{"id":1235037,"date":"2025-03-12T20:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T20:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/?p=1235037"},"modified":"2025-03-12T20:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T20:38:09","slug":"megan-moroney-goes-deep-on-am-i-okay-beyonce-and-her-new-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/pt\/megan-moroney-goes-deep-on-am-i-okay-beyonce-and-her-new-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Megan Moroney Goes Deep on \u2018Am I Okay?,\u2019 Beyonce, and Her New Music"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\t\t<\/span>here it is,\u201d Megan Moroney<\/a> says, looking out of the tour bus window while slipping on white cowboy boots and a camo hoodie. \u201cThe promised land!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe sun is setting over endless rows of gas pumps on a windy January night in Crossville, Tennessee. Six massive fluorescent \u00adletters and a cartoon beaver in a red cap \u00adilluminate our way. We\u2019ve arrived at that roadway mecca common to the Southern U.S.: Buc-ee\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe overstimulation hasn\u2019t started yet,\u201d she warns me as we walk into the massive chain store, which is sort of like a gas station crossed with a HomeGoods, plus a pinch of Disneyland. It\u2019s my first time at a Buc-ee\u2019s, and I\u2019m getting the Megan Moroney tour. \u201cWhere should I take you first?\u201d she asks, scanning about. \u201cThe home section\u2019s over here, but I\u2019m going to save that for later.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tMoroney scurries by Buc-ee\u2019s-branded Squishmallows, Louis Vuitton-\u00adduped handbags, and mounds of beef jerky, as customers discreetly turn their heads to watch her hot-pink hat weave through the aisles. It\u2019s not long before a mom in a hoodie and sweats approaches Moroney. \u201cExcuse me,\u201d she says sheepishly. \u201cI don\u2019t mean to be a pain, but my daughter wanted me to ask, \u2018Are you Megan?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI am,\u201d Moroney responds with a grin, spotting a shy teenager opposite the aisle with pickled quail eggs. \u201cTell her to come on over.\u201d The girl hugs Moroney before posing for a photo. Once the first brave fan says hello, other shoppers follow suit.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor them, it\u2019s hard to believe that the Country Music Association\u2019s New Artist of the Year<\/a> is at Buc-ee\u2019s on a random Friday night, buying bedazzled wine glasses and a kitchen towel bearing the phrase \u201cQueen of Damn Near Everything.\u201d But Buc-ee\u2019s is near and dear to the rising star\u2019s heart. \u201cWhen I used to tour in the rental cars and church vans, finding a Buc-ee\u2019s was like you hit gold on the road,\u201d she says with a laugh.<\/p>\n

\n\tRight now, Moroney\u2019s on her way from a songwriting session in Crossville to a gig opening for Alan Jackson in Oklahoma City, and she\u2019s dropping me off in Nashville on the way. We pulled up to Buc-ee\u2019s in the brand-new bus she\u2019ll bring on the road for tour dates that stretch through October, and she\u2019s just starting to decorate it. (Later, she\u2019ll proudly display her purchases: a cow-shaped sponge she hangs over the sink, and a cast-iron pan she slides into a drawer, even though no one on tour cooks. \u201cOur only weapon on the bus,\u201d she jokes.) The house-on-wheels is the nicest Moroney\u2019s ever gotten. It has sliding electric doors, a vanity mirror, a walk-in closet with Moroney\u2019s white dress for her show tomorrow, and a fake-fireplace heater she\u2019s excited to show me.<\/p>\n

