Bobby talked to Megan about how he discovered her song “Tennessee Orange” on Instagram and loved it. Megan talks about how she grew up having music and instruments all around the house but didn’t start pursuing music until she went to the University of Georgia. That’s where she wrote her first song and did her first public performance. Megan talks about making the move to Nashville after college and navigating co-writes during the pandemic. Megan talks about how she wants her songs to truly represent her as an artist and is very particular about getting every detail right. Bobby also asks who she wrote the song Tennessee Orange about because everyone wants to know.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
M episode three sixty five with Megan Moroney, where I
just found her song on on Instagram reels and literally
that was it. I was. I don't even flip through reels.
I think reals kind of sucks, honestly, Mike, at least
compared to TikTok. Yeah, I hardly get on them. I
if I do get on it, I don't ever flip.
(00:20):
Now I found her flipping kind of rolling through. I
don't know why I flipped on TikTok all day long.
Yeah I can do that. I mean I can do
that for half an hour, forty five minutes. It's crazy
how much times on TikTok. I mean, they definitely have
the algorithm down. They know where in stadium's algorithm isn't
near a strong I got some weird crap on unreels
espectually right now, and so I don't know what I
(00:41):
was looking at. Maybe flipped up once and I saw
this song Tennessee Orange now not so much a big
Tennessee fan. Don't know why I was drawn to it.
But you know, with the show that I programmed, The
Women of Our Country where I picked the music there
and the countdown show that that I do on the weekends.
You know, I'm always looking for new stuff to play.
You're doing the same thing. And so I was like,
(01:02):
let me hear this, let me hear her if she's
any good. And not only was she good, but the
song was really good. I was like, dang, that's awesome.
So I said, screenshot texting Mike, Hey, why don't we
get her up here? Songs blowing up like it's really
a big deal for her. Christian Bush is I think
one of the producers or if not the producer on
the song. Yeah, from sugar Land, who I didn't know that.
And Christian and I know each other and I've worked
(01:22):
together in the past and in a couple of different ways.
But Megan Moroney is her name. I think you're gonna
like this. She went to the University of Georgia. She's
not a Tennessee fan, she says it, but it's about
meeting a guy who makes you go, okay, I'll wear
your team's colors, to which I said, I've never worn
Oklahoma still out of it. I don't think Klin's Wren
in Arkansas either. I take that back. I think she
(01:42):
has Warre in Arkansas. It's like it's cold in the
house and there's nothing but an Arkansas hoodie nearby? What
a game? Then? To what game? Like an Arkansas Arkansas game?
Black shirt? Yeah, or a white shirt. You know, we
won't be disrespectful and where the other team? Our team
to the other game. But yeah, she won't really wear
a hog will wear it again. If it's cold in
the house and it's just a hoodie, that's fine. But
(02:03):
other than that, she's the same way. We're loyal folks,
and you can tell Megan is too. But you know,
I said she had this song, so I want you
to hear this about her life and she went to
school to be an accountant and now here she is
blowing up. It's pretty cool. This is Megan Moroney. You
can follow her Meg Moroney on TikTok and Instagram and
it's episode three sixty five. Hope you enjoy it. I
(02:23):
guess I was introduced to through just scrolling through reels,
was it? I literally, it's the best way now for
me to find new artists. And I was scrolling through
and I I saw your song Tennessee Orange, and I
literally thought, oh, I don't want to hear about Tennessee.
I remember the volunteers. They're they're good this year, and
Arkansas was pretty good too. But but then I was like,
let me listen to this song and as it kind
(02:45):
of flips, you know, it's it's it's a little little
tricky because you're not really a Tennessee fan. And so
let's so let's learn about you for a second. Because
you went to the University of Georgia. Did you grow
up in Georgia? I did. I grew up um in Douglasville, Georgia,
which is like west of Atlanta. And then, um, what's
douglas fell Like, like when you drive into your town,
what do you see that we have a signature big mailbox. Um,
(03:06):
I actually moved so my parents moved out of douglas
Felle after I graduated high school, so I haven't been
back there in a while. But um, i'd say it's
like pretty established, Like it's not small, but it operates
like a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone.
How big was I graduated with I think like five people,
so it's a decent size. But um, I remember like
(03:27):
I was one of the very few people that like
went to a school like u g A. A lot
of people like you know, they go to local schools
and stuff like that. I thought that was my big event,
my life event. It was happy. Yeah, I thought that's
I thought you was going to be it. So you
go to Georgia and you plan to do what when
you enter your freshman year? Did you declare a major
(03:50):
or just kind of wait and see. I went to
U g A to be an accountant, So so what
what interested you in numbers? Like? Why? Um I took
so my mom was in a count it and um
I took an accounting I had some accounting classes in
high school and out of everyone, I was like the
ones that that was passing the test. I was like,
if I'm okay at it, I guess, like I'll just
(04:11):
go to school for that. And because I don't know,
it's like looking back, I'm like, what was I doing
in high school? I was guess I was just like
studying a lot and making good grades. My parents like
thought that a B was the end of the world.
So high standards. Did you have older siblings? I have
two older brothers, ye, And were they good students? Oh? Yeah,
my brother is like the smart one. I. He was
(04:33):
in the IB program UM, which is like what I
stand for international back lord. Okay, I don't even Okay,
So they were put on you because your older siblings
were really good in school. Yeah, and so you're the youngest, right,
and you're finishing high school and you're doing pretty good
in grades. I assume you had to. And I got
(04:55):
into Georgia almost followed my high school boyfriend to Kansas State,
which would have been in nightmare and a disaster. I
don't even know your high school boyfriend. But that's never good.
It's never My mom was not going to allow that
to happen anyways. So you go to Georgia. It's Georgie
is awesome. Big school, kind of a culture change because
you're in a massive university. Is it different than high school?
Oh yeah, there's like I think people that we're at
(05:19):
U g A when I was, and it's just it's
just such a different like you just meet all kinds
of different people, and I feel like in my hometown
it's kind of like the same kind of people. You're
used to that, and then you like go to college
with all these I think it was I grew the
most in my first year of college than I ever did,
like living in my hometown so, so how long until
you realize you hate or love accounting? Um? I think
(05:43):
by the end of my freshman year, I think I
made like a fifty two on a test, and I
was like, it's not looking so good. I barely know
half the material. Was it because it was harder or
because there were so many distractions? Oh? It was hard
I So I had an eight am like my account ning.
I purposely had an eight am so that it would
make me go every single day and I'd get up
(06:04):
early and stuff. And I was I studied so much
and I still like, I studied for weeks and I
still made a fifty two. And I was like, Okay,
well I've been humbled. So you finished freshman year and
at this point, and I know you grew up there
there was some music in the family, your your whole life,
right because one of your brothers was he playing music
and my dad, Um my dad plays the guitar and piano,
(06:27):
and so does my brother. So, um, I grew up
around music. So what did you do musically though, as
a kid around music? Did you hop in like the
family band? You sing at church? Everybody's got some sort
of story when they weren't really in music, but it
kind of introduced him to the fact they might like it.
So my dad and I used to like sing in
the living room all the time, like that was every
(06:47):
night basically. And um, when I got an Instagram, I
started to like post post us doing that. How old
were you when you were posting your dad singing? High school?
So probably like sixteen ish. Um. And then I did
some talent shows. Um, I was in chorus. I was
an acapella the acapella group. I was a musical theater.
I hated the acting part. Were music then yeah, like
(07:10):
I I liked music, but I never thought of it
as like a career, Like that was way out of
my you know reach in my mind. What did your
dad do musical? It was it just a hobby? Did
you ever try to make it in music? When he
was younger, he was in a band that traveled around
his hometown. I think, Um, but it's mostly just a hobby.
(07:31):
And your brother same. My brother is an attorney. We've
tried to get him to quit his job and come
on the road with me, but not successfully yet to play.
I bet the money's not here good honestly, Yeah, he's
like a prosecutors in Georgia, UM South Carolina. Okay, so
you have a musical background, you go to college and
you're studying a county, but are you doing anything for
(07:52):
fun music? Like your freshman year, do you ever go
do you go sing or even do karaoke? Because you
have like a it you need to scratch. So I
was still posting the covers like I would go home.
And so I was in a sorority and mystrity kind
of knew me as the country singer just because I
was posting country covers whatever. But we it first started
with this like pageant that the sororities put on and
(08:12):
we needed a representative for my sorority. And you know,
no one wanted to do it because there was the
talent section. You mean to compete, to compete against each other,
So you're the representative for year sorority against other sororities. Yeah,
And I was a freshman and they brabbed me with
chick Fila gift cards to do it. Yeah. I was like, okay, fine,
I'll do it whatever. I sang strawberry wine with my
(08:34):
dad and yeah he didn't. Yeah, so we sang that
and I ended up winning, Like I won this pageant,
and there was like real pageant girls that were in
like Miss Georgia and like like I had to like
walk up to a microphone do a little spin. Like
it was like it was terrified for me. But I
liked the talent part. But so that happened. So then
I was really known as the country singer in the
(08:55):
Sorority because everyone was like, oh, she went Miss Sorority
row and she saying strawberry wine, So country singer. When
you performed that in this talent show, did you feel like, dang,
you are actually pretty good. They really like me. Like
what is that feeling after you perform live in front
of all those people for the first time? Or was
you just terrified at the whole pageant and it was
terrifying the entire time. I had anxiety because like they
(09:15):
were outfit changes. Um there's like a game day section.
I had to answer a question live and I just
it was it really freaked me out. But the talent part, yes,
and I don't know, I didn't take it too seriously. Um,
so I think that might have helped. What do you
win if you win the pageant? More gift cards? And
(09:36):
I got a crown in a sash that make you
want to do any more type pageants? No, Um, I
actually I do think that we got a check for
our philanthropy like that. Um, that's like the winning thing
for the sorority, right, I think I won that. But
as far as personal think, yeah, they were just like cool,
here's a sash. Did they post that singing on any
(09:57):
social media? If you sing? I don't think so. So
did you have any videos go even semi viral prior
to that? Like no, no, no, and so to continue,
you know, I was known as a country singer and
then um our philanthropy event in the spring was um
a John Layson concert. We paid, we paid him to
(10:17):
come play, and obviously our budget, Um, we used all
our budget on him and we needed an opener, and
they were like, well, Megan's the country singer. Um. I
wasn't writing at the time, So I sang like three
cover songs, super weird um and probably stob very well
if I had to take a guess, and then probably
White Liar by Miranda, and um probably another Miranda. So
(10:42):
it was super weird looking back. Um, But at that
it was like in a field and Chase Rice was
there trying to promote his Georgia Theater show. That was
like in a month, and somehow by the end of
the day he was like, you can open for me
at the Georgia Theater, but I need you to have
an original song because it's weird if you just play covers.
(11:02):
So I wrote my very first song to be able
to open for him at the Georgia Theater. What was
that first song? It's called Stay of Memory? Is it good?
Or do you like how Ton and go? Um? I
wouldn't never do anything with it now, but for a
first song, they were like, clever when you play the
theater show, because I'm assuming it happened most people you
ever played in front of? Oh yeah, nervous. Oh yeah.
(11:24):
I practiced for weeks though with my dad and my brother.
Did they play with you? Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, And
it was like an acoustic thing and yeah, I was
so nervous, and I mean it was great. Now that
I write my own songs, Um, I really don't like
playing covers too much because I can't remember the words
like that. Used to give me horrible anxiety having to
(11:44):
play like thirty minutes of covers basically because I'm like,
I don't know what they were thinking in the second verse.
