Singer/songwriter Maren Morris is set to release, HERO, the Texas native’s first major label full length album on June 3. Morris co-wrote the songs that make-up HERO and shared the producing duties along with songwriter/producer busbee, who co-wrote “My Church” the debut hit song by Morris which made Country radio history the first week it hit the airwaves setting the record for the most first week stations at the single impact date for the Billboard Country Airplay chart and Country Aircheck’s Mediabase Chart with 107 first week Country radio chart reporting stations spinning the song. The previous record for a debut single was 99.
In addition to “My Church,” out of the 11 tracks that comprise HERO is the widely-loved fan favorite “80’s Mercedes,” steamy “How It’s Done,” the album closer “Once” which highlights the singer/songwriter’s vocal talent and “I Wish I Was” which inspired Morris to name the album HERO.
“‘I Wish I Was’ is the most autobiographical song on this record and I admittedly was not the hero in that story, but I am the hero in mine. I’ve come such a long way from who I was in Texas, who I am as a writer, who I am as a woman today. I think the message of this record is self acceptance and awareness, and that to me is heroic.”
Morris returns to her home state of Texas this week for multiple appearances at the annual SXSW Music Conference and Festival in Austin. Morris will perform at The Spotify House on Wednesday (March 16) and YouTube Music at Coppertank on Thursday (March 17).
In addition to her own headlining dates, Morris will kick off her HERO album release week with the first stop on the Keith Urban RipCORD World Tour 2016 on June 3 in Kansas City. Throughout the summer and fall, the RipCORD World Tour 2016 will take Morris to most major markets including Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Philadelphia, Dallas, Chicago, Minneapolis and Washington, DC.
Morris has already been described as a “one woman southern gospel choir” [Storme Warren, SiriusXM’s The Highway] and as 2016 began she appeared on multiple “Watch Lists” including USA Today (5 Musicians To Watch Out For in 2016), SiriusXM (Artists to Watch in 2016), Huffington Post (#1 on their Country Artist’s to Watch in 2016), Boston Globe (16 Artists To Look Forward to Hearing in 2016) and Billboard, where Morris was featured as one of seven artists across all genres in the January 16 “Predictions Issue.”
HERO full track listing:
1. Sugar
Maren Morris/Brett Tyler/Laura Veltz
2. Rich
Maren Morris/Jessie Jo Dillon/Laura Veltz
3. My Church
Maren Morris/busbee
4. I Could Use a Love Song
Maren Morris/Jimmy Robbins/Laura Veltz
5. 80’s Mercedes
Maren Morris/busbee
6. Drunk Girls Don’t Cry
Maren Morris/Barry Dean/Luke Laird
7. How It’s Done
Maren Morris/busbee/Natalie Hemby
8. Just Another Thing
Maren Morris/Matt Dragstrem/Shane McAnally
9. I Wish I Was
Maren Morris/Natalie Hemby/Ryan Hurd
10. Second Wind
Maren Morris/Chris DeStefano/Shane McAnally
11. Once
Maren Morris/busbee
