The Daily Times
Morgan Wade lives a life in song
Morgan Wade belongs to a category that consists of young singer-songwriters who have helped transform the sonic soundscape of modern country music. At age 30, she can already claim a string of five critically acclaimed albums and a reputation as a chart-topping, cutting-edge artist who’s acquired a rabid fan base and the ongoing admiration of her peers.
That fact was evident early on when a performance at FloydFest brought her to the attention of Sadler Vaden, guitarist in Jason Isbell’s band, the 400 Unit. Vaden went on to producer her breakthrough album “Reckless,” which Rolling Stone hailed as “the ragged edge of a singer-songwriter who’s been putting her nose to the grindstone for some time. In a voice like worn leather, Wade describes desperate, spontaneous relationships that feel the strongest when they’re at their breaking point.”
In fact, Wade’s themes are gleaned from personal perspective. Her parents split up when she was a young child, and she was then left to be raised by her grandparents. Her earliest songs were inspired by tattered romantic relationships, struggles with alcoholism and the addiction she had to overcome while still in her teens, and later, the need to undergo a double mastectomy after she tested positive for the BRCA5 gene, which, along with a family history of breast cancer, placed her at a high risk of acquiring the disease.
Wade, who performs at the Shed at Maryville on Friday, Sept. 12, is candid about those early experiences. “I think that everything I’ve encountered along the way has definitely shaped who I am as a musician,” she said. “I wouldn’t be able to connect with the audience that I connect with if I hadn’t struggled with my sobriety and my mental health. Sometimes when I look back, I’m not entirely sure how I overcame a lot of this stuff, but somehow I did. I think a lot of it has to do with the people that I surrounded myself with. Honestly, I had to really dig deep and find a lot of willpower.”
Nevertheless, Wade claims to have found her muse early on. “My earliest influences were kind of different than what you would probably expect,” she said. “I grew up in a small town that has a lot of bluegrass players, so I spent a lot of Friday nights with my grandfather listening to bluegrass. Obviously, I don’t sing bluegrass music, but I feel that I am a lyrics person and a lot of these bluegrass songs were really well-written and extremely sad, sad songs. I really pulled from that. I also discovered Elvis Presley when I was about 7 years old. I was immediately obsessed, and I still am obsessed with him.”
Although Wade was inclined to pursue music early on, she said the path forward wasn’t always defined.
“I knew I always wanted to play music,” she said. “I just didn’t know I had the ability to do it. It wasn’t until I was in college and I started drinking that I busted out my guitar and I had the liquid courage and the encouragement from other people around me that made me decide, ‘Hey, I I think I can do this!’”
From that point on, she said her progress was fairly well defined. “Honestly, I think that my trajectory from the first album until now just shows growth for me,” Wade continued. “I think the biggest thing for me is just writing about where I’m at a certain time, and when I’m done writing that, I move on. It’s interesting for me to go back and listen to everything and remember the headspace I was in when I was writing it. My muse is generally whatever is going on around me, whether it’s happening to me or to the people that I love and care about. I just draw from other people’s emotions as well as my own. I think in order to write good songs, I have to experience life.”
One way she explores life is by being on the road. “I do love touring and I have tour elation,” Wade said. “I just don’t know how to exist if I’m not touring. I love to go play. I love all the people that I’m surrounded with. It’s my life.”
Nevertheless, given the acclaim and kudos Wade’s received throughout her career, it would seem she has a lot to live up to. “It is a little daunting, especially when your debut record does really well,” she said. “You always wanna follow up with something really great. Comparison can always be a thief of joy, but for me, I think I have to shut that out and just put out the music that I want to put out because the fans that love me and love what I’m doing are gonna understand that my art is where I’m at in life and they’ll always appreciate that.”
She added that the reaction she gets from her audiences enhances her own enjoyment. “I have an amazing band and we just have a lot of fun,” Wade said. “Everybody always tells me they’ve had a great time. I’ve never had anybody come up to my face and say they didn’t enjoy a show. However, I have had a lot of people come up and tell me they just felt a lot of emotion and that makes me really happy. It’s always a great time.”