MAREN MORRIS’ THIRD STUDIO ALBUM “HUMBLE QUEST” OUT NOW (AUDIO & VIDEO)
Click HERE or the image above for hi-res downloadable version
Here are the Intro, Outro and Story Work Parts to support the release of Maren Morris’s Humble Quest. Thank you for your continued support!!
“Putting track listings together for albums, it truly is an obsession for me. I think that, you know, as someone that is truly loves listening to albums in sequence of how the artist wants you to hear them, like I am glad people are getting rid of like shuffle mode. Because I hate listening to things out of order of when artists wanted them. And so I think the same for my own. It’s a story that you’re telling from the top down. So you don’t want people like jumping to the end. So it really is kind of designed to be listened to in sequence. And I think kind of starting off with Circles Around This Town, it’s fun. It kind of like, lifts you and then we kind of like I cradle you with The Furthest Thing. And I Can’t Love You Anymore brings you back up. And then Humble Quest is like the humbling medium. And then, I mean, it’s just it’s really designed to be a journey. And I feel like I could be one of those musicologists at Johns Hopkins that just curates playlists for patients because I feel like I’ve always loved making playlists and you know, mixed CDs for friends and road trips and whatnot. But yeah, I feel like that’s the same when you’re an artist and you’re making a sequence of a tracklisting or a setlist it’s like you’re finding magical moments.”
HUMBLE QUEST CUT X CUT
1. CIRCLES AROUND THIS TOWN
Circles Around This Town was one of the first songs written for this record, before I even knew this record was forming. And writing that song that day with Ryan [Hurd] and Julia Michaels and Jimmy Robbins was kind of the, the first kickoff of what I felt like was the sound of this album. And it was such a relief. I think I breathed a sigh of relief knowing okay, I can still do this. Like, this is fun, because it had just been such a long like beginning of the pandemic. And I was also dealing with like postpartum and so Circles Around This Town kind of reignited that like pilot light in me knowing that okay, I can do this again. And I don’t suck and I can keep going. And it’s just, I felt it in my bones that it was going to be the first single when I got the mix back. It just felt right and it felt like we needed to kick this year off with something fun. So that’s what we did.
2. THE FURTHEST THING
The Furthest Thing I wrote with Greg Kirstin, my producer, and my husband, Ryan. Ryan and I went to Hawaii because Greg was spending most of his, like quarantine with his family at their place in Hawaii. Because LA was pretty much shut down, schools were shut down. So they were just living it up there. So I thought, alright, I’ll just come to you and get a free trip to Hawaii out of it. And we, yeah, for like a few weeks just hunkered down and wrote songs, we would have big group dinners at the end of the day. It was just such a beautiful time, like with my son and my husband and these creative collaborative people in my life. And The Furthest Thing was a song that was sort of sneaky, like we wrote it, and I loved it. And then I discovered it again a few weeks after we got back from Hawaii. And Greg sent me the rough mix and I was like, holy sh*t, like, this is really good. I love this. This really is making me emotional. And so I felt like putting it in the album at the beginning right after Circles was just such a left turn after such a bombastic song like Circles, to kind of ease the listener back into the story. So I truly do think like The Furthest Thing is the beginning of the story.
3. I CAN’T LOVE YOU ANYMORE
I Can’t Love You Any More is a song that we also wrote in Hawaii. Greg Kurstin, Ryan Hurd, and I. And Ryan had that title: I Can’t Love You Any More. And you know, I just I’ve written with him so many times I can always tell when he’s like got a fire in his eyes and he knows he’s gonna bowl me ofsver with the idea. And he was right so he said the hook I Can’t Love You Any More than I do now. And I was hooked. I loved it. It reminded me of like the John Prine in spite of ourselves duet. And it was just sort of this, like, super quirky, realistic, a romantic look at two people that are bonkers but made for each other. So it’s one of my favorites.
4. HUMBLE QUEST
Humble Quest was a weird title that popped into my head when I was driving one day. And it was shortly before I started recording with Greg [Kirstin]. But I had the idea. I brought it to my friends and very frequent co writers, Laura Velts, and Jimmy Robbins. And I said the title and they had no idea what I was talking about. They were like, that sounds weird, tell us more. And I just said, I don’t know, this is just such a humbling time. I feel like really heavy. I feel like the world feels heavy right now. And I’m just like searching for some sunshine. And, like, can I do this like just a lot of self questioning. And I felt like, especially as a woman in country music, feels like that kind of push/pull of wanting to remain close to your roots and grounded from where you came from. But also knowing that it is absolutely okay and healthy to be like, you know what, I’ve got this. I’m good at this. This is what I do. I’m confident in this. It was just a fun exercise to write a whole song about such a bizarre feeling of like, am I humble? I don’t know. I guess I’ll find out.
