I think putting yourself in conversation with Willie, Kris and the rest of the Highwaymen is a little much, but what do I know… This week, Maren Morris, who I guess wants to be country again, appeared on the Zach Sang Show podcast, where she talked about why she’s so outspoken about her political views and how she views it as a return to greats like Johnny Cash and others. Maren is of course one of the most outspoken Liberals in the genre, even performing at the Democrat National Convention when Kamala Harris was formally nominated for president. And she’s frequently gotten into social media spats with conservative artists like Jason Aldean, who’s an outspoken Trump supporter. She famously “left country music” back in 2023, citing its alleged toxic, sexist and racist culture that she couldn’t participate in anymore, but then quickly walked it back saying that was just a headline that got misconstrued and she could never “leave” the genre. Then she said her success in country music came at a “moral cost” as if a genre of music could be inherently evil. Then she kinda walked that back too and said she was talking about the Nashville country music industry, and she doubled down on the idea of the country music “machine” during this podcast, which is I think what she’s been trying to get at with all these other viral comments. She’s not the most articulate, I suppose… I mean, if you’re constantly correcting the “story” then maybe you’re not doing a good job of explaining it? We all know the media can twist headlines to fit their own narrative, but this seems to be a recurring theme with Maren. But Sang asked about why Maren wanted to go against the “beliefs and standards” of country music, which in itself, is a loaded question. What are you suggesting? Bigotry, racism and sexism are the official “beliefs and standards” of country music that Maren is busy fighting against? Gimme a break. But Maren says she pulled inspiration from country greats like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, who were all outspoken about certain political issues, and of course, Willie still is. But she claims that somewhere along the line, country music changed and rather than being a voice for the everyday American and the marginalized, it became a voice for… what? She doesn’t say, but she certainly alludes to this inherent evil in modern day country music. “I think I went back to that. I went back to where country music was, which is, you see interviews of Johnny Cash, or the Highwaymen with Willie and Kristofferson, it’s just like… Kristofferson was a war veteran, so he’s talking abut veteran rights, veteran care. I mean, they’re talking about public education, they’re talking about homelessness. These are the outlaws these people at their festivals have on a screen T-shirt. Like, were you listening to them talk? Or are you just listening to ‘Boy Named Sue.’ I wasn’t diverting from country music, I was touting what made me fall in love with it, which was reality and human stories through really clever storytelling and lyrical structure and heart and soulfulness in that vocal. There’s so much warmth in country music, and I fell in love with it. And also, they were all pushing the boundaries, and advocating for minorities and marginalized communities, that was my country music. I don’t know where it changed, but I wasn’t anti-anything in it. I was anti-homophobia and bigotry. I don’t know, I felt like I was always marching to the drum of my country music heroes. And they were incredibly courageous.” She went onto explain how she values the “storytelling” aspect of country music, which I think we’d all agree with, and how much she admires the roots of where it comes from in terms of telling real stories of real, every day people. Of course, she just released a pop record, titled Dreamsicle so not exactly putting all that into practice… She continued: “I’ve been fortunate enough to meet Willie and his son Lukas is so sweet, and was also lucky enough to meet Kris Kristofferson, and it was so emotional for me. and also when I worked with Dolly, and the Highwomen, and we did Newport Folk Festival with her. It made me feel like this is what I love about this music, is these are the real people. There’s so much country music now that I love, I love Stapleton, I love Sturgill, Tyler Childers, there’s real storytelling happened. But there’s a ton of new music too that I’ve been exposed to through it, because it’s becoming such a popular, worldly genre now… I’m not here to criticize a machine because that’s what it is. I think country music is so tied to real peoples stories and lives, that is their story within that music. So they will take personally any sort of buck to it or critique of it, so I understand that element of it for sure. I’m from Texas, all of my idols come from that neck of the woods in the songwriting country world. I’m older and wiser, and I’m so focused on myself that I can’t listen to all the noise and I just have to focus on what I’m doing today… my proof, and I’ve said this before, is always the crowd at my show. That’s the best proof you could ever have, is, what does that crowd look like? Is it all one type of person? Do they all look like me? No, it’s really diverse and it feels safe, and my fans, I would hope because of the choices I’ve made musically or with this platform, feel safe in that crowd because I’ve stood up to people who don’t stand up for them.” It sounds like Maren still identifies pretty deeply with country, and I do agree with her in the sense of what makes it special and her perspective there. And it’s true, Willie, Kris and Johnny did stand up for working-class people because that’s who they were, and the types of people they come from. But to imply that country music has somehow morphed into this racist, sexist, homophobic genre that is only for white people is so misguided. It’s like “let me create this problem based on a false premise so I can speak up against it and be special. Be the hero. Just like Waylon and Willie did.” It’s just all so disingenuous… The truth is, a lot of today’s Republicans used to be blue-collar, working class Democrats back when Johnny and Kristofferson were speaking up on these issues. Let’s not pretend like Kris advocating for veteran’s rights, or Johnny standing up for Native Americans and prison reform is an endorsement for child gender transition of whatever causes Maren and the hyper-progressive left are pushing these days. So while Maren may be correct in asserting that many of the outlaws of country music past were very vocal on their political beliefs, I just refuse to participate in the “modern day country music is evil” narrative that she continuously tries to promote. @zachsangshow @marenmorris on the original country music stars vs. today’s #marenmorris #willienelson #country #countrymusic #zachsangshow #zachsang #fyp #foryou ♬ original sound – Zach Sang Show The full interview is available here: The post Maren Morris Compares Herself To Johnny Cash & Kris Kristofferson Regarding Her Outspoken Political Beliefs first appeared on Whiskey Riff.