I've heard it's like wide open spaces. I can never
remember the second verse for some reason. But so, you
play at this sorority concert party, then you play at
a theater show. At this point, are you going maybe
I can do me? And then where are you in school? Too? So?
Did you stop doing accounting? Um? So at the same
(12:06):
time I was making a fifty two on the accounting
test was around the same time that I played that
first show. And when I played the first show, that
was like my first real like it wasn't a talent show.
It wasn't musical theater. It wasn't it was like me performing,
and I fell in love with it. And I told
my parents, like, I got a job out because Chase
Rice told me that I'm good enough to drop out.
(12:28):
My parents were like, yeah, no, you know that's happening.
How long ago was this? Um? I am twenty four
and that happened. I was nineteen four or five years ago.
Chase Rice was it a sorority party promoting a show?
Him and John were friends too. I'm not exactly sure
what the deal was. Chase, I'm doing a sororiority party.
Come to the show. Yeah, that's probably went down. I
(12:48):
would have said to like, I'm promoting a show, but
it's cool that he saw you. Like, I like it
all worked, but I never I mean, it sounds a
little fishy chases just at a sorority party. I'm just
saying they went up it. He's saying a song with
like John brought him out was like Chase Rise and
that's playing at the Georgia Theater next month. Yeah. So, um, yeah,
so you play this show. Did you think maybe I
(13:10):
don't wanted to school anymore? Oh? Yeah, I asked my parents.
I'm like, you know, I gotta do it while I'm young, Like,
I better get there soon because Nashville is so cut
throat and I gotta you know what I mean. And
my parents are like, yeah, well tough. So you go
back to school. Oh yeah, can you change a major
to what? So wrote out the accounting wave until the
(13:30):
end of my freshman year, and then the beginning of
my sophomore year, I changed to marketing and digital marketing,
and then I applied for the music business program. So
I graduated with all those things. Um, when you do digital,
what does that even mean? It's it's all just social
media marketing, any sort of like like email marketing. Does
that help you now a little bit with Oh yeah,
(13:51):
because I would't think that's a pretty cool skill to learn, right.
And in college, um, since I was in a sorority
and all my friends were posting pictures all the time,
that's kind of how I got started to grow my following. Um,
so I did the influencer thing in college, so marketing
just made sense. It's always made sense. What were you influencing? Like,
what was your specialty as an influencer? I was literally
(14:12):
doing like anything everything. Oh yeah, I did that. I
did a lot of hair products. Um, and I did
that all even through COVID. I was doing that to
pay my bills. So I hated it though, but yeah,
but we do a lot of things to pair of
bills that we hate, especially early on, I did that
a lot of a lot of things. Um, so you're
(14:32):
getting all this stuff sent to you for free? Yeah,
and I was getting paid like it. Well, first it
started with doing stuff for free, and then I started
to get free stuff aget paid and I was like,
well that's great. Were you still doing covers and are
doing and how big did your Instagram. I'm assuming this
is mostly on Instagram. Yew. How big did your following
get when you were just doing covers? You have a
(14:53):
move in Nashville yet, but you're also you know, being
able to pay your bills on being an influencer. I
think I was at like sixty followers or something. Can
you make decent money with six followers? I had an
agent that would like get me deals and um yeah,
And so that's how I mean, that's how what I
had to do during COVID because when I moved to Nashville,
I really wanted to focus on writing songs, and so
(15:13):
having a job that was like nine to five, I
knew that it would drain me mentally. Um, So I
needed something with like a super flexible schedule. So I'd
be freaking up at six am recording my CBD jobs
like smiling, pretending to care. You finished school and do
you move right to Nashville? Um? Yes, So I COVID
(15:35):
happened like March. I graduated in May on Zoom and
then I moved to Nashville in June. Were you bummed?
It had to be a Zoom graduation a little bit?
But since like all that started in March and we
were just like stuck. I was kind of ready to
move on. I'm like, if I can't have a normal
senior year, I just want to like close that book
and move on. My wife got her Masters during COVID,
(15:55):
and she was like, day, I don't get a graduation.
Yeah it was weird, but like I haven't actually been
back to Athens since I graduated. Really, yeah, you move
up here? Do you find a friend? Where do you?
How do you do this Facebook group? I found a
roommate UM that was interesting and it actually worked out
really well. Is the ad like, hey, I do music,
(16:16):
I look everybody else that does music? Or is it
just like hey, I'm just looking for like what what
do you say? I was just I think I remember
saying like I just graduated college and I need a roommate.
Want a two bedroom? Like no, pats, you know what
I mean? Like something something basic like that. And it
actually ended up being a girl that went to u
G A two but we just didn't know each other
(16:36):
um and it worked out great. I've been really fortunate
with roommates. They've all been like normal, so you must
be pretty clean. Then well I'm messy but not in
a dirty way, you know what I mean, Like I'm
not dirty. There's there's a difference messy and dirty. Right,
MESSI brings bugs, right messy Messy is just close very
(16:59):
yes exactly. Um, I'm not gonna like, you know, I
would yell over like someone leaving their dirty dish out
for like a week, you know what I mean. That's dirty,
but like messy if you just have a shirt on,
like the couch, I'm not going to be like And
that's also to pick out for somebody else to So
you move here during COVID, So what do you do
(17:24):
because it's not like you can go out to any
of the like the listening room or Yeah, it was
like it was weird. Um. I really just started writing
by myself a lot um. I wrote that first song
for the Georgia Theater and then I got my heart
broken pretty bad my junior year, and I wrote a
song then and then Other than that, though I was
(17:45):
so consumed to schoolwork, I really didn't have a mental
capacity to like write all the time. Did you play
any shows that when you're in George? Did you go
play in any sort of cafes or bars or I
don't have any Yeah, I got invited, um the promoter
like in the Athens area, kind of like I got
to open a bunch of shows, first of three, you know,
when they needed to sell a couple more tickets because
(18:05):
they knew my sorority. All my people would come out,
you know. Um, and then I played like I remember
there's this place called the office, born girl. I would
play there like all the time. Just covers that because
I'm like I would write. I probably in college, wrote
like two or three songs. Did you feel like at
the piece of place, the office or whatever it's calling
right to the office, did you feel like you're playing
(18:27):
and not everybody's listening because they're eating and they're living
their life. But do you feel like you were getting
better because you were playing for two or three four
hours at a time. Yeah. And I got to do
with my dad and my brother. They would come for
those kind of things too, So it was really just, um,
I think that kind of laid the foundation for like
me performing because it's I'm like thankful I had some
(18:48):
experience before coming to Nashville, you know, and I'm not
just like thrown to the wolves. At least I've gotten
up in front of people, Um, you start playing writing
music in your part? Meant right by myself, when did
that somewhat normalize? As to people you go to their house,
so you go to their apartment and right like, when
did you start going Okay, I need to get out
(19:10):
and start doing co writes. Julie actually set that up.
So I met Julie through Christian Bush, my producer, and
that happened because I was his intern when I was
in the Music Business program. You were Christian Christians intern. Yeah,
and Brandon his brother. That's fine in Atlanta. I mean
I know Christian really well. Christian I've written songs together
and Christians tour. We've toured together, so Christian and I
are are pretty close in that regard. So you're interning
(19:33):
for them at the studio they have there, Um yeah,
So it was I would come in like once every
couple of weeks, but I was doing all their publishing stuff,
helping release plans and stuff like that. So it was
like and I kind of kept my head down and
I wasn't like, hey, I know. I walked into their
studio and I saw Grammy on the wall, and I
(19:54):
was like, I am keeping my mouth the ship. When
did you finally tell him that music or Brandon either
one that music was kind of a passion when I'm
actually so they knew I was moving to Nashville, but um,
it's like a whole other story. I'm but my parents
kind of so my parents are have always been super supportive. Um,
but they weren't gonna let me just move to Nashville
(20:14):
because I you know what I mean, Like, I think
they were comfortable with me moved to Nashville because they
knew I had a marketing degree in a music business degree,
and so it was I don't even know where I
was going with that you moved to Nashville. Your parents
were like, hey, but Christian and Christian and Brandon, So yeah,
they didn't know yet. They knew I was moving to Nashville,
but you know, with how my parents kind of framed
(20:36):
it too, it's like you can go try and then
you know, I had to when as as soon as
I moved to Nashville, I was applying for jobs every day,
and I had to show my parents because they were like,
you can't just like I'm moving and I don't have
any plans and it's so what about your influence to work?
Did then I count that as as well. It was,
but they knew I wasn't passionate about it, you know,
(20:56):
like it was it just it's not my thing. So
I moved and I, you know, start writing songs and
Christian I told Christian. He checked in like three months
after I had moved, and I'm like, honestly, it's not
going great. Like you know, the people that want to
write with me are like a little creepy. I met
him at Tin Roof and it's not going great. And
(21:17):
so he was like, I need to introduce you Julie,
and so she booked my first co write, which so
I moved in June. My first co write was in
December on Zoom with Ben Williams, who has a lot
of songs with me on Zoom. That's an interesting first
co write because usually when you walk into a room
the first ten times, or if you walk to a
room with somebody who's had a lot of success, you're like, Okay,
(21:39):
the pressure's on me. I gotta the cool, I gotta
have a line, I gotta have an idea. I wonder
if when you're doing a Zoom was it just YouTube? Yeah?
I was, Did you feel that pressure? I mean a
little a little bit. But at the time, since I
was so used to writing by myself, I would come
into rights with like four different choruses I had written.
I'd be like, which one do you like? Let's write
this one. So I didn't think it that weird because
(22:00):
I had never written anyways. So I was just like,
what's up? How to go? How to go? Your first write? Um?
We wrote a song called Barefoot Wine. It's pretty good,
but um, did you like collaborating? Yeah? What I found
is like I liked writing alone because it kind of
you know, it made me figure out exactly what I
want to say and what I wouldn't say because I
(22:22):
have no help. But there are some times where I
can like write a killer chorus, but I'm like I
need another brain to think, like, how could this be
even cooler in the verse? You know what I mean? Um?
So I yeah, I love writing now. So you finished
that first song called Barefoot Wine? Did you ever see
the light of day? Uh? No? But I still talk
about it a lot. I think we should. I think
(22:42):
we should look back at it again. But and then
when you just start writing every day, every couple of days,
every few days, Yeah, Julie had me writing like multiple
times a week. I was still, um, when was that?
So that was December and I dropped my first single,
Wonder February. Um, and I quit the influencer thing January
(23:05):
of twenty once I started being like, Okay, I have
someone that's gonna literally like hook me up with co writes.
I feel like I have like an in now. So
I'm going to stop this influencer thing because I didn't
want people to like go to my page and be
confused on what was going on. Yeah, did you have
money saved up? Yeah? Good for you? So like CBD
money he saved up from all that? Yeah, that's good.
(23:25):
It's awesome that you could save money. The town I'm
gonna play. We have this stupid legal rule now we
can't play more than five seconds of a song, But Mike,
can you play five seconds of Wonder? Plea you? So,
how did that go? You? You put it out? Did
you feel that people were streaming it? Because now it's
(23:46):
got a couple mony streams, But back then, did you
feel like it was moving at all? Um? I did it?
So I was actually I posted a snippet of Wonder
because I wanted to release this song called Haven't Met Yet,
and I was just I knew that I had to
keep the tickto O content like consistent. Um. So I
just posted Wonder as like a throwaway thing, um and
it blew up. So I was like, well, now I
(24:07):
can't release this other song because if I had never
had like a million views on anything, you know what
I mean? And there were several several million views on
that um. So I literally I got with Julian. I
was like, well, how are we going to do this?