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\n\tThings have changed since those days of rental cars and church vans. In 2022, the singer\u2019s career skyrocketed after she released \u201cTennessee Orange<\/a>,\u201d a tender ballad about putting aside her family\u2019s college football loyalties for a boy who treats her well. Its sweet lyrics, \u201cHe ain\u2019t from where we\u2019re from\/But he feels like home,\u201d spawned a TikTok trend that would lead to offers from 18 different labels. (She ended up signing to Sony Music Nashville\/Columbia.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMoroney has built her profile as a prolific songwriter with a rough-hewn voice reminiscent of early Miley Cyrus. She has an inimitable way of telling stories about love in the internet age while staying true to country music\u2019s roots. (\u201cYou say that your phone\u2019s gonna die\/Then you just go put it on silent,\u201d she sings over banjo and steel guitar on \u201cI Know You.\u201d) \u201cShe\u2019s song-oriented.\u2026 She couldn\u2019t care less about being a celebrity,\u201d says Kenny Chesney, for whom Moroney opened last year. \u201cShe cares what her music means to people \u2014 and making sure they get the best of everything she does.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMoroney, 27, may have built an audience by posting TikToks of herself singing in the car, but now, she\u2019s learning how to feed the genre\u2019s old-school radio machine, crafting songs that fit seamlessly on FM airwaves: \u201cLike a 6\u20192\u2033 dream, heaven-sent\/He says what he means, and he means what he says\/And he\u2019s funny, and he\u2019s smart\/And he\u2019s good in\u2014\u201d she coyly croons on the radio hit \u201cAm I Okay?\u201d So far, she\u2019s released a pair of excellent albums, won CMA and ACM awards, and has collected fans the likes of Tate McRae, Lana Del Rey, and Olivia Rodrigo, who came to her 2023 show at the Troubadour in L.A. and sang along to every word<\/a> of her songs. \u201cShe\u2019s brave as fuck,\u201d says Sugarland\u2019s Kristian Bush, Moroney\u2019s go-to producer, of her songwriting. \u201cI can\u2019t believe she puts some of these things in her songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tMoroney\u2019s appeal isn\u2019t just emotion and lyrics, however: Aesthetically, she\u2019s a Southern-belle Barbie. She styles her wavy blond hair with \u201c10 pounds of extensions\u201d and a hairspray-glued pouf on special occasions, and pairs minidresses with her signature white boots. She\u2019s fun to watch and connects with both girls who want to be like her and guys who might want to be with<\/em> her. \u201cIt\u2019s the juxtaposition of my vulnerable, emotional songs with someone that looks very put-\u00ad<\/sup>together and over-the-top,\u201d Moroney says. \u201cThis is who I am. And if that\u2019s the barrier that makes you not want to listen to my music, then \u2026\u201d Moroney shrugs.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile Moroney began playing guitar at a young age, she didn\u2019t even try to write a song until she was in college, making her something of a late bloomer. \u201cI have worked my ass off,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I will say that the positive things have happened quicker than I expected them to, which is nice.\u2026 It\u2019s funny, because this used to be a hobby for me, and now it\u2019s my whole life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA FEW DAYS BEFORE our Buc-ee\u2019s visit, Moroney and I meet at SkyHouse Nashville, the 25-story apartment building near Music Row that Moroney moved into after graduating from the University of Georgia. This is where it all started for her in 2020: She had her first writing sessions here (over Zoom), and penned \u201cWhy Johnny,\u201d a poignant ballad about Johnny and June Carter Cash\u2019s relationship that appears on her 2023 debut, Lucky.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tMoroney hasn\u2019t been back to SkyHouse in years. But as soon as she arrives this morning, dressed in navy sweats and Uggs, the memories come rushing back. \u201cI just ran in and hugged the door guy,\u201d Moroney says of a smiley, bald man named Bob who takes me in the elevator to meet Moroney. \u201cMe and Megan?\u201d he says when we get to the ninth floor. \u201cWe go way, way back.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is who I am. if [looks] are the barrier that makes you not listen, then\u2026\u201d Moroney shrugs.<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe Moroney that Bob the Doorman first met was a lifestyle influencer who wanted to make music. When she arrived in Nashville in the thick of the pandemic, Moroney already had an online presence as a content creator, built around her photogenic sorority-girl lifestyle at UGA. She jokes that her Instagram Stories would often go from a clip of her playing the guitar to an ad encouraging her followers to \u201cuse my code for 20 percent off.\u201d She was pushing everything from beauty products to Bud Light bottles to a following of more than 60,000.<\/p>\n

