Maren Morris climbed from smoky Texas bars and a Nashville songwriting career to become a genre-blending superstar with the self-released breakout My Church, a Grammy winner that bypassed traditional country radio gatekeepers through streaming. Her story is one of outgrowing the box the industry put her in, both musically and personally.

This episode traces her path from reality-show rejections and a family that sold their furniture to fund her first record, through hits like The Bones and The Middle, to her 2023 decision to formally announce her departure from the country music industry. It also follows a parallel personal metamorphosis of divorce, motherhood and coming out as bisexual.

• How losing on Nashville Star let her avoid a restrictive winner’s contract and sign on her own terms
• Writing 11 of 12 tracks on her debut album Kerosene, unusual for a new country artist
• Her public clashes over Morgan Wallen and Brittany Aldean, and the Insurrection Barbie remark
• The lunatic country music person T-shirts that raised over 100,000 dollars for trans charities
• Her final country EP The Bridge and her thriving work outside the genre, including Dreamsicle