I guess I'll just put it out and I mean
for the problem was too is I was growing my
TikTok and my socials, but I didn't have any Like
(24:29):
I didn't have a Spotify account, so people are like
trying to look me up and these songs that I've written,
and I like, who even is this girl? So um,
I thought that like I wanted to read the vocals
on that song, like it just like wasn't exactly how
I wanted it to be, but we didn't have time.
So I was like, we might as well just capitalize
on this opportunity. And you know, it's it's a song
(24:49):
that I wrote by myself, and I was a little bit,
a little bit tipsy on the beach. So can you
hear you being tipsy when you listen back to it? Thought, yeah,
they because we were at the beach and the song
is about my best friend Natalie, and she was like
she was kind of dating this guy that was like
she just didn't know where they stood. And I was
like having the drunk girl to girl talk. I was like, girl,
(25:11):
if he liked you, you would know he would not
make you Wonder. And that's how like that kind of
came to be. And then I they were I just
started like I was. I remember being like knee deep
and I just started like saying stuff and it started.
Then I had the whole first verseion chorus, and I
was like, well ship. So then I went back up
to the house, got my guitar and finish it and surprisingly,
so I don't really put that in my set anymore.
(25:33):
And um, I have girls that will come up and
they're like, why didn't you play Wonder? Like Wonder got
me over my ex and that kind of stuff. So
I think it is special, but it definitely wasn't performed.
I mean, I guess for not having any music out,
it did all right. So I wonder you put it out, then,
what what's the next song that you put on? Either
Taktok to blew Up or I have Hair Salon here? Yeah?
Was that was that next or close to next? So
(25:54):
I put out a song called Haven't Met Yet and
actually took it off DSPs before or Hair Salon came out,
just because it's just one of those things where I
knew I needed something to follow up, but streaming wise,
it wasn't doing as well, and it just does It's
not really me that song. I don't know why how
I wrote it, but it was like a super love song. Um,
(26:16):
and that's just like branding wise by myself and you
don't know how you wrote it. No. I I think
I must have watched some like romance movie or something
and felt that way because I couldn't even like I
hated playing it. It was just I think I think
it's still on YouTube somewhere, but it was just, Um,
(26:37):
I knew like going forward, I wanted songs that were
me and I didn't you know, I want to make
that accessible to my fans, but not like have it
be what I'm known for. Let me play some hair
Salon broke broken in a hairslan. I'm assuming you wrote
(27:01):
this one was a boy yourself or with somebody else.
So that one was written with Ben Williams, mckensey Carpenter,
Mike Carpenter, and so hair salon is who goes in
with the idea? Me um I Actually the first line
in the song is called it burning that she had
a ten am my hometown hair styles. Her name is Burnadette.
(27:23):
Oh yeah, there's a video on my Instagram of her
talking about the song and she kind of like did
this promo video for my EP. It is really cute.
But anyways, Um yeah, I had the idea and we
wrote half of it the first day and then we
we almost didn't write that day. But by like twelve thirty,
(27:44):
I had found this random note in my phone that
was like I heard you finally found the one. Sitting
there in the chair at the hair salon. I looked
out the window to keep myself from crying because I
wrote that because I had a dream about hair salon happening,
and so dream about hair salon happening me like the
song happening. It didn't. Yeah, that song is basically about
your favorite X getting engaged, you know, and it's traumatizing.
(28:04):
You have a favorite x I, do you have a
least favorite? X I? Do you know? I guess I've
never classified mind Mike's favorite and least. They're just all
and so okay, So you dreamed of hair Salon, you
put it out? Were you happy with? How? How that
(28:26):
that came out April of this year? So I think
writing hair Salon, I was telling, um, I can't remember who,
but recently, Like, as far as my writing, I really
didn't start writing until the beginning of COVID, you know, consistently,
And it took me until Hair Salon to like really
have confidence as a writer. Like I felt that that
song is complete, you know, like it definitely was a
(28:50):
turning point where I'm like, Okay, I can do this.
This is good, I can do this. So you felt
good going into writes, like you're actually bringing something and
that's good. I mean confidence and note when working with
other people that you admire, it's tough to get, but
it's it's so valuable to have because you feel comfortable sharing.
It's a very vulnerable things to share emotions and go, hey,
how can we work on this emotion that I would
(29:11):
never share with anybody in the public except for right now,
which we're gonna write a song about prety vulnerable thing
to be able to do. How long did it take
you to be able to just do that? Open up
with to other people and go, let's create a song
out of my pain. Um well, I feel like I've
always been pretty vulnerable, like I will. I'm an oversharer
if you like, when I meet people, they know my
entire life story immediately. That's a good quality to have
(29:33):
if you're gonna be a songwriter. Yeah, I have no shame.
I'm like, what do you want to know? Like we're
in the writer's room, I'm like, you know, how bad
was it? I'll tell you? Um So that part has
always kind of come naturally. But just as a songwriter,
it's it's tough when you because you just got to
keep doing it till you get something good. You know.
(29:54):
That's like the and I try not to put too
much pressure on getting a good one every time, but
um Hairs was definitely the first song where I was like, Okay,
this is really good. Cool. Whenever you wrote Tennessee Orange,
did you feel like that one was different or I
don't want to stay better? But I'll stay better. Do
you feel like it was better than the other ones? No?
I actually we almost didn't put it out. Um. I
(30:18):
I obviously liked the concept of the song and it
was cool and it was very me because I went
to U J all that stuff, But um, we just
weren't sure about the timing and stuff because I just
put out the EP. So it's like, do we is
that gonna water it down by putting out a new single? Um,
But we kind of just trusted our gut and we
(30:38):
were like, well, I write so much that I'll probably
have another U g A song next year that I
like more than this one. So if this one's going
to have a moment, it needs to me. Now, did
you feel like you were betraying g A by talking
about because it would be tough from I'm such an
Arkansas fan, will be tough for me to sing a
song about even write a song called Georgia Bulldog Love, right, Um,
(31:02):
you know I put it the end. Sorry, I can't speak.
I put in the end of the song. I still
want the dogs to win, and I think I ever
deemed myself there. Um, But I also make go into
ug a part of my personality. Like anyone I meet,
I'm like, hey, I am a ug a graduate. Um So,
I just think it's like a love story and it's cute.
(31:23):
So do you write this in COVID on zoom? No,
this was written um this year. Um. I wrote it
with Paul Jenkins, David Fanning, and Ben Williams. So you
go into the room always curious at how concepts end
up where they where they are Tennessee Orange. So how
does this come about? Who? What's what's the idea that
someone has or a line that someone has it turns
(31:45):
into the song? Um so based on a true story.
And so I had the in Georgia they call it
a sin I'm wearing Tennessee Orange for him because um,
you already had that line. Yeah, got it? Um And
I it was one of those things where I had
never written with David or Paul. Ben Williams is my
go to guys. So I was excited. I was just
you know, I'm like, okay, we'll Ben's here, And I'm
(32:06):
like when I get excited about ideas, I know you're
supposed to save them for you know what I mean? Like,
um right, yeah, is that what you're saving it for? That? No,
I thought of it the morning of and I was
so excited about the idea that I was like, this
is all I want to write today, because I had
like the Waltz like, Okay, this is what I want
(32:28):
to Oh No, I was like, guys, I'm so excited
about this and we have to write it. And I'm
from u G and I don't even know if you
guys care about that sec but this is what I
want to write. So how fast did this all kind
of fall out? Um? I think it was pretty standard.
It's probably yeah, four hours and then um we got
(32:48):
I listened to the work tape when we got home
and I basically like rewrote the verses. Um, went back
in and chained stuff. Yeah, because I was like just
I was in it was in the Tennessee orange mood
that day. I was like, so I probably worked on
it for two hours by myself. After that, I was
just like I'm obsessed with this idea. Um. But there
were some certain things like I think the I know
(33:09):
you raised me to know right from wrong part was
in like the second verse. But I in my head,
I'm like I want to confuse people and like, haven't
be so dramatic, like no one knows what I'm about
to talk, like say, or what I'm talking about. Um,
So yeah, we did that and then I sent it
back to the writers and I was like, hey, change
this you guys, like everybody, So how do you? Is
(33:29):
this a level of passion about creating a song that
you hadn't had yet because you said you went back
home two more hours. If you're writing it for four
and those four hour sessions can be exhausting, it's like, okay,
what rhyme's was shirt? All right, and you're you're on
rhyme zone and you're like, all right, what if we
and you've done that for four hours and it's mentally
and emotionally draining a bit? Did that happen often when
you'd write a song for four hours and go back
and immediately want to get back on it. Um, if
(33:51):
it was an idea that I just loved, then yeah.
It's like with hair Salon. We we took like four
or five different sessions writing that and I ended up
like the ending part. There are things that I like
changed on my own, you know, Like I really I'm
kind of obsessive with the songwriting, Like I like it too.
I want it to be perfect, and I don't want to.
Just what I do in rites too, is that if
(34:12):
it's not going anywhere, it's not going in the right direction,
then I stop it so we don't ruin it. Because
if the idea is really good, I don't want to
just be tired and on rhyme zone and throw in
some crap lyric just because we're all tired. Like we're
all tired. It's a great song, so let's come back
to it, no worries. It's pretty good leadership for somebody
who hasn't been doing this for twenty years, you know,
and it's just you knowing what you want, and that's
you know sometimes you know, with young artists especially, that's
(34:35):
hard for them to speak up because like I'm the
young artist, they know more than me. But the fact
that you can do that, because yeah, I just don't
want to waste anyone's time because I'm this song, like
a song like Tennessee Orange two is so specific to me.
It's not like we can go pitch that to all
of Nashville. So because it's like such a me song, Um,
I just wanted to make sure that it was right,
and eventually it wasn't but even I thought about I
(34:56):
guess because I had worked on it for so long.
I sent it to everybody and I'm like, I just
don't know if the course melodies right, like it needs
to change or go somewhere else, and they're like, we
don't know what you're talking about. This is great. So
it was streamed. I looked one million times in five days,
which is very impressive for an independent artist. And does
that does that feel different? No? Not really. I'm still
(35:16):
just a number, but it's just but as it's happening
though it's just a number, or you're like, dang, this
song is really crushing it right now? Like, are you
like different than hair salon? Different than um? I mean,
it's definitely cool, um, but nothing crazy, nothing like all right,
I'm about to be famous, nothing like I'm yeah. No.
I It's been really cool to see that many people
(35:38):
you know relate to. It's really popped off on TikTok um.
There's like a trend where people it's like for couples,
you know, and they kind of make it their own,
which I think is cool. Does everybody ask you who
the Tennessee person is? What's your standard answer? I cannot
confirm or deny. But they didn't. But you didn't say
I didn't even ask who it was. That's not the
answer to that question exactly. But whatever, whoever the question
(36:01):
is about. But but I didn't ask about somebody. I
cannot say yes or no. But I didn't ask it
yes or no question. I just I'm not saying is
it anybody specifically? I'm saying people are asking who it is?
If they say who is it? What do you say?
You're not saying will you ever say? No? Ever? Did
(36:22):
you make it? Make a person up? Okay, that's odd.
I mean I don't I don't care who it is.
You're gonna write songs about so many people probably over
the next ten years that you know, this is something
that you'll always probably have to deal with. I think
it's I mean, why would I say to you know?
It ruins the speculation. And it also if you put
a face or a name with something that people can
(36:43):
relate their own stories to, it may take away from
them being able to relate their own story if they're
seeing somebody else there right. I don't even know if
that makes sense. But a lot of times when I
find out who songs are written about I can only
think about that. I can't even insert my story into it.