\n\tWorking as an influencer helped pay the bills \u2014 Moroney says she\u2019d sometimes cover a month\u2019s rent with a single video \u2014 and gave her a leg up in finding her creative voice. \u201cI could do pretty much anything because I was making money on the internet rather than having a 9-to-5,\u201d she says, switching between sips of her caramel cream cold brew and an Alani Nu energy drink, her latest brand collab. \u201cIf I had a marketing job out of college, I wouldn\u2019t have the freedom and mental space to get good at songwriting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMoroney grew up in Douglasville, Georgia, 20 miles outside of Atlanta. She got her first guitar as consolation from her dad following a heartbreak that felt \u201clike you\u2019re falling off of a cliff,\u201d she says. (It was a Taylor, and she still has it.) Her dad, who played in a band but kept a full-time job in sales, spent hours teaching her chords. Not long after, she injured her knee while doing cheer and was forced to recover in a wheelchair for two months. \u201cI was like, the guitar fits here,\u201d she says, pointing to her good leg. \u201cI had nothing else to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n<\/figcaption>Jacket by ANNAKIKI. Set by Sara Wong. Shoes by Sol Angel. Jewelry by Bayou with Love, Baublebar. Earring by Dolce and Gabbana.<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tMusic was always playing in the Moroney household. \u201cI was like seven years old and my dad would be like, \u2018Did you know that the songwriter wrote it like this, and this is why?\u2019 He was passionate about the stories and lyrics,\u201d she says. Her dad put her onto the Eagles, James Taylor, and Jackson Browne. She loved watching Hannah Montana,<\/em> singing to Miranda Lambert in the shower, and was (scratch that \u2014 is<\/em>) a loyal Belieber<\/a>. Before attending one of Justin Bieber\u2019s shows, a young Megan handmade shirts that read \u201cDudes are linin\u2019 up \u2019cause they hear we got fever, but we kick \u2019em to the curb unless they look like J Bieber,\u201d a play on Kesha\u2019s \u201cTik Tok.\u201d Looking back, maybe she thought she\u2019d be like her dad, balancing a pastime with a real job. But a career in music? \u201cI don\u2019t think it ever clicked in my head that this would be possible,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2016, Moroney enrolled at UGA planning to become an accountant, like her mom. During her freshman year, she rushed Kappa Delta and, lured by peer pressure and a Chick-fil-A gift card, unknowingly began her country journey. Moroney tells the story with a giggle: None of her KD sisters wanted to compete in the annual Miss Sorority Row pageant, so they offered her fried chicken to represent them. \u201cIt was like $200,\u201d Moroney says. \u201cThat\u2019s going to get me far!\u201d Moroney ended up winning the crown, thanks to her rendition of Deana Carter\u2019s \u201cStrawberry Wine.\u201d \u201cIt was terrifying and so out of my comfort zone,\u201d she says of the pageant. \u201cI think it was kind of rigged \u2014 I kissed one of the judges.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA few months passed and Moroney, already obsessed with Kacey Musgraves\u2019 debut album, Same Trailer Different Park<\/a><\/em>, found herself onstage again when Kappa Delta needed an opener for a charity event. In the crowd that night was country singer Chase Rice, who approached her after the show. \u201cYou\u2019re actually pretty good,\u201d she remembers Rice telling her. \u201cWhat are you doing next month? I play at the Georgia Theatre. Will you bring all these girls with you and you can open first of three?\u201d Moroney couldn\u2019t say no \u2014 even if there was a catch: She\u2019d have to perform at least one original song.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tShe\u2019d never even tried to write before. \u201cYou\u2019re going to pull your boots up and do it,\u201d she remembers telling herself, and wrote \u201cStay a Memory\u201d for the performance. She hasn\u2019t put the pen down since. \u201cThey say you get the bug,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd the bug was got.