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Moroney adds exclamation point

Grammy Museum, Los Angeles, October 10, 2023

Reviewed by Dan MacIntosh

Megan Moroney already made herself into someone to watch with her breakthrough single, "Tennessee Orange." She put an exclamation point on that newfound noteworthiness tonight with an interview and a short set of songs.

Sugarland's Kristen Bush was the night's interviewer and was also the perfect choice for this role. Not only is he Moroney's record producer, but Moroney was an intern with Bush's company while still in college. Interestingly, while Moroney worked on publishing tasks for Bush, she never once revealed that she was also an aspiring singer/songwriter. Bush didn't learn this information until after the internship ended.

Moroney, like all women, had to fight to be taken seriously as a songwriter. This was made all the more difficult with Moroney's (a very attractive woman) concurrent work as an internet influencer. How could this pretty girl know anything about heartbreak, these fellow songwriters must have wondered whenever she sat down to write with them. Nevertheless, Moroney succeeded because she is naturally great at songwriting and because she's worked extremely hard at it, writing songs five days a week in Nashville for about a year before she began to gain some success.

One of the best parts of these Grammy events is the short performances at the end, and Moroney made the best of her limited time on stage. She sang "Lucky," the title track to her album, as well as the single "I'm Not Pretty." She was at her best, though, when she sang "Why Johnny," with just an acoustic guitar. The song's lyrics wonder how June Carter Cash was able to stick with Johnny Cash through thick and thin, and somehow know she and he would have a wonderful relationship one day.

Moroney even threw in an unreleased song, "No Caller ID," which addressed a former lover that doesn't know when to decisively end a relationship for good. Naturally, she closed with "Tennessee Orange," which was made all the more relevant with us knowing that this Georgia girl attended University of Georgia, knowing full well the consequences of wearing University of Tennessee colors – like some kind of traitor.

It all added up to a wonderful evening, where we all got to know this talented up and coming country singer just a little bit better.



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