Because songs are written a lot of times. I'll take
a message from it. You didn't mean to put in
it right, and you've done that type of songs. Didn't
hurt songs. You're like, oh, I feel this way about it.
(37:04):
But if I knew who it was, it was some
getting Benjie, I would be like, I gonna think about Benjie.
And I'm sure there are a lot of people who
relate to having to like a team or change something
about them because it's somebody that they're gonna fall for.
I hate Oklahoma. My wife's an Oklahoma fan, and it's
hard for me to root for Oklahoma. But you know
what I did very exactly. I actually so my mom
(37:26):
is like a die hard Georgia fan and I sing
hear the song and she was so mad at me.
That's like she was like that gaudy orange Like That's
why I asked, was it hard to sing? And I
mean even in the video there's there's a lot of orange.
Is the one I saw in? Yeah, we'll see. I
have a show coming up in Athens, so um, I'm
a little nervous to play it, but hopefully she's like
(37:47):
the most loyal fan off the stage. Food on the day.
I'm like, you guys have to wait to end a
still on the Dog's on The timing is pretty perfect.
That was college football happening and both schools being really good.
Like that was out on purpose. Um, we knew that
we had to put it out football season if we
were going to do it. That's why it was kind
of rushed, like we tracked, I did vocals, mixed and
(38:08):
master the same day, get it uploaded on time. So
are some of the people that reached down to think
it's a good song that you're like, dang, you actually
heard that. That's pretty cool? Um Dan from Dan and
Chay And I'm trying to think there's been a lot
of people super supportive, so it's been cool. Actually, um,
(38:29):
this is random, but Nick Saban's daughter posted it, and
so this is the closest thing I'll get to liking Tennessee.
Just like that's pretty cool. Yeah, pretty cool. I mean
Nick Savan's daughter, that's one step away from freaking Nick Saban,
who I hate Alabama, but you gotta respect Nick Shaven
in your family. It's a pretty passionate football group fan group.
(38:50):
When we lost the National Championship when I was a sophomore,
my mom didn't speak to anyone for like two What
about when you want it though? Oh? Best day ever?
Did you go to the game? Um? I went to
the National Championship that we lost. I didn't make it
to the and you went to one you lost? Yeah,
that was tough, tough. That had been real hard. I
(39:10):
mean we lost a texas An this week and I
wanted to just jump off the I was in Vegas,
like twenty stories. I just want to jump off in
a quick mood. Ruiner sucked. Will you wear Tennessee orange
when you perform? Ever? Let's say they say, hey you
have to. Will you wear volunteer orange as as part
of some sort of performer Let's say game day. Well,
I'm going to the U g A yout game this year,
but I will be in Georgia red. I think if
(39:32):
I was in Knoxville and I had enough Margaritea's in me,
I could be convinced to where something orange. Have you
heard it on the radio yet? No, that'd be pretty cool.
Are the radio radio or whatever? Yeah? I know that
the Highway plays it but I haven't. I still have
a twenty tip mustin so it's hard for me to
(39:53):
listen to we um I program a national show. It's
the The Women to Buy Our Country Show, and so
we're gonna play that this weekend, right, Mike, We're gonna
play it. Then I'll tell you what this whnes is
coming out this Thursday Thursday. If you what time to
wake up in the morning when the sun comes up
seven am? Really I'll change Oh man, I'll change your
(40:17):
morning person. Um. Yeah, why don't we play it on
the show tomorrow morning? And if we'll just tell you
when and you listen and you can hear it for
the first time. Amazing. Yeah, that'd be cool. I'm probably
gonna cry, so, I mean, it won't be with me.
I don't care to cry away. I have no idea
if you're crying or not. So how at it? So
why don't we do it? Mike? Um do it. Let's
(40:39):
do it in like the eight B segment, which will
be like eight ten, eight ten to eight twenty. So
if you wake up tomorrow eight ten to eighty, you
gotta confirm to me you're gonna be awake, like you're
not going to ten roof tonight, you're gonna be a
four am. I where will I be? I'm actually a
bus call tonight. Uh, where will you be? Indiana? Maybe
you're still on the way. Is there a radio? How
(41:01):
do you listen to the well? A couple of ways?
A couple of a couple of ways. So we're a
national show, so there, we're on stations all over the country,
but you can always just listen on the app that's
live too. Before you leave, we will tell you amazing, right, Mike,
because you could hear it on the Apple or something definitely,
or we can wait till you get back. It's up
to you. I'll figure it out. I'm down to figure
(41:22):
out whatever. I'll tell you what. Let's let's record right now, Mike,
and we'll just leave this in the podcast to a
small segment that will play tomorrow on the show as well,
leading into the song, and then we'll have the whole thing.
You'll be on the show tomorrow and we'll play a
little clip here that we're about to record, and then
we'll play this song. It'll be awesome. That's so cool. Okay,
so thank you well, time this starting here, and then
(41:43):
I'm gonna ask you probably a question I just asked you.
But we're gonna simplify because on the radio show we have,
like I mean, we're on for five hours, but I
can't go on for an hour without breaking for commercials,
so things are a little more tight. So I'm gonna
ask you again some very simple questions. Be concise, pretty simple, easy,
and then we'll cut it up and play it tomorrow
before the song. Okay, good, okay, cool, here we go.
Let's nervous. Now, well, there doesn't need to be nervous.
(42:05):
We're doing the same thing and we can edit it
and we can edit it. So we're here with Okay,
we go. We're here with Megan Moroney. Who Megan? How
long have you lived in Nashville? Two years? And so
in that two years you have written a lot on Zoom.
You've written a lot with folks. You've written a lot
of songs that have gone viral and you know, had
millions of streams as well. But now you have this
(42:27):
monster called Tennessee Orange. But the weird part about it
is you're not a Tennessee fan, are you know you are?
You're an absolute diehard Georgia fan, Georgia bulldog fan, and
when you wrote this song, your mom told you she
was not happy. Oh yeah, I got the wrath. Has
the University of Tennessee sent you any stuff yet they
have not. No one's reached out to get Tennessee stuff. No,
(42:48):
And I'm scared to reach out to Georgia. Yeah, it
would be too, I'd be a little nervous about that too.
You grew up in Georgia. What was the name of
your town, Douglas And then what's the Douglas film mascot? Like,
you're you're high school a cougar. You thought that a
literation like Douglasville Demons. We were the Alexander Cougars. So
it was alex Yeah, Alexander. What's a alliteration Alexander Yeah,
(43:14):
a packers allator, yeah, alligator. Yeah. So so you're a cougar.
But then you're a bulldog when you go to the
University of Georgia and you study accounting because you wanted
to be possibly what an account just traight up accounting.
You've come a long way from tax care taker to musician. Uh,
(43:34):
you come to Nashville and you're you're in Nashville for
how long as you write this song? Yes, that was
a year and a half. So you're here for a
year and a half, you write this song. Do you
know what's an instant hit? Because I just I don't know.
I spent a lot of I spent like six hours
writing it. So was it? Sure? It gets millions of
streams in the first week that it's out, and you're
(43:57):
feeling in love from a lot of people. Dan from
Dan and Shay each child I see. I mean I
saw it on reels on Instagram the first time that
I that. I think I wrote something like the song
is awesome or something like that, and so here we are,
we're gonna play it today. How would you describe this
song Tennessee Orange, because it's not exactly you being a
Tennessee fan, it's you being a fan of somebody who's
a Tennessee fan. Yeah, so describe this song in like
(44:18):
fifteen twenty seconds exactly what you were thinking and what
you wanted to get out there. Um, I remember describing
this is the closest thing I could write to a
love song. Um, it's not super crazy, but I would
wear a color for you, and I think being from
the South and being a U J grad, Um that
says a lot. If I'm willing to wear Tennessee orange,
that says a whole lot. Yeah, I'm I won't wear
(44:40):
Oklahoma red from my wife, So still still want to
do it. Okay, here is Tennessee Orange. Now, do you
say who you wrote it about? Okay? No, she doesn't know.
She neither confirms nor denies that she even wrote the song.
Megan Moroney, here is Tennessee Orange. The first time we've
played it here on the Bobby Bones Show. See look,
that's it. That's so cool. You gotta have a little
(45:01):
more energy when you like we did, because it was like,
this is how I normally talk about But then it's like,
here we go, I gotta talk that's so cool. So
we'll put that on tomorrow and by the time people
hear this, I guess that will be yesterday, right, Mike, um,
So we'll figure out a way for you to listen
to it, and it'll be super cool. I don't know
what else except to be super cool, and it will
probably turn into a superstar immediately. Anytime I play a song,
(45:22):
people become miss a millionaires. Haven't you heard? I have
not heard? That's that's kind of word going. Incredible and
it's incredible. Your EP pistol made of Roses? Why the name?
So that's a lyric and I love me the first
track um, and I just feel like it kind of
encompasses the whole record. There's like sad songs, but there's
(45:43):
also songs that don't mess with me, and I feel
like that's kind of who I am. I think on
your your bio on one of your accounts, it was
like emo cow girl. What does the professional emo cowgirl?
What does that mean? And why those words? Um? Because
I am professionally am oceanal in the country genre. How
would your friends describe you? If if I were just
(46:06):
to see one of them out and I was like, hey,
you know who I met? He was hanging out and
talking to Megan. What does she like as a person? Um,
I'm definitely the uh my mood I feel like dictates
the group, you know if I That's why I know
if I'm not in a good mood, I just don't
go out because I'll bring everyone down somehow. But I'm
kind of expected to like be the um extroverted. You
(46:27):
have a lot of energy, I do. Yeah, you get
energy from being around people. Yeah, So I love being
with people, But then I also love being alone and
isolating myself until I'm recharged. Yeah, that's I was gonna say,
So you isolate, recharge and then I'm ready to spend
it all out with them, right yeah, okay, all right,
Well I think we've said it all, Mike, what do
you think anything anything I've missed? I think we got
(46:49):
it all. So tell your brother and your dad they
should be part of the family, the new family band,
the Megamoni band, the Mega Money experience, That's probably what
it is, right, And then they moved to town. What's
your dad do? My dad is in aerospace metal sales.
So your dad's in aerospace and your brother's a lawyer. Yeah,
but my other brothers and nurse, they're all doing like
(47:09):
such different and all are awesome and all are extremely difficult,
but that is a whole different path. Yea. What your
parents think about right now where you are in the
stage of your career. Are they proud of you? Oh? Yeah?
They think they can't even really Like I told them
I was how to interview with you, and they were
like Bobby the Bobby um, And I'm like yeah, yeah,
(47:29):
And it's just they it's funny. They they're just small
town people, you know what I mean. So when I
tell them, oh, I got put on this playlist and
this is why this is cool, they're like cool, They're
like that many people you have that many streams, They're like,
how congratulations, it's really cool to see. And I just
(47:50):
what I like about you is you know, you know
what you want. When you walk to a song writ
in your room, you're like, this is what I want
to do, and people can either get with it or not,
but you know who you are and who you are
change a hundred times, and that's all okay too. It's
it's super cool to see your success. Well, good luck
and tomorrow will play your song. But if you're listening
that was yesterday, that's right. We're messing with time right now. Um,
(48:10):
you guys can follow Megan at Megan Maroney m o
r oh anyway, right, I'm saying that right. That's how
you say wait what man o the whole time and
I was like your manager, I told you not saying
not be Maroni. No, just spelling wise because people always
want to throw a in there and that's not correct,
so spelled moron e y. That's pretty funny too, you say, see,
(48:35):
that's that's self deprecating. Even in fact, you'll say that, Okay,
you guys, check out Megan. And other than that, we're good.
