Three Questions with Ryan Hurd
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Ryan Hurd has written songs for Tim McGraw and Blake Shelton, but now he's going out on his own and joining fiancé, Maren Morris, on tour. With two million streams on Spotify, he's already positioned to become a breakout star....
edited for clarity and length
I read in a recent interview with People that you and Maren became romantically involved while writing songs for other musicians. What was it like having music play such an intricate role in your relationship?
It's amazing to be with someone who understands how hard this whole thing can be. Our relationship was just creative for a long time and I think that laid a foundation of mutual respect that translated when we started dating.
From a practical standpoint, it's amazing to get to continue to write and sing with Maren. She's honestly the best songwriter I've ever been around and I've been blessed to have written for her.
You've written quite a few songs for a few different people. What do you believe helps a song resonate with an audience?
Everyone's story is different, but feelings are for the most part universal - a great songs make a very specific emotion very tangible.
Hit songs are hard to describe because you just sort of know it when you hear it. It's more of a lightning in the bottle process than an analytic one. I always come back to the question: does it make you feel something? if the answer is yes, you're on the right track.
Is living in Nashville helpful when it comes to writing new material or does the industry make it difficult to stay focused?
Nashville is so inspiring! Sometimes it's nice to get out of town, but the industry supports the art so much that it's hard to operate anywhere else and still do country music for a living. I love living here for a lot of reasons, but Music Row and the people that work there are major draws.
Cannot wait to play Iowa! It has been a while and we're looking forward to seeing friends and having an awesome first weekend on the Hero Tour. Thanks so much for reaching out!