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith that adrenaline rush still fresh, Moroney changed the direction of her studies. She enrolled in UGA\u2019s music-business program, led by Drive-By Truckers producer David Barbe, and honed her songwriting while learning music-business basics. \u201cShe carried herself with quiet confidence and never seemed like anybody\u2019s helpless Bo-Peep,\u201d Barbe says. In between classes, Moroney would send him snippets of songs she wrote. \u201cThe songs connected on an emotional level instantly,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve had dads say my songs helped them feel closer to their daughters. I love writing songs that mean shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tFor her final semester, Barbe recommended her for an internship at the studio of Sugarland\u2019s Kristian Bush and his brother Brandon. Eventually, Moroney played Kristian some of her music. He was entranced. Moroney had a smoky voice, similar to his friend Melissa Etheridge\u2019s, and she could accentuate her delivery with cracks on \u00adcommand. \u201cIf you put that break in the right place of an emotional lyric, you don\u2019t need a recording studio to break a heart,\u201d Bush says. \u201cYou can just break it right in front of someone\u2019s face.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBush and Moroney recorded a few demos, including her first single, \u201cWonder,\u201d which ended up on the desk of Juli Griffith, the Nashville exec Bush had worked with on his solo music. He sent no headshot or description of Moroney, just the music. \u201cI can\u2019t remember when somebody [last] made me feel that way, especially a female voice,\u201d Griffith recalls. \u201cI just fell in love with it, and he still wouldn\u2019t tell me what she looked like.\u2026 \u2018Am I going to get a 700-pound ogre? Why will he not tell me?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBush set up a Zoom call for Moroney and Griffith to finally meet. Griffith was wowed by the songwriter\u2019s creative vision. \u201cIf you knew she was blond and you looked up her \u00adInstagram-influencer thing in a bikini, you wouldn\u2019t have taken her seriously,\u201d Griffith remembers Bush telling her. \u201cAnd I go, \u2018You\u2019re probably right.\u2019 He let me fall in love with the songs and the voice before I saw the image.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s the sort of thing Moroney still hears today. \u201cThere are people that are like, \u2018Oh, this Barbie doll can\u2019t have much depth to her,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t bother me when people say it, because if you listen to my music, that\u2019s the opposite of the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor the next two years, Moroney kept grinding, writing songs with partners Griffith suggested. Her debut EP, 2022\u2019s Pistol Made of Roses,<\/em> caught the attention of Spotify, which selected Moroney for their Fresh Finds program just in time for college-football season. She had the perfect song for the platform to promote: \u201cTennessee Orange<\/a>,\u201d which she announced with a mysterious Instagram photo while wearing a University of Tennessee T-shirt<\/a>. The song found an audience on TikTok \u2014 and made a slew of fans eager to know whose Vols shirt that was.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMoroney wouldn\u2019t admit it right away, but the shirt belonged to Morgan Wallen, whom Moroney was involved with briefly in 2020. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where of course they\u2019re going to wonder. I write songs that people can dream up in their head [and think] that this is who it\u2019s about,\u201d she says. She prefers to keep the details of her relationship with Wallen to herself. \u201cAs much as it is my story, it\u2019s their story, too, and I just have respect for the other artist because they\u2019re public, too,\u201d says Moroney, who remains friendly with Wallen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tLucky<\/em> arrived in May 2023, trailed by a successful single, \u201cI\u2019m Not Pretty<\/a>,\u201d about an ex\u2019s new girlfriend stalking her Instagram. \u201cI think the algorithm was just set up to where, if the lyrics were related to the person that was going through that, then it would show up on their For You page,\u201d she says. \u201cI found that, specifically with \u2018I\u2019m Not Pretty,\u2019 a lot of people are like, \u2018I don\u2019t like country music, but I started listening because of you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n<\/figcaption>Dress by Stella McCartney. Vintage Shoes. Jewelry by Bayou with Love<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tLucky<\/em> introduced what Moroney calls her \u201cemo cowgirl\u201d aesthetic, an ultra-specific, Gen Z perspective that connected with fans not bound by a genre label. (Rolling Stone<\/em> ranked it <\/a>the Number One country album of 2023.) There are clever lines throughout, like, \u201cI sleep on my side, and you sleep with everyone,\u201d and quintessential country ones like, \u201cWho\u2019s gonna break down first, this Mustang or me?\u201d But it\u2019s \u201cGirl in the Mirror,<\/a>\u201d a self-reflection in which she admits \u201cYou can\u2019t love the boy more than you love the girl in the mirror,\u201d that hits the hardest at her concerts.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve had dads cry at meet-and-greets and say that they\u2019re so grateful for my music. If they didn\u2019t have my songs, they wouldn\u2019t feel as close to their daughters,\u201d Moroney says. \u201cIf I have a migraine before I go onstage, it\u2019s like, \u2018Well, it\u2019s all worth it because you\u2019re out here impacting people.\u2019 That\u2019s why I love writing songs that mean shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Moroney\u2019s profile started to grow, Bush encouraged her to see a therapist to help with the pressures of fame. He says he wishes he had had that emotional support when Sugarland took off. \u201cHe wouldn\u2019t take no for an answer,\u201d says Moroney, who finally agreed to find one.<\/p>\n

\n\tTherapy can come in handy when dealing with the collateral effects of stardom. For example: In early January, Moroney\u2019s name began trending on X after news broke that Carrie Underwood would sing at Donald Trump\u2019s inauguration<\/a>. Underwood\u2019s fans, especially her large gay following, were angered by what they viewed as her implicit endorsement of a president who\u2019d vowed to roll back LGBTQ+ protections. Many channeled their frustration<\/a> by pivoting their allegiance to Moroney.<\/p>\n

\n\tMoroney was surprised by her sudden inclusion in the conversation. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Why am I getting brought into this?\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m happy that they relate to my music \u2026 [but] I\u2019m never happy tearing down another woman.\u201d She says it\u2019s \u201chard to say\u201d whether she would\u2019ve accepted a Trump invite, but she thinks \u201cit\u2019s a valid feeling\u201d for fans who felt betrayed by Underwood\u2019s choice. \u201cI come from a really big family, with each side of the [political] spectrum. And I\u2019ve found that you can\u2019t change anyone\u2019s mind,\u201d she says. \u201cThe best thing I can do is love them. That\u2019s what I want to give to my fans, too. My music is there so hopefully they can find comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe genre borders around country music are expanding, as highlighted by Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s Grammy-winning Cowboy Carter<\/a><\/em>. Moroney\u2019s here for it: \u201c[She\u2019s] bringing people to \u00adcountry music who otherwise would never listen to country music,\u201d Moroney says of Queen Bey. \u201cIf the storytelling is there, and it feels authentic, then there\u2019s room for you. Bring it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso expanding: Moroney\u2019s circle of besties outside of the genre. Olivia Rodrigo checked in to see how Moroney is doing over the holidays. \u201cShe was like, \u2018Are you getting rest?\u2019\u201d Moroney says, still in awe. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018What is life?