And Megan, we'll see you after you have a couple
of massive hits. We'll do it again, all right, all right, thanks,
M episode three sixty five with Megan Moroney, where I
just found her song on on Instagram reels and literally
that was it. I was. I don't even flip through reels.
I think reals kind of sucks, honestly, Mike, at least
compared to TikTok. Yeah, I hardly get on them. I
if I do get on it, I don't ever flip.
(00:20):
Now I found her flipping kind of rolling through. I
don't know why I flipped on TikTok all day long.
Yeah I can do that. I mean I can do
that for half an hour, forty five minutes. It's crazy
how much times on TikTok. I mean, they definitely have
the algorithm down. They know where in stadium's algorithm isn't
near a strong I got some weird crap on unreels
espectually right now, and so I don't know what I
(00:41):
was looking at. Maybe flipped up once and I saw
this song Tennessee Orange now not so much a big
Tennessee fan. Don't know why I was drawn to it.
But you know, with the show that I programmed, The
Women of Our Country where I picked the music there
and the countdown show that that I do on the weekends.
You know, I'm always looking for new stuff to play.
You're doing the same thing. And so I was like,
(01:02):
let me hear this, let me hear her if she's
any good. And not only was she good, but the
song was really good. I was like, dang, that's awesome.
So I said, screenshot texting Mike, Hey, why don't we
get her up here? Songs blowing up like it's really
a big deal for her. Christian Bush is I think
one of the producers or if not the producer on
the song. Yeah, from sugar Land, who I didn't know that.
And Christian and I know each other and I've worked
(01:22):
together in the past and in a couple of different ways.
But Megan Moroney is her name. I think you're gonna
like this. She went to the University of Georgia. She's
not a Tennessee fan, she says it, but it's about
meeting a guy who makes you go, okay, I'll wear
your team's colors, to which I said, I've never worn
Oklahoma still out of it. I don't think Klin's Wren
in Arkansas either. I take that back. I think she
(01:42):
has Warre in Arkansas. It's like it's cold in the
house and there's nothing but an Arkansas hoodie nearby? What
a game? Then? To what game? Like an Arkansas Arkansas game?
Black shirt? Yeah, or a white shirt. You know, we
won't be disrespectful and where the other team? Our team
to the other game. But yeah, she won't really wear
a hog will wear it again. If it's cold in
the house and it's just a hoodie, that's fine. But
(02:03):
other than that, she's the same way. We're loyal folks,
and you can tell Megan is too. But you know,
I said she had this song, so I want you
to hear this about her life and she went to
school to be an accountant and now here she is
blowing up. It's pretty cool. This is Megan Moroney. You
can follow her Meg Moroney on TikTok and Instagram and
it's episode three sixty five. Hope you enjoy it. I
(02:23):
guess I was introduced to through just scrolling through reels,
was it? I literally, it's the best way now for
me to find new artists. And I was scrolling through
and I I saw your song Tennessee Orange, and I
literally thought, oh, I don't want to hear about Tennessee.
I remember the volunteers. They're they're good this year, and
Arkansas was pretty good too. But but then I was like,
let me listen to this song and as it kind
(02:45):
of flips, you know, it's it's it's a little little
tricky because you're not really a Tennessee fan. And so
let's so let's learn about you for a second. Because
you went to the University of Georgia. Did you grow
up in Georgia? I did. I grew up um in Douglasville, Georgia,
which is like west of Atlanta. And then, um, what's
douglas fell Like, like when you drive into your town,
what do you see that we have a signature big mailbox. Um,
(03:06):
I actually moved so my parents moved out of douglas
Felle after I graduated high school, so I haven't been
back there in a while. But um, i'd say it's
like pretty established, Like it's not small, but it operates
like a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone.
How big was I graduated with I think like five people,
so it's a decent size. But um, I remember like
(03:27):
I was one of the very few people that like
went to a school like u g A. A lot
of people like you know, they go to local schools
and stuff like that. I thought that was my big event,
my life event. It was happy. Yeah, I thought that's
I thought you was going to be it. So you
go to Georgia and you plan to do what when
you enter your freshman year? Did you declare a major
(03:50):
or just kind of wait and see. I went to
U g A to be an accountant, So so what
what interested you in numbers? Like? Why? Um I took
so my mom was in a count it and um
I took an accounting I had some accounting classes in
high school and out of everyone, I was like the
ones that that was passing the test. I was like,
if I'm okay at it, I guess, like I'll just
(04:11):
go to school for that. And because I don't know,
it's like looking back, I'm like, what was I doing
in high school? I was guess I was just like
studying a lot and making good grades. My parents like
thought that a B was the end of the world.
So high standards. Did you have older siblings? I have
two older brothers, ye, And were they good students? Oh? Yeah,
my brother is like the smart one. I. He was
(04:33):
in the IB program UM, which is like what I
stand for international back lord. Okay, I don't even Okay,
So they were put on you because your older siblings
were really good in school. Yeah, and so you're the youngest, right,
and you're finishing high school and you're doing pretty good
in grades. I assume you had to. And I got
(04:55):
into Georgia almost followed my high school boyfriend to Kansas State,
which would have been in nightmare and a disaster. I
don't even know your high school boyfriend. But that's never good.
It's never My mom was not going to allow that
to happen anyways. So you go to Georgia. It's Georgie
is awesome. Big school, kind of a culture change because
you're in a massive university. Is it different than high school?
Oh yeah, there's like I think people that we're at
(05:19):
U g A when I was, and it's just it's
just such a different like you just meet all kinds
of different people, and I feel like in my hometown
it's kind of like the same kind of people. You're
used to that, and then you like go to college
with all these I think it was I grew the
most in my first year of college than I ever did,
like living in my hometown so, so how long until
you realize you hate or love accounting? Um? I think
(05:43):
by the end of my freshman year, I think I
made like a fifty two on a test, and I
was like, it's not looking so good. I barely know
half the material. Was it because it was harder or
because there were so many distractions? Oh? It was hard
I So I had an eight am like my account ning.
I purposely had an eight am so that it would
make me go every single day and I'd get up
(06:04):
early and stuff. And I was I studied so much
and I still like, I studied for weeks and I
still made a fifty two. And I was like, Okay,
well I've been humbled. So you finished freshman year and
at this point, and I know you grew up there
there was some music in the family, your your whole life,
right because one of your brothers was he playing music
and my dad, Um my dad plays the guitar and piano,
(06:27):
and so does my brother. So, um, I grew up
around music. So what did you do musically though, as
a kid around music? Did you hop in like the
family band? You sing at church? Everybody's got some sort
of story when they weren't really in music, but it
kind of introduced him to the fact they might like it.
So my dad and I used to like sing in
the living room all the time, like that was every
(06:47):
night basically. And um, when I got an Instagram, I
started to like post post us doing that. How old
were you when you were posting your dad singing? High school?
So probably like sixteen ish. Um. And then I did
some talent shows. Um, I was in chorus. I was
an acapella the acapella group. I was a musical theater.
I hated the acting part. Were music then yeah, like
(07:10):
I I liked music, but I never thought of it
as like a career, Like that was way out of
my you know reach in my mind. What did your
dad do musical? It was it just a hobby? Did
you ever try to make it in music? When he
was younger, he was in a band that traveled around
his hometown. I think, Um, but it's mostly just a hobby.
(07:31):
And your brother same. My brother is an attorney. We've
tried to get him to quit his job and come
on the road with me, but not successfully yet to play.
I bet the money's not here good honestly, Yeah, he's
like a prosecutors in Georgia, UM South Carolina. Okay, so
you have a musical background, you go to college and
you're studying a county, but are you doing anything for
(07:52):
fun music? Like your freshman year, do you ever go
do you go sing or even do karaoke? Because you
have like a it you need to scratch. So I
was still posting the covers like I would go home.
And so I was in a sorority and mystrity kind
of knew me as the country singer just because I
was posting country covers whatever. But we it first started
with this like pageant that the sororities put on and
(08:12):
we needed a representative for my sorority. And you know,
no one wanted to do it because there was the
talent section. You mean to compete, to compete against each other,
So you're the representative for year sorority against other sororities. Yeah,
And I was a freshman and they brabbed me with
chick Fila gift cards to do it. Yeah. I was like, okay, fine,
I'll do it whatever. I sang strawberry wine with my
(08:34):
dad and yeah he didn't. Yeah, so we sang that
and I ended up winning, Like I won this pageant,
and there was like real pageant girls that were in
like Miss Georgia and like like I had to like
walk up to a microphone do a little spin. Like
it was like it was terrified for me. But I
liked the talent part. But so that happened. So then
I was really known as the country singer in the
(08:55):
Sorority because everyone was like, oh, she went Miss Sorority
row and she saying strawberry wine, So country singer. When
you performed that in this talent show, did you feel like, dang,
you are actually pretty good. They really like me. Like
what is that feeling after you perform live in front
of all those people for the first time? Or was
you just terrified at the whole pageant and it was
terrifying the entire time. I had anxiety because like they
(09:15):
were outfit changes. Um there's like a game day section.
I had to answer a question live and I just
it was it really freaked me out. But the talent part, yes,
and I don't know, I didn't take it too seriously. Um,
so I think that might have helped. What do you
win if you win the pageant? More gift cards? And
(09:36):
I got a crown in a sash that make you
want to do any more type pageants? No, Um, I
actually I do think that we got a check for
our philanthropy like that. Um, that's like the winning thing
for the sorority, right, I think I won that. But
as far as personal think, yeah, they were just like cool,
here's a sash. Did they post that singing on any
(09:57):
social media? If you sing? I don't think so. So
did you have any videos go even semi viral prior
to that? Like no, no, no, and so to continue,
you know, I was known as a country singer and
then um our philanthropy event in the spring was um
a John Layson concert. We paid, we paid him to
(10:17):
come play, and obviously our budget, Um, we used all
our budget on him and we needed an opener, and
they were like, well, Megan's the country singer. Um. I
wasn't writing at the time, So I sang like three
cover songs, super weird um and probably stob very well
if I had to take a guess, and then probably
White Liar by Miranda, and um probably another Miranda. So
(10:42):
it was super weird looking back. Um, But at that
it was like in a field and Chase Rice was
there trying to promote his Georgia Theater show. That was
like in a month, and somehow by the end of
the day he was like, you can open for me
at the Georgia Theater, but I need you to have
an original song because it's weird if you just play covers.
(11:02):
So I wrote my very first song to be able
to open for him at the Georgia Theater. What was
that first song? It's called Stay of Memory? Is it good?
Or do you like how Ton and go? Um? I
wouldn't never do anything with it now, but for a
first song, they were like, clever when you play the
theater show, because I'm assuming it happened most people you
ever played in front of? Oh yeah, nervous. Oh yeah.
(11:24):
I practiced for weeks though with my dad and my brother.
Did they play with you? Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, And
it was like an acoustic thing and yeah, I was
so nervous, and I mean it was great. Now that
I write my own songs, Um, I really don't like
playing covers too much because I can't remember the words
like that. Used to give me horrible anxiety having to
(11:44):
play like thirty minutes of covers basically because I'm like,
I don't know what they were thinking in the second verse.
I've heard it's like wide open spaces. I can never
remember the second verse for some reason. But so, you
play at this sorority concert party, then you play at
a theater show. At this point, are you going maybe
I can do me? And then where are you in school? Too? So?
