The last time we talked to Morgan Myles she was on the verge of releasing her EP, ‘Miss Morgan Myles’ and to say the singer has been keeping busy since then would be an understatement. We caught up with Myles before she took the stage at our second annual NECM festival to talk about the success of her EP, her plans for the future and more. Morgan was in the midst of a run through New England, previously playing shows in Boston and Rhode Island days before the festival, and heading to Worcester and Foxborough, MA, and Vermont before flying out to Oregon. “This whole summer has been a ride,” Morgan exclaimed, “You’re living in a van, it’s a lot of work, and trying just to figure out, you know, band life… I’m a newbie!”
Myles released her EP independently in January as a means of proving a point. Recently, females in country music have been struggling to be accepted. “I didn’t want anyone hearing it because it was like a different take on country, it’s country-soul. It’s very much me,” Morgan said. “I didn’t want anyone hearing it and people tearing it apart. Like industry tearing it apart.” But she credits artists like Chris Stapleton for opening the doors to that soulful country sound. After he pushed through the gate, Morgan felt that the industry may be more accepting of her music. So after 13 months of shutting herself out, Myles was ready to release it, determined to show the industry and labels that fans love it and want to hear more. Her gutsy move paid off. “Rolling Stone was mentioning it, Billboard just released my video, CMT jumped on board,” she said with excitement. “They all heard it and latched on.” It was a major pinch-me moment for the singer seeing it all play out before her eyes. “You grow up reading these magazines and you’re just like, ‘How can that ever be me?’”
The success of her EP led to a music video for her party anthem, ‘We Won’t Go Home,’ which was exclusively premiered on Billboard. “I screamed and cried and couldn’t believe it,” she said. “They never do stuff for independent artists. Ever! So I just didn’t think it was going to happen.” Myles had done videos in the past, but for this one she knew she wanted to include her band. The guys that did her website approached her about her next video, urging Myles to consider them. “The guys that shot it have never done a country video, they’ve always done heavy rap/hip hop videos. So every example I had I was like, ‘I’m a little scared!’ It was like strippers, pole dancers, booty shakes,” she said laughing. But she put her faith into the directors and even they were impressed with how smoothly it ran. “There was a lot of love that went into the video and it was great to shoot. I think I’m getting more and more comfortable because I know how to work the camera now,” Myles explained. “Photoshoots have always been easy because my mom never put down a damn camera!” she laughed. But Morgan described that on a low-budget video shoot, the pressure is on to get everything done according to schedule. Myles said the video came together quickly. They shot in various locations around Nashville, driving around in a convertible, partying on a rooftop, and jamming down on Broadway. The singer is thrilled with the outcome. “Truly, it still hasn’t set in that Billboard just put me in that,” Morgan said adding, “And they [the directors] never had a video on Billboard so they’re really happy too!”
Things are certainly looking up for Myles, she took some major risks which have definitely paid off and impressed a lot of people. “There’s no money behind me, there’s no investors, I have no management, I have no publishing, this is completely, solely me. So I think that was me just proving it. It’s a lot of work but it’s paying off. I just like that I haven’t had to sell myself in a different way that’s not me.” Morgan explained. “The thing that everyone has said to me was, if it wasn’t good it wouldn’t have had grown.” Myles noted how her writing has evolved a lot over the past few years, especially after losing someone close to her. She told Morgan to always go after what you believe in, and it’s something that has really stuck with the singer. “My writing got so much more deeper. Even if it’s a party song there’s much more conviction,” she said. “When you finally have a purpose as a human being that’s when everything is authentic and genuine and people feel it.” The honesty in Myles’ music is what creates that genuine connection with fans.
Now the singer is looking towards that next step. “Definitely to sign that deal because we need radio. It will help get the name out and help get the music out then the fans will do the rest.” If you’ve ever listened to Morgan’s EP or have seen her perform live you’d be surprised that labels aren’t lining up at the singer’s door to sign her. Her powerhouse vocals and energy on stage is incomparable. Myles continues to blow fans away, and we think it’s pretty obvious that this is what she was born to do. “I’ve done it my entire life just trying to get there, struggling so much to get there,” she said. “I would be so unhappy if I can’t do music.” Although Morgan admits that even with all the success she’s seen so far, the thought still gives her anxiety. We, on the other hand, have no doubts that her career is going to continue to grow, and we can’t wait to see what Myles will accomplish in the future.
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