Viral breakout and authenticity

Today’s guest is one of the fastest-rising voices in modern country — a songwriter whose honesty, wit, and emotional precision have turned deeply personal stories into songs heard everywhere. She just became the 10th woman of the century to top the Billboard 200.

Before the sold-out shows and chart-topping records, she was a college student playing small gigs with her dad and brother, trying to figure out where music might fit into her life.

One honest song at a time, she began building a catalog that feels both timeless and unmistakably her own.

Now, with a growing fanbase and a string of hits helping shape the sound of modern country, she’s writing the next chapter of her career in real time.

And The Writer Is… Megan Moroney!

In this episode of And The Writer Is… Megan opens up about:

• The unexpected moment that pushed her toward learning guitar

• Growing up around music and playing early shows with her family

• The traumatic accident that jumpstarted her music career

• Finding her voice in the Nashville songwriting community

• Why honesty and humor are essential to her writing

• How she stood out in early co-writes

• And much more…

Hit subscribe and turn on notifications.Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.

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A special thank you to our sponsors…

Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishing Association. Your support means the world to us.And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.

Chapters

0:00 Intro

5:00 Moving to Nashville: The First Steps

6:00 Working in the Music Industry Before Releasing Music

7:00 The Advice That Started Her Career

10:00 Growing Up Around Music in Georgia

13:50 “I Went to School to Be an Accountant”

16:30 Musical Theatre and Feeling Out of Place

18:56 The Accident That Started Everything

24:01 The Sorority Event That Led to Georgia Theatre

32:25 Learning the Business of Music in School

33:00 The Internship That Changed Everything

35:00 Creating the Tennessee Orange Cover Art on Her Phone

38:45 Writing Every Day and Building a Network in Nashville

40:20 NMPA — Our Lead Sponsor This Season

41:00 Splice

41:45 The Story of Tennessee Orange

45:50 How Influencing Helped Pay the Bills

47:10 Megan’s Writing Process

52:15 Exploring the Studio

54:10 Working With Ed Sheeran

58:42 A Full-Circle Moment With Kacey Musgraves

1:09:00 The Story of “Beautiful Things”

1:15:55 Rapid Fire

1:21:26 Megan Gives the Podcast Flowers

Hosted by Ross Golan

Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad

Edited by Jad Saad

Post-Production VFX by Pratik Karki

Watercolor Art by Michael White

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.