Did you stop doing accounting? Um? So at the same
(12:06):
time I was making a fifty two on the accounting
test was around the same time that I played that
first show. And when I played the first show, that
was like my first real like it wasn't a talent show.
It wasn't musical theater. It wasn't it was like me performing,
and I fell in love with it. And I told
my parents, like, I got a job out because Chase
Rice told me that I'm good enough to drop out.
(12:28):
My parents were like, yeah, no, you know that's happening.
How long ago was this? Um? I am twenty four
and that happened. I was nineteen four or five years ago.
Chase Rice was it a sorority party promoting a show?
Him and John were friends too. I'm not exactly sure
what the deal was. Chase, I'm doing a sororiority party.
Come to the show. Yeah, that's probably went down. I
(12:48):
would have said to like, I'm promoting a show, but
it's cool that he saw you. Like, I like it
all worked, but I never I mean, it sounds a
little fishy chases just at a sorority party. I'm just
saying they went up it. He's saying a song with
like John brought him out was like Chase Rise and
that's playing at the Georgia Theater next month. Yeah. So, um, yeah,
so you play this show. Did you think maybe I
(13:10):
don't wanted to school anymore? Oh? Yeah, I asked my parents.
I'm like, you know, I gotta do it while I'm young, Like,
I better get there soon because Nashville is so cut
throat and I gotta you know what I mean. And
my parents are like, yeah, well tough. So you go
back to school. Oh yeah, can you change a major
to what? So wrote out the accounting wave until the
(13:30):
end of my freshman year, and then the beginning of
my sophomore year, I changed to marketing and digital marketing,
and then I applied for the music business program. So
I graduated with all those things. Um, when you do digital,
what does that even mean? It's it's all just social
media marketing, any sort of like like email marketing. Does
that help you now a little bit with Oh yeah,
(13:51):
because I would't think that's a pretty cool skill to learn, right.
And in college, um, since I was in a sorority
and all my friends were posting pictures all the time,
that's kind of how I got started to grow my following. Um,
so I did the influencer thing in college, so marketing
just made sense. It's always made sense. What were you influencing? Like,
what was your specialty as an influencer? I was literally
(14:12):
doing like anything everything. Oh yeah, I did that. I
did a lot of hair products. Um, and I did
that all even through COVID. I was doing that to
pay my bills. So I hated it though, but yeah,
but we do a lot of things to pair of
bills that we hate, especially early on, I did that
a lot of a lot of things. Um, so you're
(14:32):
getting all this stuff sent to you for free? Yeah,
and I was getting paid like it. Well, first it
started with doing stuff for free, and then I started
to get free stuff aget paid and I was like,
well that's great. Were you still doing covers and are
doing and how big did your Instagram. I'm assuming this
is mostly on Instagram. Yew. How big did your following
get when you were just doing covers? You have a
(14:53):
move in Nashville yet, but you're also you know, being
able to pay your bills on being an influencer. I
think I was at like sixty followers or something. Can
you make decent money with six followers? I had an
agent that would like get me deals and um yeah,
And so that's how I mean, that's how what I
had to do during COVID because when I moved to Nashville,
I really wanted to focus on writing songs, and so
(15:13):
having a job that was like nine to five, I
knew that it would drain me mentally. Um, So I
needed something with like a super flexible schedule. So I'd
be freaking up at six am recording my CBD jobs
like smiling, pretending to care. You finished school and do
you move right to Nashville? Um? Yes, So I COVID
(15:35):
happened like March. I graduated in May on Zoom and
then I moved to Nashville in June. Were you bummed?
It had to be a Zoom graduation a little bit?
But since like all that started in March and we
were just like stuck. I was kind of ready to
move on. I'm like, if I can't have a normal
senior year, I just want to like close that book
and move on. My wife got her Masters during COVID,
(15:55):
and she was like, day, I don't get a graduation.
Yeah it was weird, but like I haven't actually been
back to Athens since I graduated. Really, yeah, you move
up here? Do you find a friend? Where do you?
How do you do this Facebook group? I found a
roommate UM that was interesting and it actually worked out
really well. Is the ad like, hey, I do music,
(16:16):
I look everybody else that does music? Or is it
just like hey, I'm just looking for like what what
do you say? I was just I think I remember
saying like I just graduated college and I need a roommate.
Want a two bedroom? Like no, pats, you know what
I mean? Like something something basic like that. And it
actually ended up being a girl that went to u
G A two but we just didn't know each other
(16:36):
um and it worked out great. I've been really fortunate
with roommates. They've all been like normal, so you must
be pretty clean. Then well I'm messy but not in
a dirty way, you know what I mean, Like I'm
not dirty. There's there's a difference messy and dirty. Right,
MESSI brings bugs, right messy Messy is just close very
(16:59):
yes exactly. Um, I'm not gonna like, you know, I
would yell over like someone leaving their dirty dish out
for like a week, you know what I mean. That's dirty,
but like messy if you just have a shirt on,
like the couch, I'm not going to be like And
that's also to pick out for somebody else to So
you move here during COVID, So what do you do
(17:24):
because it's not like you can go out to any
of the like the listening room or Yeah, it was
like it was weird. Um. I really just started writing
by myself a lot um. I wrote that first song
for the Georgia Theater and then I got my heart
broken pretty bad my junior year, and I wrote a
song then and then Other than that, though I was
(17:45):
so consumed to schoolwork, I really didn't have a mental
capacity to like write all the time. Did you play
any shows that when you're in George? Did you go
play in any sort of cafes or bars or I
don't have any Yeah, I got invited, um the promoter
like in the Athens area, kind of like I got
to open a bunch of shows, first of three, you know,
when they needed to sell a couple more tickets because
(18:05):
they knew my sorority. All my people would come out,
you know. Um, and then I played like I remember
there's this place called the office, born girl. I would
play there like all the time. Just covers that because
I'm like I would write. I probably in college, wrote
like two or three songs. Did you feel like at
the piece of place, the office or whatever it's calling
right to the office, did you feel like you're playing
(18:27):
and not everybody's listening because they're eating and they're living
their life. But do you feel like you were getting
better because you were playing for two or three four
hours at a time. Yeah. And I got to do
with my dad and my brother. They would come for
those kind of things too, So it was really just, um,
I think that kind of laid the foundation for like
me performing because it's I'm like thankful I had some
(18:48):
experience before coming to Nashville, you know, and I'm not
just like thrown to the wolves. At least I've gotten
up in front of people, Um, you start playing writing
music in your part? Meant right by myself, when did
that somewhat normalize? As to people you go to their house,
so you go to their apartment and right like, when
did you start going Okay, I need to get out
(19:10):
and start doing co writes. Julie actually set that up.
So I met Julie through Christian Bush, my producer, and
that happened because I was his intern when I was
in the Music Business program. You were Christian Christians intern. Yeah,
and Brandon his brother. That's fine in Atlanta. I mean
I know Christian really well. Christian I've written songs together
and Christians tour. We've toured together, so Christian and I
are are pretty close in that regard. So you're interning
(19:33):
for them at the studio they have there, Um yeah,
So it was I would come in like once every
couple of weeks, but I was doing all their publishing stuff,
helping release plans and stuff like that. So it was
like and I kind of kept my head down and
I wasn't like, hey, I know. I walked into their
studio and I saw Grammy on the wall, and I
(19:54):
was like, I am keeping my mouth the ship. When
did you finally tell him that music or Brandon either
one that music was kind of a passion when I'm
actually so they knew I was moving to Nashville, but um,
it's like a whole other story. I'm but my parents
kind of so my parents are have always been super supportive. Um,
but they weren't gonna let me just move to Nashville
(20:14):
because I you know what I mean, Like, I think
they were comfortable with me moved to Nashville because they
knew I had a marketing degree in a music business degree,
and so it was I don't even know where I
was going with that you moved to Nashville. Your parents
were like, hey, but Christian and Christian and Brandon, So yeah,
they didn't know yet. They knew I was moving to Nashville,
but you know, with how my parents kind of framed
(20:36):
it too, it's like you can go try and then
you know, I had to when as as soon as
I moved to Nashville, I was applying for jobs every day,
and I had to show my parents because they were like,
you can't just like I'm moving and I don't have
any plans and it's so what about your influence to work?
Did then I count that as as well. It was,
but they knew I wasn't passionate about it, you know,
(20:56):
like it was it just it's not my thing. So
I moved and I, you know, start writing songs and
Christian I told Christian. He checked in like three months
after I had moved, and I'm like, honestly, it's not
going great. Like you know, the people that want to
write with me are like a little creepy. I met
him at Tin Roof and it's not going great. And
(21:17):
so he was like, I need to introduce you Julie,
and so she booked my first co write, which so
I moved in June. My first co write was in
December on Zoom with Ben Williams, who has a lot
of songs with me on Zoom. That's an interesting first
co write because usually when you walk into a room
the first ten times, or if you walk to a
room with somebody who's had a lot of success, you're like, Okay,
(21:39):
the pressure's on me. I gotta the cool, I gotta
have a line, I gotta have an idea. I wonder
if when you're doing a Zoom was it just YouTube? Yeah?
I was, Did you feel that pressure? I mean a
little a little bit. But at the time, since I
was so used to writing by myself, I would come
into rights with like four different choruses I had written.
I'd be like, which one do you like? Let's write
this one. So I didn't think it that weird because
(22:00):
I had never written anyways. So I was just like,
what's up? How to go? How to go? Your first write? Um?
We wrote a song called Barefoot Wine. It's pretty good,
but um, did you like collaborating? Yeah? What I found
is like I liked writing alone because it kind of
you know, it made me figure out exactly what I
want to say and what I wouldn't say because I
(22:22):
have no help. But there are some times where I
can like write a killer chorus, but I'm like I
need another brain to think, like, how could this be
even cooler in the verse? You know what I mean? Um?
So I yeah, I love writing now. So you finished
that first song called Barefoot Wine? Did you ever see
the light of day? Uh? No? But I still talk
about it a lot. I think we should. I think
(22:42):
we should look back at it again. But and then
when you just start writing every day, every couple of days,
every few days, Yeah, Julie had me writing like multiple
times a week. I was still, um, when was that?
So that was December and I dropped my first single,
Wonder February. Um, and I quit the influencer thing January
(23:05):
of twenty once I started being like, Okay, I have
someone that's gonna literally like hook me up with co writes.
I feel like I have like an in now. So
I'm going to stop this influencer thing because I didn't
want people to like go to my page and be
confused on what was going on. Yeah, did you have
money saved up? Yeah? Good for you? So like CBD
money he saved up from all that? Yeah, that's good.
(23:25):
It's awesome that you could save money. The town I'm
gonna play. We have this stupid legal rule now we
can't play more than five seconds of a song, But Mike,
can you play five seconds of Wonder? Plea you? So,
how did that go? You? You put it out? Did
you feel that people were streaming it? Because now it's
(23:46):
got a couple mony streams, But back then, did you
feel like it was moving at all? Um? I did it?
So I was actually I posted a snippet of Wonder
because I wanted to release this song called Haven't Met Yet,
and I was just I knew that I had to
keep the tickto O content like consistent. Um. So I
just posted Wonder as like a throwaway thing, um and
it blew up. So I was like, well, now I
(24:07):
can't release this other song because if I had never
had like a million views on anything, you know what
I mean? And there were several several million views on
that um. So I literally I got with Julian. I
was like, well, how are we going to do this?
I guess I'll just put it out and I mean
for the problem was too is I was growing my
TikTok and my socials, but I didn't have any Like
(24:29):
I didn't have a Spotify account, so people are like
trying to look me up and these songs that I've written,
and I like, who even is this girl? So um,
I thought that like I wanted to read the vocals
on that song, like it just like wasn't exactly how
I wanted it to be, but we didn't have time.