5. BACKGROUND MUSIC
Background Music is a song I wrote the same week that I wrote Humble Quest, and I wrote it with the same people. Jimmy and Laura. We were writing a ton that week. And I brought that title in almost as like an idea to write something sexy, like, oh, everything else was background music when I’m with you. And you know, that obviously didn’t work out. And I’m glad it didn’t. Because I think that as I had a conversation with Laura and Jimmy, it just grew into something much more mature and evergreen. Background Music to me is a love song about the idea that like, my husband and I who are both in music. We joke about like, someday we’re gonna be old has-beens. And, you know, playing the the dollar slots at the casino and talking about yesteryear and our golden years. And I just feel like it’s a weird realism check to be like, yeah, this doesn’t go on forever. I mean, unless you’re like Mick Jagger. At some point, we’re probably going to like, ride into the sunset and just enjoy our retirement. I don’t know. But I think it’s kind of a song about mortality as well and knowing that someday like, I think it would be amazing if people still heard my songs after I was gone. And songs that I’ve written with someone that I loved.
6. NERVOUS
Nervous I wrote with my good friend Natalie Hemby and our friend, Jimmy Robbins. And Natalie, she actually brought this idea in to me and Jimmy and Jimmy just had an electric in his hands. So we went with that and it felt really roughed up. And like, we didn’t want to keep anything too slick with the production or the vocal. And it just felt like okay, let’s lean into this, like really sexual, empowering vibe of being like, you make me nervous. But like, how am I going to describe all the imagery, laden ways that you do this? And so I just feel like writing with Natalie always brings out the most colorful lyrics and we definitely went there on this song. And I also feel like vocally, I just got in the vocal booth and wailed on it. It was the first time I felt like I took the training wheels off in a long time and just got to belt it. So I’m excited to play that one live.
7. TALL GUYS
Tall Guys I wrote with Aaron Raitiere and Natalie Hemby and it was my first time writing with Aaron. And he is just like a walking bumper sticker like he always has something hilarious to say. He’s such a country guy, but so whip smart and I can’t remember if like I brought that title in or Natalie did but it was probably Natalie. It’s such a Natalie title. But, you know, I’m five one, my husband is like six three, everyone is taller than me literally. So I just wanted to write a song that was like, a love song, but also just showing my appreciation for the population that is taller than me, which is everybody. And I like that we kind of end the chorus with like, Hey, I love all types, but there’s something about tall guys. So it’s it’s an ode to my husband for sure.
8. DETOUR
Detour I wrote with Greg Kirstin, Sarah Aarons and Laura Velts. And we actually the week we wrote it, Sheryl Crow was kind enough to let us use her barn studio here in Nashville, because Greg was coming in town. And I was like, I mean, there’s some studios, we could go check out but like, you know, I’m just going to see if Cheryl will let us use it because she like offered one time and I was like, I’m going to cash in on this favor. So she was kind enough to let us use her studio that week. And it’s magical because it’s like, a horse stable slash studio. So you can like open a window, and there’s a horse head, like, so it’s very otherworldly to be there. You feel like you’re not in Nashville. But we wrote Detour. Greg was just layering crazy, like beautiful guitar sounds. And Sarah was in town from LA that day, so or that week. So we wrote this song and it just kind of felt like this old throwback to like those LeAnn Womack records I grew up listening to where it’s just I think it’s probably one of the most country songs on the record, just vocally, and I love the country instrumentation. We do some like steel on there and slide and it’s just a really beautiful song.
