and allow yourself to explore. It\u2019s very empowering.<\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>It\u2019s hard for people to talk to you about you.<\/p>\n MM: <\/strong>I was talking to someone the other day about whether you can truly enjoy music or songwriting while watching a show anymore. Sometimes, it\u2019s hard for me to not go into writer-brain or vocalist-brain. When you do have someone who removes that analytical part of you, and you just get to be a feeler, it\u2019s so rare.<\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>I recommend weed.<\/p>\n MM: <\/strong>I\u2019ll be more analytical because I\u2019m high.<\/p>\n Dress, Marina Moscone. Shoes, Alexandre Birman. <\/span> Rona Ahdout<\/span><\/p>\n AM: <\/strong>The first solid song I wrote [at 17], and I called it \u201cMental Breakdown.\u201d I showed it to my parents, [Tim McGraw and Faith Hill], and I was so scared. Everything I made, I hid, not because they were harsh or unsupportive. It was just a lot of pressure.<\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>These are not just your normal parents. They know a little something about writing songs.<\/p>\n AM: <\/strong>\u201cI showed them this one song. My dad was like, \u201cWhy are you going to drama school? Why do you want to be an actor? Are you sure?\u201d….That song hasn\u2019t seen the light of day. But I think he gave me the confidence [to pursue music] after I showed him the song.<\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>Now watch, you\u2019ll put that out someday, and it\u2019ll be your biggest song.<\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>I really don\u2019t think I felt like I was a great songwriter until \u201cMy Favorite Mistake.\u201d I was playing bass and Jeff [Trott] was playing those chords. I started singing on the mic, and then filled in the blanks. It felt like something that had already been written. I called Aimee Mann. I was like, \u201cI\u2019ve written a song, and I think you might have written it already.\u201d She\u2019s like, \u201cNo, I have not written that song, but I wish I would have.\u201d Then I called my publisher. I felt like I\u2019d stolen this song. It\u2019s still the only song I\u2019ll hear on the radio of mine that I don\u2019t [turn down].<\/p>\n MM: <\/strong>This is interesting to say out loud, and with you, [Audrey], here. It was eight months into me living there, and I wrote this song with my now ex-husband, who I love dearly, called \u201cLast Turn Home.\u201d The next day, it felt like an episode of the show Nashville. They were like, \u201cTim McGraw is recording this. He heard [the demo] on his way home last night.\u201d I was like, \u201cBullshit.\u201d They threw an album release party. He played a couple of songs. [Faith] pulled me aside and was like, \u201cThis is one of my favorites on this album.\u201d That was my first cut. It gave me so much street cred on Music Row, because it was my first big recording from another artist, and it was Tim.<\/p>\n Rona Ahdout<\/span><\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>It\u2019s really funny when I think about how much our industry\u2019s changed. When I was writing my second record, there was a shooting by a kid who had gone into a Walmart and had bought killer bullets. I just found that to be shocking. Anyone could just go in, buy a gun, and kill somebody. When the album was coming out, because I had named Walmart [on the song about that called \u201cLove Is a Good Thing\u201d], they said they wouldn\u2019t carry my record. At that time, it was Target, Kmart, and Walmart\u2014Walmart being the predominant one. They did tell me if I changed it to Kmart, they would carry it. That\u2019s where music and politics sometimes intersect. People knew that they might have to find a way to find it. The news was everywhere. People went and bought the record because of that.<\/p>\n MM: <\/strong>After George Floyd\u2019s murder, I wrote a song called \u201cBetter Than We Found It.\u201d<\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>When you put that song out, first I was just like, \u201cOh my god, I love it,\u201d and then I was like, \u201cDammit, I wanted to write that song. I wish I would have written that.\u201d So good.<\/p>\n MM: <\/strong>It started a conversation, which was the point.<\/p>\n AM:<\/strong> I\u2019ve never understood the critique that artists get for speaking out about their beliefs. It\u2019s part of who we are. Politics are humanity. It affects everyone. Why shouldn\u2019t artists be humans, too?<\/p>\n MM: <\/strong>We\u2019re mirrors. Artists, songwriters, [and] creatives are mirrors to what\u2019s happening in society. I\u2019ve had Tucker Carlson talking shit about me. I\u2019ve of course dealt with the backlash over the years of being more than just a voice on a song.<\/p>\n SC: \u201c<\/strong>Why don\u2019t you just shut up and sing?\u201d I\u2019ve read that about 9,000 times.<\/p>\n MM: <\/strong>Which is physically impossible! You can\u2019t fucking shut up and sing. I\u2019ve never understood that. I\u2019ve lost fans along the way who thought I was this \u201cMy Church\u201d girl, and it\u2019s still a daily struggle. You sort of have to accept I\u2019m growing and I\u2019m changing. That kind of makes some people uncomfortable, but I can\u2019t do the same revolving door that a lot of people do, because they want to keep the dollars in their pocket. They\u2019re terrified of losing what they\u2019ve built, which is completely understandable. It\u2019s also just not for me.