\u2019\u201d In October, Moroney joined Tate McRae onstage in Nashville<\/a> after they became friends online. \u201cShe got me blue roses and wrote me a really sweet note,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s in my room at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Moroney is here for Beyonce\u2019s \u2018Cowboy Carter\u2019: \u201cShe\u2019s bringing people to country music.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tAnd she has Kenny Chesney, who\u2019s become Moroney\u2019s musical godfather. Before they went on the road last year, he invited her to breakfast. \u201cI thought she was very smart, that a lot of the things she wanted to do were very creative, and that she was wise beyond her years,\u201d Chesney tells Rolling Stone<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn between shows with Chesney, Moroney focused on her sophomore album, Am I Okay?,<\/a><\/em> released in July. The transition between albums was quick but clear. She went from casino greens to royal blues, and captured the energy of the LP in its artwork: Moroney poses in pageant-esque makeup while holding two fingers to her neck to check her pulse. She\u2019s learned to market her art flawlessly, and she\u2019s taken notes from one of her heroes, Lambert, who has had \u201cconsistently good music for a very long time,\u201d she says. \u201cNo flop eras.\u201d Its lead single, \u201cNo Caller ID<\/a>,\u201d was a smoky slow-burner about late-night calls from an old flame. She channels Fearless<\/a><\/em>-era Taylor Swift on \u201cNoah,\u201d about a two-date romance. But there are also the tearjerkers she\u2019s known for, like \u201cMama I Lied,\u201d about holding back the truth about relationship woes: \u201cI can\u2019t hide it anymore, I really need you,\u201d she sings.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the CMAs in November, Moroney was named New Artist of the Year, an accolade Taylor Swift, Luke Combs, and the Chicks all earned before her. \u201cThank you, Jesus, for putting this dream on my heart, and thank you for the gift of songwriting,\u201d she said in her acceptance speech. That night, she also earned props from two of the people who inspired her most: Musgraves and Lambert. There\u2019s an old photo floating around on the internet of Moroney waiting outside of Musgraves\u2019 tour bus to ask for a picture. This time, they shared dressing rooms. \u201cShe was like, \u2018Thanks for all the nice things you always say about me,\u2019\u201d Moroney says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n<\/figcaption>Outfit by Bronx & Banco. Shoes by House of CB. Jewelry by Jenny Bird.<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tAfter she won her award, Moroney felt Lambert\u2019s hand on her arm congratulating her backstage. \u201cI grew up listening to powerful women who had something meaningful to say. It\u2019s important to keep that going and \u00adsupport each other,\u201d Lambert tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cWhen I was starting out, the best advice my mom gave me was to \u2018know who you are, and stick with it.\u2019 Megan knows exactly who she is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIT\u2019S A CHILLY FRIDAY in Crossville, though the snow from a recent storm has nearly all melted. As I approach the porch of \u00adsongwriter Connie Harrington\u2019s lake home, a familiar figure greets me from afar: Buc-ee the beaver, in inflatable form, sitting out front like a cartoon sentinel. Moroney and the trio of songwriting partners behind \u201cNo Caller ID\u201d and fellow Am I Okay?<\/em> track \u201cBless\u00a0Your Heart\u201d<\/a> have spent the past week here, \u00adwriting songs for her third album, whose release date Moroney hasn\u2019t even begun to consider.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tInside the cozy house \u2014 adorned with a Saint Dolly Parton candle, a stack of board games, and various knickknacks \u2014 the songwriters relax in matching camo-print sweats. On the recliner is the group\u2019s matriarch, \u00adHarrington, who downs shots of tequila with guests (me) after dinging a xylophone; at the kitchen table sit Moroney\u2019s managers, Griffith and Hayley Corbett; and sprawled on the sofa next to Moroney are the Jessies: Jessi Alexander, who tells of writing \u201cThe Climb\u201d for a 15-year-old Miley Cyrus, and Jessie Jo Dillon, the older-sister-like lyrical genius behind \u201c10,000 Hours<\/a>,\u201d the 2019 hit by Dan + Shay and Bieber. \u201cAvengers assemble! That\u2019s what this trip feels like,\u201d Moroney says of the writing retreat. \u201cAnd Buc-ee is the fifth avenger.