The release of “Your Hurricane” marks a new chapter in Heather Morgan’s extraordinary career she’s been wanting to introduce.
For the first time, fans are getting to know Morgan as the lifelong artist behind the prominent Music Row hit-maker.
Behind the scenes, she’s been the soundtrack of mainstream country music for the better half of the last decade as the co-writer of major Brett Eldredge, Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley, Martina McBride and Keith Urban songs.
But she is also a talented visual artist, an accomplished vocalist and respected lyricist with a distinct ear for exceptional melodies and hooks for days. Whenever she’s at a party with a guitar in her hand, the room silences immediately to hear whatever comes out of her mouth next. Fans will get to see this talent in action live when she joins Scotty McCreery and Jimmie Allen on McCreery’s Seasons Change Tour, launching Nov. 29 in Dallas, Texas.
“Your Hurricane” is the first song released from her upcoming album, Borrowed Heart, and it was written on a spontaneous trip to Joshua Tree, Calif. to write for herself for a change. The desert landscape also served as the backdrop for her cinematic “Your Hurricane” video.
“I’d had a heartbreak and knew that that would give me the escape and space to write the songs I needed to write to capture the emotion [I was feeling],” Morgan tells CMT.com. “I followed that instinct, and the quiet was the perfect backdrop to allow me to find ‘Your Hurricane.’”
“Releasing ‘Your Hurricane’ has been a sacred moment for me musically,” Morgan adds. “It’s something I’ve done on my own with great people around me.”
Producer Paul Moak produced the 12-song collection. Get to know more of the Richardson, Texas native and Nashville engénue in her own words below.
It’s been the first time for me to put something out that is my own voice and story. And I’m experiencing people hearing it from all over the world that have shared how they relate to it. A lot of people quote the line, “There is no place to hide / When the wind is howling on the inside,” and say how they know that feeling all too well but have never heard it said like that. I think the vulnerable side of the song has allowed listeners to articulate a feeling they’ve experienced. It’s pretty raw, honest and definitely unfiltered.
Don’t quit when it gets hard. There have been moments that felt like the timing wasn’t right, or I questioned moving to Nashville and wondered if I should be living in Austin instead. If someone hadn’t been there to remind me to push through the tough moments when you feel like all you’re coming up with are close calls, I might have called it too early and not have experienced some really special songs and milestones. Lori Mckenna pulled me aside one night last fall and told me how much she believes in what I do and who I am as an artist, and it was in the middle of this project feeling like it was in a tough spot. She really put it to me in a beautiful way to not give up on my art.
“Beat of the Music” is the song that changed everything for me. I wrote the song with Ross Copperman and Brett Eldredge, and it was Brett’s second No. 1 song and also the 2015 BMI Song of the Year.
I’ve always wanted to work with Adele. I saw her perform in London in March of 2016 at the O2 by myself. I know everyone has such a deep appreciation for her art. I love how she writes beautifully dark emotional songs. It would be amazing to musically paint with her. I think we speak the same heartbreak language.
The worst gig I’ve ever played that made for a good story later was a house concert with a friend once, and there was a guy literally asleep in the front row. Someone had a new puppy at the show, and it kept biting the other people trying to listen.
I love to recharge by traveling. It gets me out of my own head and always seems to fill me up creatively with new ideas, sites and sounds. I thrive off of traveling. I flew back from Australia in the spring, and when I landed, I went straight to the studio to write because I was so excited to write again after having the time away.