So I was like, we might as well just capitalize
on this opportunity. And you know, it's it's a song
(24:49):
that I wrote by myself, and I was a little bit,
a little bit tipsy on the beach. So can you
hear you being tipsy when you listen back to it? Thought, yeah,
they because we were at the beach and the song
is about my best friend Natalie, and she was like
she was kind of dating this guy that was like
she just didn't know where they stood. And I was
like having the drunk girl to girl talk. I was like, girl,
(25:11):
if he liked you, you would know he would not
make you Wonder. And that's how like that kind of
came to be. And then I they were I just
started like I was. I remember being like knee deep
and I just started like saying stuff and it started.
Then I had the whole first verseion chorus, and I
was like, well ship. So then I went back up
to the house, got my guitar and finish it and surprisingly,
so I don't really put that in my set anymore.
(25:33):
And um, I have girls that will come up and
they're like, why didn't you play Wonder? Like Wonder got
me over my ex and that kind of stuff. So
I think it is special, but it definitely wasn't performed.
I mean, I guess for not having any music out,
it did all right. So I wonder you put it out, then,
what what's the next song that you put on? Either
Taktok to blew Up or I have Hair Salon here? Yeah?
Was that was that next or close to next? So
(25:54):
I put out a song called Haven't Met Yet and
actually took it off DSPs before or Hair Salon came out,
just because it's just one of those things where I
knew I needed something to follow up, but streaming wise,
it wasn't doing as well, and it just does It's
not really me that song. I don't know why how
I wrote it, but it was like a super love song. Um,
(26:16):
and that's just like branding wise by myself and you
don't know how you wrote it. No. I I think
I must have watched some like romance movie or something
and felt that way because I couldn't even like I
hated playing it. It was just I think I think
it's still on YouTube somewhere, but it was just, Um,
(26:37):
I knew like going forward, I wanted songs that were
me and I didn't you know, I want to make
that accessible to my fans, but not like have it
be what I'm known for. Let me play some hair
Salon broke broken in a hairslan. I'm assuming you wrote
(27:01):
this one was a boy yourself or with somebody else.
So that one was written with Ben Williams, mckensey Carpenter,
Mike Carpenter, and so hair salon is who goes in
with the idea? Me um I Actually the first line
in the song is called it burning that she had
a ten am my hometown hair styles. Her name is Burnadette.
(27:23):
Oh yeah, there's a video on my Instagram of her
talking about the song and she kind of like did
this promo video for my EP. It is really cute.
But anyways, Um yeah, I had the idea and we
wrote half of it the first day and then we
we almost didn't write that day. But by like twelve thirty,
(27:44):
I had found this random note in my phone that
was like I heard you finally found the one. Sitting
there in the chair at the hair salon. I looked
out the window to keep myself from crying because I
wrote that because I had a dream about hair salon happening,
and so dream about hair salon happening me like the
song happening. It didn't. Yeah, that song is basically about
your favorite X getting engaged, you know, and it's traumatizing.
(28:04):
You have a favorite x I, do you have a
least favorite? X I? Do you know? I guess I've
never classified mind Mike's favorite and least. They're just all
and so okay, So you dreamed of hair Salon, you
put it out? Were you happy with? How? How that
(28:26):
that came out April of this year? So I think
writing hair Salon, I was telling, um, I can't remember who,
but recently, Like, as far as my writing, I really
didn't start writing until the beginning of COVID, you know, consistently,
And it took me until Hair Salon to like really
have confidence as a writer. Like I felt that that
song is complete, you know, like it definitely was a
(28:50):
turning point where I'm like, Okay, I can do this.
This is good, I can do this. So you felt
good going into writes, like you're actually bringing something and
that's good. I mean confidence and note when working with
other people that you admire, it's tough to get, but
it's it's so valuable to have because you feel comfortable sharing.
It's a very vulnerable things to share emotions and go, hey,
how can we work on this emotion that I would
(29:11):
never share with anybody in the public except for right now,
which we're gonna write a song about prety vulnerable thing
to be able to do. How long did it take
you to be able to just do that? Open up
with to other people and go, let's create a song
out of my pain. Um well, I feel like I've
always been pretty vulnerable, like I will. I'm an oversharer
if you like, when I meet people, they know my
entire life story immediately. That's a good quality to have
(29:33):
if you're gonna be a songwriter. Yeah, I have no shame.
I'm like, what do you want to know? Like we're
in the writer's room, I'm like, you know, how bad
was it? I'll tell you? Um So that part has
always kind of come naturally. But just as a songwriter,
it's it's tough when you because you just got to
keep doing it till you get something good. You know.
(29:54):
That's like the and I try not to put too
much pressure on getting a good one every time, but
um Hairs was definitely the first song where I was like, Okay,
this is really good. Cool. Whenever you wrote Tennessee Orange,
did you feel like that one was different or I
don't want to stay better? But I'll stay better. Do
you feel like it was better than the other ones? No?
I actually we almost didn't put it out. Um. I
(30:18):
I obviously liked the concept of the song and it
was cool and it was very me because I went
to U J all that stuff, But um, we just
weren't sure about the timing and stuff because I just
put out the EP. So it's like, do we is
that gonna water it down by putting out a new single? Um,
But we kind of just trusted our gut and we
(30:38):
were like, well, I write so much that I'll probably
have another U g A song next year that I
like more than this one. So if this one's going
to have a moment, it needs to me. Now, did
you feel like you were betraying g A by talking
about because it would be tough from I'm such an
Arkansas fan, will be tough for me to sing a
song about even write a song called Georgia Bulldog Love, right, Um,
(31:02):
you know I put it the end. Sorry, I can't speak.
I put in the end of the song. I still
want the dogs to win, and I think I ever
deemed myself there. Um, But I also make go into
ug a part of my personality. Like anyone I meet,
I'm like, hey, I am a ug a graduate. Um So,
I just think it's like a love story and it's cute.
(31:23):
So do you write this in COVID on zoom? No,
this was written um this year. Um. I wrote it
with Paul Jenkins, David Fanning, and Ben Williams. So you
go into the room always curious at how concepts end
up where they where they are Tennessee Orange. So how
does this come about? Who? What's what's the idea that
someone has or a line that someone has it turns
(31:45):
into the song? Um so based on a true story.
And so I had the in Georgia they call it
a sin I'm wearing Tennessee Orange for him because um,
you already had that line. Yeah, got it? Um And
I it was one of those things where I had
never written with David or Paul. Ben Williams is my
go to guys. So I was excited. I was just
you know, I'm like, okay, we'll Ben's here, And I'm
(32:06):
like when I get excited about ideas, I know you're
supposed to save them for you know what I mean? Like,
um right, yeah, is that what you're saving it for? That? No,
I thought of it the morning of and I was
so excited about the idea that I was like, this
is all I want to write today, because I had
like the Waltz like, Okay, this is what I want
(32:28):
to Oh No, I was like, guys, I'm so excited
about this and we have to write it. And I'm
from u G and I don't even know if you
guys care about that sec but this is what I
want to write. So how fast did this all kind
of fall out? Um? I think it was pretty standard.
It's probably yeah, four hours and then um we got
(32:48):
I listened to the work tape when we got home
and I basically like rewrote the verses. Um, went back
in and chained stuff. Yeah, because I was like just
I was in it was in the Tennessee orange mood
that day. I was like, so I probably worked on
it for two hours by myself. After that, I was
just like I'm obsessed with this idea. Um. But there
were some certain things like I think the I know
(33:09):
you raised me to know right from wrong part was
in like the second verse. But I in my head,
I'm like I want to confuse people and like, haven't
be so dramatic, like no one knows what I'm about
to talk, like say, or what I'm talking about. Um,
So yeah, we did that and then I sent it
back to the writers and I was like, hey, change
this you guys, like everybody, So how do you? Is
(33:29):
this a level of passion about creating a song that
you hadn't had yet because you said you went back
home two more hours. If you're writing it for four
and those four hour sessions can be exhausting, it's like, okay,
what rhyme's was shirt? All right, and you're you're on
rhyme zone and you're like, all right, what if we
and you've done that for four hours and it's mentally
and emotionally draining a bit? Did that happen often when
you'd write a song for four hours and go back
and immediately want to get back on it. Um, if
(33:51):
it was an idea that I just loved, then yeah.
It's like with hair Salon. We we took like four
or five different sessions writing that and I ended up
like the ending part. There are things that I like
changed on my own, you know, Like I really I'm
kind of obsessive with the songwriting, Like I like it too.
I want it to be perfect, and I don't want to.
Just what I do in rites too, is that if
(34:12):
it's not going anywhere, it's not going in the right direction,
then I stop it so we don't ruin it. Because
if the idea is really good, I don't want to
just be tired and on rhyme zone and throw in
some crap lyric just because we're all tired. Like we're
all tired. It's a great song, so let's come back
to it, no worries. It's pretty good leadership for somebody
who hasn't been doing this for twenty years, you know,
and it's just you knowing what you want, and that's
you know sometimes you know, with young artists especially, that's
(34:35):
hard for them to speak up because like I'm the
young artist, they know more than me. But the fact
that you can do that, because yeah, I just don't
want to waste anyone's time because I'm this song, like
a song like Tennessee Orange two is so specific to me.
It's not like we can go pitch that to all
of Nashville. So because it's like such a me song, Um,
I just wanted to make sure that it was right,
and eventually it wasn't but even I thought about I
(34:56):
guess because I had worked on it for so long.
I sent it to everybody and I'm like, I just
don't know if the course melodies right, like it needs
to change or go somewhere else, and they're like, we
don't know what you're talking about. This is great. So
it was streamed. I looked one million times in five days,
which is very impressive for an independent artist. And does
that does that feel different? No? Not really. I'm still
(35:16):
just a number, but it's just but as it's happening
though it's just a number, or you're like, dang, this
song is really crushing it right now? Like, are you
like different than hair salon? Different than um? I mean,
it's definitely cool, um, but nothing crazy, nothing like all right,
I'm about to be famous, nothing like I'm yeah. No.
I It's been really cool to see that many people
(35:38):
you know relate to. It's really popped off on TikTok um.
There's like a trend where people it's like for couples,
you know, and they kind of make it their own,
which I think is cool. Does everybody ask you who
the Tennessee person is? What's your standard answer? I cannot
confirm or deny. But they didn't. But you didn't say
I didn't even ask who it was. That's not the
answer to that question exactly. But whatever, whoever the question
(36:01):
is about. But but I didn't ask about somebody. I
cannot say yes or no. But I didn't ask it
yes or no question. I just I'm not saying is
it anybody specifically? I'm saying people are asking who it is?
If they say who is it? What do you say?
You're not saying will you ever say? No? Ever? Did
(36:22):
you make it? Make a person up? Okay, that's odd.
I mean I don't I don't care who it is.
You're gonna write songs about so many people probably over
the next ten years that you know, this is something
that you'll always probably have to deal with. I think
it's I mean, why would I say to you know?
It ruins the speculation. And it also if you put
a face or a name with something that people can
(36:43):
relate their own stories to, it may take away from
them being able to relate their own story if they're
seeing somebody else there right. I don't even know if
that makes sense. But a lot of times when I
find out who songs are written about I can only
think about that. I can't even insert my story into it.
Because songs are written a lot of times. I'll take
a message from it. You didn't mean to put in
it right, and you've done that type of songs. Didn't
hurt songs. You're like, oh, I feel this way about it.