9. HUMMINGBIRD
Hummingbird was the first song that I wrote for this project not knowing, but it was back in 2019. And I wrote it with The Love Junkies. And we just that day, you know, I took a pregnancy test, I had been taking a few. So it wasn’t like a complete shock. But I found out I was pregnant the day I was writing with The Love Junkies, so on my way to the right, I called my husband and I was like, it’s positive, like, we’re having a baby. And I went to my write. And I was like, I’m just gonna tell them because Liz Rose, Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey. They’re all badass songwriters, but they’re also mothers. And so I felt like it was such a safe way to like, share that exciting news. And they were all like freaking out for me. And so we wrote Hummingbird because Liz Rose, whose house we were writing at that day, she has like hummingbirds, all around her feeders. And I was so jealous because I was like, I can never get them at my house. Like they don’t come here. And they’re like, oh, your tattoo is a hummingbird. And like, I was like, oh, yeah, and my guitar is one two, it’s a Gibson Hummingbird. That animal has just followed me this entire time. And they were like, we should write that then. It ended up becoming this triple entendre of like music and my like ink, and then my little hummingbird heartbeat that was growing inside me with Hayes. And so it was almost like this lullaby that we got to write to my son before I ever met him. And then by the time that we were recording Hummingbird, Hayes was over a year old and so he was starting to talk and say, Mama so I just on the porch one morning got him to say mama, which was like the only word he knew. And I just sent the voice text to Greg and he put it at the top of Hummingbird. So Hayes, my son is technically the only feature on this.
10. GOOD FRIENDS
I wrote Good Friends, it was kind of my one and only zoom co-write. Because I realized very quickly, I hated writing on Zoom. It was just so clinical and scrubbed all the vibe out of why writing songs is fun. But I will say, I’m glad that I stuck with it that day and didn’t close my laptop because I was writing with Greg Kristin, who was in I think, Hawaii. And then Natalie Hemby came over and we wrote on my porch with Greg on the laptop, and he was just creating like a loop. And then, you know, Natalie and I are such great friends. We’re in The Highwomen together, we’ve written so many songs for our projects over the years, and she’s just one of those real ones that’s going to be with me for good. And so I actually wrote it about her. I also wrote it about my friend here in Nashville that’s like not really in the music industry. But like she just keeps me so grounded and doesn’t care if I’m successful or not. Like we’re still gonna go get beers on a beautiful summer day and shoot the sh*t. So I feel like it’s sort of my dedication to her because I was like, I don’t think I’ve written a song about friendship like that’s such a huge part of our life and I wish there like more songs about it. So I decided to write this one.
11. WHAT WOULD THIS WORLD DO
So the last song on Humble Quest is What Would This World Do, which I wrote with my husband, Ryan, and our friend, John Green. And we wrote it about our friend and my producer, Busbee, who sadly passed away a couple years ago from glioblastoma. And it was very rapid, and terminal. And we wrote this song, we wrote it before he passed away. So we were kind of hoping that, hey, if we write this for Busbee, maybe he’ll pull through, like, you just don’t know how powerful music or those vibrations can be. And so it was kind of our attempt at like, keeping his spark alive. And he sadly passed away shortly after. But, you know, as my producer of my first two records, and the guy that like really saw something in me, very early on, we wrote My Church together, 80s Mercedes, like he was so integral to the formation of those two, like solidification records for me, I wanted to end this record with that dedication to him, because even though he’s not with us anymore, and he’s not on this album, as a creator, he did help create a sound with me in the beginning. And I feel like he’s still with me, his wife, after he passed away, gave me his piano. So his piano is in my basement with all of our like, you know, guitars and stuff, and my son loves playing on it. So it really feels like an heirloom, and he’s with me. And this song is, you know, one of the most heartbreaking and personal but I think, cathartic songs, because no one can escape the end. But I think the legacy we leave behind whether it’s our songs, or our memories, or the way we touched a complete stranger, which he did to so many, I feel like that is the most magical thing that exists that we know of on Earth. And so this was my way of honoring my friend, and my collaborator with this song.
March 25, 2022—Humble Quest, the highly-anticipated new album from Grammy-winning superstar Maren Morris, is out today on Sony Music Nashville’s Columbia Nashville imprint—get it here. The video for “Humble Quest” also debuts today—watch here.
Maren will perform on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” tonight, with appearances on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” and “The Howard Stern Show” to follow on March 28.
Furthermore, Maren’s Humble Quest Tour will see her play headline dates across the U.S. this year.Kicking off in June, the tour includes stops at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, New York’s Radio City Music Hall, Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl, the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater and more—see full routing below and visit marenmorris.com/tour for more information.
Humble Quest features the much-lauded “Nervous,” “Background Music” and “Circles Around This Town,” which broke Amazon Music’s record for most streams for a country song debut by a female artist and is currently Top 20 and climbing at country airplay charts.
