I kicked off March – the month of C2C and International Women’s Day – with Megan Rose who is as lovely in person as she is in her music. We navigated some technical difficulties (it’s me, hi, I’m the technical difficulty) but were eventually able to sit and chat all about new music, tours and finding out who she is as an artist.
Everyone has their own story on how they fell in love with country music, but Megan’s brings a sweetness that she’ll carry with her throughout her journey. Megan has always been around country influences, travelling back and forth from America to her family and spending time with her grandparents as a child. She says: “my grandparents were very much into The Greats, I’d say, so the likes of Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks and we’d sit and listen to the music”.
At 14 years old, Megan had a job – like most teens needing some pocket money – but instead of pot-washing in a café, Megan was singing in care homes, bringing joy to the residents that she met. “I used to sing Country Roads by John Denver which always got the residents going.” There is a clear sense of happiness surrounding these memories as Megan recalls how one gentleman compared her to an icon, “one day, one of them turned around to me and said, ‘you sound like a young Dolly Parton’”. And the dream was born.
A love of literature and a voice that could carry a country song led Megan to where she is now. She is on the verge of an impressive year and, despite the success that is already behind her, she really is just a getting started.
Country music is having its moment again – especially in the UK. Who are you taking influence from and who are you looking up to?
I love Tenille Arts, she’s one of my favourites at the moment and I’ve always been a huge fan of Maddie and Tae – they’ve always inspired me. I love their style of writing and just like generally who they are as people – they’re the kind of artists that will message you if you cover one of their songs and it just feels like they’re genuine.
And then the likes of Luke Combs. I love what he’s done for the UK industry. He’s just incredible – he’s managed to get Tracy Chapman on stage after however many years! I love his music – I think it’s the perfect mix of authentic and modern-day country and I could just listen to him all day.
Megan has been part of a Luke Combs tribute show and is excited to explore that more this year. JP, who performs in the style of Luke Combs, approached her to ask if she’d be involved. “I was unsure to begin with – to support a tribute show, I didn’t know if that was the right thing for me – but it was amazing.” Megan lights up as she talks about the magic of JP’s show: “the band is amazing - all the musicians are playing everything live. When you get that full band sound and it’s almost a duplicate of the original – it’s so rare”. You can feel her excitement to take that show further afield, soaking up the buzz from the fans.
Your last music release was March 2023 – is there anything in the pipeline for this year?
I do have some music coming out this year and I’ll be announcing it really soon. It’s so exciting and is a long time overdue but I think I’ve needed a break to establish who I am as an artist and what my sound is. I’ve done lots of co-writing and this year is going to be the Megan that I’m going to be for a long time. It’s nice to know what I want from my music.
It takes time and you have to go through the peaks and troughs of the industry and it’s such a competitive market as well. I think it’s about finding your sound and being individual at the same time as making sure your music current. With the help of writing with others and learning so much about the Nashville scene as well, I’ve been able to get that – hopefully – to where it needs to be. Fingers crossed people like it!
The foundations of country music are built around the story-telling lyrics and Megan was kind enough to share the story behind her poignant song, ‘Cowboy with Wings’.
“Sadly, a couple of years ago we lost someone very close to my family and friends.” She speaks with fondness over their influence on her, being a ‘larger than life character’ that knew all the words to every country song that he shared with her. Megan felt that she needed to do something to honour him and, unbeknownst to her, so did her mum. “My mum is actually a very good poet,” Megan says as she recounts how they both had tried to write his memory into a song. “She’d written a whole poem and had a melody for the chorus, and I was like, ‘Mum, that’s amazing!’.” Megan and her mum worked on it together, creating a song that encapsulated the spirit of their loved one but that was also giving back to charity every time it was streamed. “I wrote the melody for the verses and tweaked some of the lyrics but predominantly that was her work and that was really lovely to have her so heavily involved…it’s nice that we’re giving something back.”
So, what’s next for you? Country on the Clyde is coming up, you’ve got new music coming out…where else is 2024 taking you?
There are definitely some more tour dates to be announced and there will be more music – I’m hoping to release a few singles this year, not just one. There’s also going to be some more time spent in the US. That’s something I spent time doing the back end of 2023 – I was in Nashville and my intention is to be out there more frequently for writing and attending writers rounds etc. So that’s something to look out for in the not-too-distant future.
I feel like the girls are really bringing it this year in the UK country scene – especially the likes of Kezia Gill and Jade Helliwell – are you in touch with them or done any writing with them?
Sadly, I was supposed to support Jade and Kezia a couple of years ago and I got really sick and I couldn’t do it and I was so gutted. Jade will be at Country on the Clyde, and we often cross paths anyway. I haven’t done any writing with either of them, but I would love to because they’re big inspirations of mine in the UK country scene. But it’s really nice as well to be now on the same line ups as them. That’s so exciting and something that a few years ago I would have been like oh my goodness the chances of this are so slim so it’s lovely to know that I’m crossing over into the same realm(ish) as them. I aspire to be doing the kind of tours that they’re doing in the next couple of years. I think it’s good to surround yourself with the kind of people you want to be like.
Megan has taken her talents to some seriously famous spots – places most artists could only dream of playing. Her repertoire includes the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Albert Hall and Tamworth Country Festival to name but a few. (That’s Tamworth, Australia – home of the second biggest country music festival in the world, not Tamworth, Staffordshire – home of Drayton Manor theme park. Obviously….)
When asked which venue was her pivotal moment, Megan recounted her time spent on stage Down Under: “I got told about three weeks before that I was going to be doing the festival so I had to work some magic to get myself to the other side of the world to perform”. In 2019, whilst still scratching at the surface of the industry in the UK, Megan played to huge crowds at Tamworth Country Music Festival. “I remember feeling so overwhelmed and thinking, ‘I don’t know how this is happening for me,’ it was like a dream come true.”
Last year, Megan performed in the Hard Rock Café in Nashville – an experience that gave her ‘all the feels’. This memory holds significant space for her which shines through as she talks about it. “I think for every country singer, your dream is to be able to perform in Nashville and to be actually doing it and singing my own music on Broadway – I just thought like, I’ve got to get through this without crying. It was really emotional”.
With all of her success and experience so far, Megan speaks with a humility and grace that shows she is still grounded and thankful. “Sometimes you do have to take a moment to be present and I’m so grateful what I’m doing and where I’ve come from. Before I think about the next single or the next show or the next tour, it’s important to take a moment and reflect…at any point it can be taken away. I never want to take what I do for granted.”
Megan Rose is one to watch for 2024. Catch her at Country on the Clyde on 10th March and watch this space for more tour dates and music. Find her on Instagram Listen on Spotify
This interview was conducted in collaboration with Clewes' Country and wouldn’t have been possible without their support and encouragement.
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