(37:04):
But if I knew who it was, it was some
getting Benjie, I would be like, I gonna think about Benjie.
And I'm sure there are a lot of people who
relate to having to like a team or change something
about them because it's somebody that they're gonna fall for.
I hate Oklahoma. My wife's an Oklahoma fan, and it's
hard for me to root for Oklahoma. But you know
what I did very exactly. I actually so my mom
(37:26):
is like a die hard Georgia fan and I sing
hear the song and she was so mad at me.
That's like she was like that gaudy orange Like That's
why I asked, was it hard to sing? And I
mean even in the video there's there's a lot of orange.
Is the one I saw in? Yeah, we'll see. I
have a show coming up in Athens, so um, I'm
a little nervous to play it, but hopefully she's like
(37:47):
the most loyal fan off the stage. Food on the day.
I'm like, you guys have to wait to end a
still on the Dog's on The timing is pretty perfect.
That was college football happening and both schools being really good.
Like that was out on purpose. Um, we knew that
we had to put it out football season if we
were going to do it. That's why it was kind
of rushed, like we tracked, I did vocals, mixed and
(38:08):
master the same day, get it uploaded on time. So
are some of the people that reached down to think
it's a good song that you're like, dang, you actually
heard that. That's pretty cool? Um Dan from Dan and
Chay And I'm trying to think there's been a lot
of people super supportive, so it's been cool. Actually, um,
(38:29):
this is random, but Nick Saban's daughter posted it, and
so this is the closest thing I'll get to liking Tennessee.
Just like that's pretty cool. Yeah, pretty cool. I mean
Nick Savan's daughter, that's one step away from freaking Nick Saban,
who I hate Alabama, but you gotta respect Nick Shaven
in your family. It's a pretty passionate football group fan group.
(38:50):
When we lost the National Championship when I was a sophomore,
my mom didn't speak to anyone for like two What
about when you want it though? Oh? Best day ever?
Did you go to the game? Um? I went to
the National Championship that we lost. I didn't make it
to the and you went to one you lost? Yeah,
that was tough, tough. That had been real hard. I
(39:10):
mean we lost a texas An this week and I
wanted to just jump off the I was in Vegas,
like twenty stories. I just want to jump off in
a quick mood. Ruiner sucked. Will you wear Tennessee orange
when you perform? Ever? Let's say they say, hey you
have to. Will you wear volunteer orange as as part
of some sort of performer Let's say game day. Well,
I'm going to the U g A yout game this year,
but I will be in Georgia red. I think if
(39:32):
I was in Knoxville and I had enough Margaritea's in me,
I could be convinced to where something orange. Have you
heard it on the radio yet? No, that'd be pretty cool.
Are the radio radio or whatever? Yeah? I know that
the Highway plays it but I haven't. I still have
a twenty tip mustin so it's hard for me to
(39:53):
listen to we um I program a national show. It's
the The Women to Buy Our Country Show, and so
we're gonna play that this weekend, right, Mike, We're gonna
play it. Then I'll tell you what this whnes is
coming out this Thursday Thursday. If you what time to
wake up in the morning when the sun comes up
seven am? Really I'll change Oh man, I'll change your
(40:17):
morning person. Um. Yeah, why don't we play it on
the show tomorrow morning? And if we'll just tell you
when and you listen and you can hear it for
the first time. Amazing. Yeah, that'd be cool. I'm probably
gonna cry, so, I mean, it won't be with me.
I don't care to cry away. I have no idea
if you're crying or not. So how at it? So
why don't we do it? Mike? Um do it. Let's
(40:39):
do it in like the eight B segment, which will
be like eight ten, eight ten to eight twenty. So
if you wake up tomorrow eight ten to eighty, you
gotta confirm to me you're gonna be awake, like you're
not going to ten roof tonight, you're gonna be a
four am. I where will I be? I'm actually a
bus call tonight. Uh, where will you be? Indiana? Maybe
you're still on the way. Is there a radio? How
(41:01):
do you listen to the well? A couple of ways?
A couple of a couple of ways. So we're a
national show, so there, we're on stations all over the country,
but you can always just listen on the app that's
live too. Before you leave, we will tell you amazing, right, Mike,
because you could hear it on the Apple or something definitely,
or we can wait till you get back. It's up
to you. I'll figure it out. I'm down to figure
(41:22):
out whatever. I'll tell you what. Let's let's record right now, Mike,
and we'll just leave this in the podcast to a
small segment that will play tomorrow on the show as well,
leading into the song, and then we'll have the whole thing.
You'll be on the show tomorrow and we'll play a
little clip here that we're about to record, and then
we'll play this song. It'll be awesome. That's so cool. Okay,
so thank you well, time this starting here, and then
(41:43):
I'm gonna ask you probably a question I just asked you.
But we're gonna simplify because on the radio show we have,
like I mean, we're on for five hours, but I
can't go on for an hour without breaking for commercials,
so things are a little more tight. So I'm gonna
ask you again some very simple questions. Be concise, pretty simple, easy,
and then we'll cut it up and play it tomorrow
before the song. Okay, good, okay, cool, here we go.
Let's nervous. Now, well, there doesn't need to be nervous.
(42:05):
We're doing the same thing and we can edit it
and we can edit it. So we're here with Okay,
we go. We're here with Megan Moroney. Who Megan? How
long have you lived in Nashville? Two years? And so
in that two years you have written a lot on Zoom.
You've written a lot with folks. You've written a lot
of songs that have gone viral and you know, had
millions of streams as well. But now you have this
(42:27):
monster called Tennessee Orange. But the weird part about it
is you're not a Tennessee fan, are you know you are?
You're an absolute diehard Georgia fan, Georgia bulldog fan, and
when you wrote this song, your mom told you she
was not happy. Oh yeah, I got the wrath. Has
the University of Tennessee sent you any stuff yet they
have not. No one's reached out to get Tennessee stuff. No,
(42:48):
And I'm scared to reach out to Georgia. Yeah, it
would be too, I'd be a little nervous about that too.
You grew up in Georgia. What was the name of
your town, Douglas And then what's the Douglas film mascot? Like,
you're you're high school a cougar. You thought that a
literation like Douglasville Demons. We were the Alexander Cougars. So
it was alex Yeah, Alexander. What's a alliteration Alexander Yeah,
(43:14):
a packers allator, yeah, alligator. Yeah. So so you're a cougar.
But then you're a bulldog when you go to the
University of Georgia and you study accounting because you wanted
to be possibly what an account just traight up accounting.
You've come a long way from tax care taker to musician. Uh,
(43:34):
you come to Nashville and you're you're in Nashville for
how long as you write this song? Yes, that was
a year and a half. So you're here for a
year and a half, you write this song. Do you
know what's an instant hit? Because I just I don't know.
I spent a lot of I spent like six hours
writing it. So was it? Sure? It gets millions of
streams in the first week that it's out, and you're
(43:57):
feeling in love from a lot of people. Dan from
Dan and Shay each child I see. I mean I
saw it on reels on Instagram the first time that
I that. I think I wrote something like the song
is awesome or something like that, and so here we are,
we're gonna play it today. How would you describe this
song Tennessee Orange, because it's not exactly you being a
Tennessee fan, it's you being a fan of somebody who's
a Tennessee fan. Yeah, so describe this song in like
(44:18):
fifteen twenty seconds exactly what you were thinking and what
you wanted to get out there. Um, I remember describing
this is the closest thing I could write to a
love song. Um, it's not super crazy, but I would
wear a color for you, and I think being from
the South and being a U J grad, Um that
says a lot. If I'm willing to wear Tennessee orange,
that says a whole lot. Yeah, I'm I won't wear
(44:40):
Oklahoma red from my wife, So still still want to
do it. Okay, here is Tennessee Orange. Now, do you
say who you wrote it about? Okay? No, she doesn't know.
She neither confirms nor denies that she even wrote the song.
Megan Moroney, here is Tennessee Orange. The first time we've
played it here on the Bobby Bones Show. See look,
that's it. That's so cool. You gotta have a little
(45:01):
more energy when you like we did, because it was like,
this is how I normally talk about But then it's like,
here we go, I gotta talk that's so cool. So
we'll put that on tomorrow and by the time people
hear this, I guess that will be yesterday, right, Mike, um,
So we'll figure out a way for you to listen
to it, and it'll be super cool. I don't know
what else except to be super cool, and it will
probably turn into a superstar immediately. Anytime I play a song,
(45:22):
people become miss a millionaires. Haven't you heard? I have
not heard? That's that's kind of word going. Incredible and
it's incredible. Your EP pistol made of Roses? Why the name?
So that's a lyric and I love me the first
track um, and I just feel like it kind of
encompasses the whole record. There's like sad songs, but there's
(45:43):
also songs that don't mess with me, and I feel
like that's kind of who I am. I think on
your your bio on one of your accounts, it was
like emo cow girl. What does the professional emo cowgirl?
What does that mean? And why those words? Um? Because
I am professionally am oceanal in the country genre. How
would your friends describe you? If if I were just
(46:06):
to see one of them out and I was like, hey,
you know who I met? He was hanging out and
talking to Megan. What does she like as a person? Um,
I'm definitely the uh my mood I feel like dictates
the group, you know if I That's why I know
if I'm not in a good mood, I just don't
go out because I'll bring everyone down somehow. But I'm
kind of expected to like be the um extroverted. You
(46:27):
have a lot of energy, I do. Yeah, you get
energy from being around people. Yeah, So I love being
with people, But then I also love being alone and
isolating myself until I'm recharged. Yeah, that's I was gonna say,
So you isolate, recharge and then I'm ready to spend
it all out with them, right yeah, okay, all right,
Well I think we've said it all, Mike, what do
you think anything anything I've missed? I think we got
(46:49):
it all. So tell your brother and your dad they
should be part of the family, the new family band,
the Megamoni band, the Mega Money experience, That's probably what
it is, right, And then they moved to town. What's
your dad do? My dad is in aerospace metal sales.
So your dad's in aerospace and your brother's a lawyer. Yeah,
but my other brothers and nurse, they're all doing like
(47:09):
such different and all are awesome and all are extremely difficult,
but that is a whole different path. Yea. What your
parents think about right now where you are in the
stage of your career. Are they proud of you? Oh? Yeah?
They think they can't even really Like I told them
I was how to interview with you, and they were
like Bobby the Bobby um, And I'm like yeah, yeah,
(47:29):
And it's just they it's funny. They they're just small
town people, you know what I mean. So when I
tell them, oh, I got put on this playlist and
this is why this is cool, they're like cool, They're
like that many people you have that many streams, They're like,
how congratulations, it's really cool to see. And I just
(47:50):
what I like about you is you know, you know
what you want. When you walk to a song writ
in your room, you're like, this is what I want
to do, and people can either get with it or not,
but you know who you are and who you are
change a hundred times, and that's all okay too. It's
it's super cool to see your success. Well, good luck
and tomorrow will play your song. But if you're listening
that was yesterday, that's right. We're messing with time right now. Um,
(48:10):
you guys can follow Megan at Megan Maroney m o
r oh anyway, right, I'm saying that right. That's how
you say wait what man o the whole time and
I was like your manager, I told you not saying
not be Maroni. No, just spelling wise because people always
want to throw a in there and that's not correct,
so spelled moron e y. That's pretty funny too, you say, see,
(48:35):
that's that's self deprecating. Even in fact, you'll say that, Okay,
you guys, check out Megan. And other than that, we're good.
And Megan, we'll see you after you have a couple
of massive hits. We'll do it again, all right, all right, thanks,
Host
Bobby Bones
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