Humble Quest is receiving widespread critical acclaim…
“Pocket-size but with alpha presence, like a country music Mighty Mouse.”
“Morris’ full breadth is encapsulated on Humble Quest…”
“‘Circles Around This Town’ moves along with the kind of ambling groove that’s been a big part of Morris’ sound — unhurried and bolstered by a grunge-lite guitar riff.”
“The terrific ‘Nervous’ is a genre-blurring tune with some alt-rock, pop and grunge rock along with country.”
Maren began writing the songs on Humble Quest in the beginning of the pandemic as a series of major life changes unfolded—new motherhood, an upended career, the death of beloved friend and collaborator Michael Busbee and more, further compounded by lockdown. She felt control over life quickly slipping until she had an epiphany—she was never in control in the first place. This inspired her to reckon with the concept of humility as she thought about how the goal of appearing humble puts artists, especially women, in a box with unrealistic demands. Humble Quest documents Maren’s journey to redefining humility on her own terms as a grounded state of understanding one’s own truth rather than the capacity to appear authentic to others.
Produced by frequent collaborator Greg Kurstin (Adele, Paul McCartney, Foo Fighters) and written alongside her husband Ryan Hurd, Julia Michaels, Jimmy Robbins, Natalie Hemby, Laura Veltz and Jon Green on Busbee’s piano, Humble Quest is Maren’s most genuine collection of songs, tracing her journey to embrace the imperfections in her life through snapshots of her rises and falls, overshares, lullabies, wine-soaked conversations with one old friend and a final goodbye to another one.
MAREN MORRIS LIVE
April 29 Stagecoach Indio, CA
May 7 iHeart Country Festival Austin, TX
May 20 Hangout Fest Gulf Shores, AL
June 9 Red Hat Amphitheater Raleigh, NC*
June 10 Rabbit Rabbit Asheville, NC*
June 11 Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion Portsmouth, VA*
June 16 Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre Charlotte, NC*
June 17 Riverfront Park Amphitheater Wilmington, NC*
June 18 Ameris Bank Amphitheatre Atlanta, GA*
June 23 CMAC Canandaigua, NY*
June 24 KEMBA Live! Outdoor Columbus, OH*
June 25 The ICON Festival Stage at Smale Park Cincinnati, OH*
July 7 Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater Bridgeport, CT*
July 8 Leader Bank Pavilion Boston, MA*
July 9 Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion Gilford, NH*
July 14 TD Pavilion at the Mann Philadelphia, PA*
July 15 Stage AE Outdoors Pittsburgh, PA*
July 16 Budweiser Stage Toronto, ON*
July 21 Starlight Theatre Kansas City, MO*
July 29 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY†
August 4 Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, MD‡
August 5 Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica Cleveland, OH‡
August 6 Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre Detroit, MI‡
August 10 Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island Chicago, IL§
August 11 Saint Louis Music Park St. Louis, MO§
August 12 TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park Indianapolis, IN§
August 13 BMO Harris Pavilion Milwaukee, WI§
August 16 Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater Vail, CO**
August 18 TBA Salt Lake City, UT**
August 19 Outlaw Field at the Idaho Botanical Garden Boise, ID**
August 20 Big Sky Brewing Company Amphitheater Missoula, MT**
August 23 Wine Country Amphitheater Walla Walla, WA**
August 26 Hayden Homes Amphitheater Bend, OR††
August 27 King County’s Marymoor Park Seattle, WA††
August 28 McMenamins Edgefield Portland, OR**
September 15 Santa Barbara Bowl Santa Barbara, CA**
September 16 Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre San Diego, CA**
September 17 The Greek Theatre Berkeley, CA**
September 23 Arizona Federal Theater Phoenix, AZ**
October 13 Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA†
October 19 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Morrison, CO**
October 21 The Armory Minneapolis, MN**
October 28 Irving Music Factory Dallas, TX†
December 2 Bridgestone Arena Nashville, TN‡ ‡
* with Brent Cobb
† with Ruston Kelly
‡ with Joy Oladokun
§ with Natalie Hemby
** with Lone Bellow
†† with Brittney Spencer
‡ ‡ with Brittney Spencer and Ruston Kelly
For more information, please contact
Carla Sacks, Cami Operé, Reid Kutrow or Asha Goodman at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].