Maren Morris

The country-pop star on her new supergroup, posing for ‘Playboy,’ and her time as a Nashville songwriter

- Brian Hiatt

In a world where Lil Nas X has an unbeatable country smash, it’s hard to blame the likes of Maren Morris — who was performing in Texas honky-tonks at the age of 10 — for branching out. In the wake of 2018’s ubiquitous, super-poppy Zedd collaboration “The Middle,” Morris, 29, drifted far from the twang of her debut album on this year’s Girl, delving into R&B and pop, and even showing a hint of reggae. But she also just completed an altogether rootsier album with her new supergroup, the Highwomen (with Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, and Natalie Hemby) — even if they weren’t sure the experiment would work until their sessions with producer Dave Cobb. “It was so nice to realize in the studio that we all sound great together,” she says. “We were joking that we got married — and then got to know each other.”

Everyone loves the line “What’s your time machine/ Is it Springsteen or is it ‘Teenage Dream’?” from “A Song for Everything.” How did you come up with it?

I was on the bus, writing and thinking of the bands that really were the soundtrack to our youth. I grew up on a lot of Springsteen because of my dad, and [Katy Perry’s] “Teenage Dream” is one of the greatest songs of all time — a perfectly written pop song. It’s hard to choose a favorite Springsteen song. I saw the River tour twice, and I love that whole album: “Hungry Heart,” “Point Blank.”