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tToday is the last day of the retreat, and Buc-ee has already blessed them with inspiration: The women have written six songs. \u201cOur brains are mashed potatoes right now,\u201d says Moroney, who plays me the new songs, which may or may not all end up on the album. She accompanies herself on guitar, sometimes pausing to scroll through the lyrics on her phone. No one outside of this house has heard them before.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first song Moroney performs is a ballad she compares to \u201cGirl in the Mirror\u201d; it\u2019s called \u201cBeautiful Things\u201d (and, no, it\u2019s not a Benson Boone cover). \u201cLies can break a fragile heart, and doubt can crush your dreams\/But, honey, just take it from me,\u201d she sings, \u201cthe world is hard on beautiful things.\u201d Moroney\u2019s 21st-century blues shine through in a different line: \u201cThere\u2019s a party, you didn\u2019t know\/You just found out from your phone\/ Do they not want you to go?\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n<\/figcaption>Dress by Aniye Records. Shoes by Chelsea & Violet. Jewelry by Bayou with Love.<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tWe\u2019re one song in, and Harrington is already in full-on waterworks. \u201cA lot of girls suffer in silence. And you suffer publicly,\u201d she says to Moroney, blowing her nose and drying her eyes. That\u2019s a good sign, I learn. \u201cWe always say that our song is probably not as good as it should be if Connie doesn\u2019t cry,\u201d Moroney says.<\/p>\n

\n\tThen there\u2019s \u201cWedding Dress,\u201d whose chorus Moroney teased on Instagram years ago but could never get the verses right. \u201cI knew that the bones of that song were good and worth fighting for,\u201d she says. On \u201cYou for Me,\u201d she strums her guitar and sets the scene of \u201cthe voice of Elvis in Graceland down the hall\u201d before she sings: \u201cI could go anywhere, I swear \u2026 but it\u2019s always going to be you for me.\u201d The song is meant to be a duet, and Moroney deepens her voice to mimic a male partner. The Avengers wrote several options for whoever ends up on the song \u2014 some about hunting, another about beers and bourbon \u2014 but Moroney has a dream collaborator in mind: Justin Bieber. \u201cMaybe he would feel that way about Hailey. I know he does,\u201d Moroney says with a sigh.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe wrote the crap out of these songs,\u201d Moroney adds. \u201cWe exerted all of our options on every verse, every word.\u201d The Buc-ee Avengers agree. The songs they\u2019ve written on this trip are much less emo than what Moroney is used to. (She later plays me a lighthearted song she wrote with \u201cEspresso\u201d co-writer Amy Allen about a boy who was dumb enough to ghost her. \u201cWhat\u2019s there to not love? I\u2019m the whole package,\u201d she sings on it.) Perhaps it\u2019s because she\u2019s in a different headspace this time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter all, Moroney says, she hasn\u2019t been in a relationship for almost a year after breaking up with \u201ca regular finance dude\u201d in early 2024. \u201cI could not imagine going through the past year if I was upset and crying over a dude,\u201d she says, brushing off the breakup. Choosing not to date is something new to Moroney, who tells me about her fifth-grade romances and fuckboy fuck-ups in college throughout my time here. \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve always had bad taste in men,\u201d she says. \u201cI had a really sweet boyfriend in fifth grade, and I broke up with him because I wanted to date the eighth-grade bad boy who had failed a bunch of times.\u2026 I don\u2019t know if this song will make my next album, but an opening line is \u2018I know how to pick them. Copy, paste.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDoes she want to find love eventually? Absolutely. Moroney heard a recent Lambert interview where she opened up about meeting her NYPD officer husband, and she\u2019d be interested in a similar meet-cute. \u201cShe just swooped him up!