<\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>What do you see yourself doing?<\/p>\n AM: <\/strong>I love being in the studio. That\u2019s my favorite place. I love performing. It took me a long time to really have the confidence to actually pursue music. I have stage fright. It took me a long time to overcome that. I still get really nervous, but now that I feel more comfortable when I\u2019m onstage, I don\u2019t want to get off. I see myself playing gigs as much as I can, and playing little bars as much as I can, because that\u2019s the best.<\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>It\u2019s good to get that experience. I feel like if I had to come up now, I would really struggle with it. There\u2019s so much attention with cell phones, YouTube. When I first came up, there weren\u2019t any cell phones. There are a lot of years in there where I just got to be terrible before I could figure out how to be really great. There wasn\u2019t scrutiny. But for you guys, it\u2019s a different thing.<\/p>\n Top, Mango Studio. Jeans, Joe\u2019s Jeans. Shoes, Tony Bianco.<\/span> Rona Ahdout<\/span><\/p>\n AM: <\/strong>I\u2019m so bad at it. I post the most random stuff on my social media. I hear what my mom and dad talk about. They had so much room to mess up. There\u2019s a magnifying glass on artists these days. Your every move when you perform or release something obviously gets seen.<\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>You\u2019re having to promote yourself and curate a brand, which I would have been terrible at.<\/p>\n MM: <\/strong>I was talking to Zedd years ago about these sort of algorithmic numbers and hits on a post. He was like, \u201cI could have literally four likes on my post and nothing is translating to the show. The real bodies are at the show.\u201d Engagement on a post translating to people showing up for something, buying merch, and being in that room with you is so unscalable sometimes.<\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>My mom does not make memories anymore. But, when I play the piano, my mom suddenly is my mom. Her voice was always amazing. I can play Burt Bacharach or Henry Mancini, and she\u2019s immediately back in it. Burt Bacharach died a few years ago. He knew all day long he had hits. He had songs recorded by everyone, by the greatest. But can you ever know that after you\u2019re gone, a song could connect someone to somebody they\u2019re losing? You don\u2019t even know what song you have might go on without you. What a tremendous occupation.<\/p>\n AM: <\/strong>The music will always be there. It truly impacts people, music, and art in general.<\/p>\n MM: <\/strong>Your songs are eternalized. They end up living without you and take on different meanings to other people. That\u2019s just me having songs around for 10 or 15 years that already have evolved into something that was different from the day I wrote it.<\/p>\n SC: <\/strong>I also think of it in terms of what you leave behind. As I get older, I think about some of the people I\u2019m witnessing now and think, Are you going to be proud of what you\u2019re leaving behind? That\u2019s just my snarky comment.<\/p>\n Listen to ELLE and Spotify\u2019s collaborative playlist celebrating the series below.<\/p>\n On Sheryl Crow: Hair by Jo Baker; makeup by Mark Townsend. On Maren Morris: Hair by Dina DiPietro; makeup by Mikol. On Audrey McGraw: Styling by Emily Sanchez; hair by Damian Monzillo; makeup by Viktorija Bowers.<\/p>\n This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.<\/p>\n You Might Also Like<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Audrey McGraw is nervous about cursing. \u201cMy mom\u2019s going to be so mad at me,\u201d she laughs after dropping an f-bomb as Sheryl Crow, quick to make her feel comfortable, rattles off a list of curse words in the background. \u201cOh my God, I love you,\u201d McGraw says, with Crow topping it all off with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2088876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[369938,354643,354155,354063,312687],"class_list":["post-2088875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-audrey-mcgraw","tag-brandi-carlile","tag-maren-morris","tag-mcgraw","tag-sheryl-crow"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Sheryl-Crow-Maren-Morris-and-Audrey-McGraw-on-What-Music.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2088875"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2088877,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2088875\/revisions\/2088877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2088876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2088875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2088875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2088875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On the ties that bind them<\/h2>\n
On making and experiencing music<\/h2>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
On the first song that made them feel like a songwriter<\/h2>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
On being outspoken<\/h2>\n
On what comes next<\/h2>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
On social media<\/h2>\n
On the power of music<\/h2>\n
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