Country singer Lorrie Morgan is a woman of many musical talents. She is a four-time female vocalist of the year, was the youngest performer to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry at age 24, and has sold over eight million records and has had fourteen top-ten hits. Lorrie Morgan was kind enough to allow New England Country Music to talk with her about her musical career and her new album, ‘Letting Go… Slow.’
Morgan made her debut at just 13-years-old on the Grand Ole Opry stage with her father, Country Music Hall of Fame member, George Morgan. Lorrie and her father were very close and some of Lorrie’s favorite memories of her father were when she went to the Opry with him on Friday and Saturday nights. Morgan fondly remembers the times her dad would pick her up from school and tell the teacher she wasn’t feeling well so she could go to the studio to watch him record. “I would get to sit there in the engineer booth and listen to him record. It was my all-time high with my dad.” Morgan’s father died suddenly when she was just 16-years-old and three years after he passed away, Lorrie went out on tour with her father’s band. It was to be the beginning of Morgan’s illustrious, but challenging life and career.
A Nashville, Tennessee, native, Lorrie landed her first recording contract in 1988 and in 1990 had her first No. 1 single, ‘Five Minutes.’ On February 12th, Morgan released ‘Letting Go… Slow,’ her first new solo album in five years. Morgan waited so long to release the new album because she did not like what she was hearing on the radio. They were not her type of songs and they did not fit into her musical category. She didn’t want to sing the kind of songs she was hearing, so she decided to wait until it was time to find her own niche. In the meantime, Lorrie collected songs that sounded like her and rehearsed endlessly while strengthening her voice. “I sang and practiced every day all different types of songs, whether it was operatic or rock-n-roll. I did all kinds of vocal exercises, until I felt like I had the vocals that I needed.”
Morgan was careful with every song and every instrument that was used for the album. She worked closely with Richard Landis, the producer of ‘Letting Go… Slow,’ in order to make sure the songs that were chosen for the album were true to her style. The album is divided equally between new songs, such as ‘Jesus and Hairspray,’ “a song for the girls,” and her versions of old country classics, such as the Patsy Cline favorite, ‘Strange.’ Worrying if the songs were good for radio was not a top priority for Morgan and Landis; making an album that her fans would embrace was the drive behind its making. Of course Lorrie would be very happy if radio gets behind the new album, but if not, she knows she did an album she could be proud of; the kind of album that her fans have always known her for.
Country music today is not at all like it was when Morgan was first starting out her career in the 80’s. In April of 1980, the five top spots on the country radio charts were occupied by women, a feat that has never again been achieved. Those women were Crystal Gayle, Dottie West, Debby Boone, Emmylou Harris, and Tammy Wynette. Currently only two women are in the top ten on the charts, Carrie Underwood and Jana Kramer. Morgan is discouraged by this trend. She seldom turns her radio on, but when she does, all she hears are male singers. Lorrie thinks that listeners are just going to have to start calling the radio stations and requesting songs from female artists. “People need to realize that women have some beautiful songs and have great things to say and we deserve some top spots in these charts as well.”
Because the country music business is run primarily by men, and what we hear most on the radio are male singers, Morgan has some good advice for the women trying to make their mark in country music today. She feels that the new female artists should persevere and not be discouraged. They should to do their own thing and make their own music, write and sing their own songs and not what someone else tells them to make. If you do what others tell you to do, then you are giving up what you want to say and, the message that you are trying to portray gets lost. “Women have a lot to say and we draw a lot of strength from each other. There is nothing wrong with being a strong woman in this business and singing soft songs. Do what you want to do.”
Morgan has shown her strength as a woman, and an artist, many times over the years and has had her share of ups and downs in her life and her career; but she feels very fortunate that she has been one of the lucky ones and that she has been able to push her way through those hard times. The music business is not an easy one and sometimes things can really get her down, but for Lorrie, her faith in God and the support of her family and friends has always pulled her through. “I’m in a really good place in my life right now. There will always be something inside of me that is a sad little soul, but I am the happiest I have ever been in my life. I’m very happy with the music I am making and the band that I have. I’m ready to go.” We have no doubt that this eloquent emotive country vocalists’ latest album, ‘Letting Go…Slow’, will show that she still has important things to say through her music.
New England Country Music would like to thank Lorrie Morgan for taking the time to talk with us about this new chapter in her career. We wish her much success with her new album, ‘Letting Go… Slow‘ and invite her to make a stop here in New England. It would be our pleasure to hear her perform those carefully chosen songs that portray the true Lorrie Morgan.
You can follow Lorrie on her Facebook, Twitter, website.
‘Letting Go… Slow’ is available on iTunes and Amazon.
Artist interview conducted by Lorraine Frigoletto, contributing writer for New England Country Music. You can follow me on Twitter.