\u201d Moroney says. And she recalls how her new friend Lana Del Rey \u2014 with whom she sang<\/a> \u201cTennessee Orange\u201d last year \u2014 married a Louisiana airboat captain not too long ago. \u201cI love that for her. Go get you a country boy, girl!\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Moroney has high standards for any potential matches. Instagram DMs are a no-go, and asking for her Snapchat is a big ick. \u201cI\u2019m too old for that!\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\tDays before I met Moroney, fans theorized online that she had gone on a Caribbean vacation with country heartthrob Riley Green. The internet sleuths used Google\u2019s AI reverse image search to look at both stars\u2019 beachside posts in late \u00adDecember and deduced that they had been in St. Barts at the same time. \u201cI didn\u2019t even know that was a thing!\u201d says Moroney of the image search.<\/p>\n

\n\tWas Green on the trip? \u201cHe was individually on his vacation with his friends,\u201d she says. \u201cSt. Barts is a popular place!\u201d So it was a coincidence? \u201cYeah.\u201d Did you guys get to hang out? \u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where if you know someone on a small island, you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, shit, you\u2019re here too.\u2019 So it was fun.\u201d Are you dating? \u201cJust because we\u2019re hanging out doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re romantically dating. You know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMoroney isn\u2019t bothered by fans being interested in her personal life. In fact, she takes it as a compliment. \u201cI don\u2019t blame them for doing some FBI research,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s hard to look at Moroney\u2019s ever-growing career and not think of a young Taylor Swift: the glittery guitars, the sharply detailed lyricism, her clear point of view, and the public\u2019s nosiness into her personal life. Swift took several albums to pivot her way from country hitmaker to full-on pop star, bringing the teachings of Nashville songwriting with her. Moroney\u2019s a Swift fan (\u201cWhen The Tortured Poets<\/a><\/em> came out, I listened to it nonstop,\u201d she says), but does she see herself going pop in a similar way? \u201cThe songs you heard are very country, so no time soon is that happening!\u201d she says. \u201cBut I\u2019ve always just been a storyteller, and if one day a shift in my life makes me want to write something that sounds different, then I\u2019ll probably do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMoroney smiles, and gives her best teenaged Justin Bieber impression: \u201cNever say neverrrr<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

Production Credits<\/p>\n

Styling by LINDSEY DUPUIS<\/strong> at FORWARD ARTISTS<\/strong>. Makeup by JESSICA CANDAGE<\/strong> at FORWARD ARTISTS<\/strong> using CHARLOTTE TILBURY<\/strong>. Hair\u00a0by JESSICA<\/strong> MILLER<\/strong> at FORWARD ARTISTS<\/strong> using ORIBE<\/strong>. Hair Colorist: SAMUEL ALLEN<\/strong>. Nails by NATALIE MINERVA<\/strong> at FORWARD ARTISTS<\/strong>. Produced by PATRICIA BILOTTI<\/strong> at PBNY PRODUCTIONS<\/strong>. Production Manager: STEFANIE BOCKENSTETTE<\/strong>. Set design by ROMAIN GOUDINOUX<\/strong> at BRYANT ARTISTS<\/strong>. Cinematographer: JAY SWUEN<\/strong>. First Assistant Camera: HANNAH LEE<\/strong> Second Assistant Camera and Data Manager: MICHELLE SUH<\/strong>. Gaffer: GABE SANDOVAL<\/strong>. Key Grip: EDGAR R. ARAGON<\/strong>. Field Audio: CHUCK HENDY<\/strong>. Photographic assistance: KENNY CASTRO<\/strong> and JEREMY ERIC SINCLAIR<\/strong>. Digital Technician: ARON NORMAN<\/strong>.\u00a0Styling assistance: RYANN REDMAN<\/strong>. Production assistance: DANIEL JACOBSON<\/strong>. Set design assistance: JOHN ARMSTRONG<\/strong>. Post Production: SPENCER PATZMAN<\/strong> at COSM FILMS. <\/strong>Colorist: CAMERON MARYGOLD. <\/strong>Photo Retouching: PICTUREHOUSE + THE SMALLDARKROOM<\/strong>. Studio: SMASHBOX STUDIOS<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\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.rollingstone.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n