Australian-born country singer-songwriter Morgan Evans has built an international reputation on heartfelt songwriting, infectious melodies and an energetic live presence that blends modern country with pop sensibilities. Raised in Newcastle, New South Wales, Evans first broke through in his home country before making a major impact in the US with his self-titled 2018 album, which featured the multi-platinum hit Kiss Somebody and introduced a global audience to his emotionally direct, hook-driven sound.
Over the years, Evans has continued to evolve as an artist, balancing radio-friendly optimism with increasingly introspective songwriting across projects like ‘Things That We Drink To' and ‘Life Upside Down.' His latest album ‘Steel Town' marks a particularly personal chapter, drawing heavily on his upbringing and reconnecting with his roots, both musically and emotionally. With a growing global fanbase and a reputation for translating real-life experiences into relatable, anthemic songs, Evans remains one of country music’s most engaging storytellers as he enters this new phase of his career.
Thank you for your time today Morgan, it's great to see ‘Steel Town' on it's way to the people this March, we love it! (Our review here)
Thank you and thank you for your kind words about it. It was a very intentionally chosen batch of songs and very intentionally produced and recorded in a particular way. You get so close to things and spend so much time with songs that it can be difficult not to over think every element of this process and you don't know what will resonate or what will fall through the cracks.
You mentioned it being intentional. Does that mean it was a therapeutic album for you to put together? Did you put this concept together from the get-go or did it reveal itself as it went along?
I feel like I've learned over the years that the best songs I write generally come from the heart and whatever is happening in there at the time. It's been three years since I put out music and I think this album probably had a shape a year and a half ago and then when it didn't come out then I wrote some more songs and the shape changed. This 11 song batch is more a reflection of me going back through that period of time and choosing songs that the really tell the story of what I wanted to be told.
These days I feel like 11 tracks is a short album but as a listener I've always like albums around that length. I like how concise and tight they are and it's not intimidating to sit down and listen to. I didn't want songs to overlap or do the same thing on there.
Anything over 14-15 songs isn't an album to me – it's just a content portal.
‘Content portal' – I love that phrase, man. As a songwriter I like the idea of putting out as many songs as possible but as an artist there's something to be said for a tight storytelling arc.
A lot of this album is earthy, organic, stripped back music. Was that a conscious musical reset for you as well?
It was. Maybe less of a reset and more of a growth. The first American record we put out in ‘Things That We Drink To' which was made with just me and Chris DeStefano in thr studio – we played everything on that and I loved that process, it gave us so much control.
I spent years on the road after that playing music and I fell back in love with being in a band again doing that. The reason I got into music was to be in a band so that was a reset of sorts too. I wanted this record to reflect that and point towards where the live set is going too. We have all grown.
The title track, ‘Back to Country' and ‘Land I Love' make this album a little more Australia-adjacent than your previous releases recently, maybe?
For sure. The way that music is consumed now is so different to when I first moved to Nashville. Things were much more rigid and specific ten years or so ago compared to what it is like now. I feel like it's changed now where, rather than artists fitting into an already existing lane it's better to just be yourself more now, be original and different, that's celebrated more than it was a decade ago. Zach Bryan is now Country music, Noah Kahan is almost Country music, everything falls under this banner alongside HARDY's super-rock sound – it's all freer now than it used to be.
The more unique your version and your story of Country music, the more chance you have of breaking through now, I think. That gave me confidence to be a little more myself for the first time on this album, lyrically. One of the things I love about America is their pride in where they are from. Aussies and Brits are proud, too, but sometimes it can come across as cheesy or insincere. ‘Land I Love' and ‘Steel Town' are very sincere songs for me in which I try to communicate my pride in where I come from.
There's also songs on ‘Steel Town' like ‘Beer Back Home' which have got a lineage back to things like ‘Young Again,' and those type of songs too. Even the drinking song, though, is a little more reflective than it might have been 5 or 8 years ago. Is that where you find yourself right now?
Yeah, certainly through the making of this record there was a lot of reflection going on. I came out of a pretty messy, horrendously public divorce, right? That was an insane experience all of its own. A lot of this record was written during the period when I was dealing with that. I called the record ‘Steel Town' because that was where this record started. I was dealing with all the divorce stuff back here in Nashville thinking ‘Holy shit, what the hell is going on? I may need to get out of here for a second!' So I went back home. Saw my family. Saw my friends.
This one night, I went to the pub with some old mates, got a beer and they looked at me and just said, ‘Are you alright?' It took me by surprise, so I thought about it and said, ‘Yeah, I'm alright, actually.' And then they were like, ‘Ok, great, did you see the Knights play last weekend?' And we were back to were we had always been before! (laughing) I feel like that moment gave me the grounding to move on and enjoy being back home.
‘Forgiving You For Me' is the one song on the album that the internet sleuths and the platforms that deal in gossip are going to pull apart, isn't it?
I guess so! (laughing) Is there a story in that song? (laughing)
That song is obviously very important to you but what I love about that song and what makes it relatable is that it could be about any break of trust, which is what makes a song great – that relatability.
Yeah. I've definitely learned a lot through writing songs like ‘Things That We Drink To' which I wrote for my first manager when he passed away. Then there was ‘Over For You,' obviously. I see the way people react to songs like that and it's very different to something like ‘Day Drunk' or ‘Kiss Somebody,' which are other significant songs that people have found me through.
I can see that some songs help people and when I hear stories of what people are going through and how my music has helped or played a part in some healing or understanding………it means so much to me. ‘Forgiving Me For You' is a very self aware song – looking back at an experience with the perspective that I have on it now makes me very grateful. It's a really great place to get to in any journey of grief or whatever it is you're going through. When I wrote it, initially, it felt like a very emotional song but I read it back now and it feels more like a piece of advice because I've changed in the interim since writing it.
The sister song to that one is ‘Letting You Go,' which you've chosen to close down the album with. You make references to sobriety and personal growth in that song. Is sobriety something you are doing right now?
I tried everything during that period just to try and find some peace or meaning in all the craziness that was going on. It was the like the WWE of divorces that I was going through! (laughing) Like, ‘What is happening to me right now!' I definitely tried drinking too much, which was a pretty natural crutch growing up where I did. I tried travelling a bit, it was a fun time because we were on the road playing some of the best shows of my career but it was a dark time too because I was just grasping at things to try and make sense of it all.
Something clicked and I just started drinking less. Those nights where I would go out and have 5-6 beers turned into nights where I'd just go out and have 1 or 2. I'm reluctant to say I am pursuing sobriety because that would be insensitive to people who are really struggling with it but it has been a big change in my life – I still enjoy a beer every now and again but I have it now for the right reasons.
‘Letting You Go' has an Oasis and therefore, by association, a Beatles influence on the chorus. Was that deliberate?
Thank you, that's a huge compliment. I love both those bands. That song seems to be a lot of people's favourite song and it wasn't meant to be on there. It was originally a ten track album until right up to the last minute. I was driving around Nashville listening to Dropboxes of songs I had written over the years and that one came on and my ears perked up! I didn't have that kind of ‘releases song' on the album and that's what this record is about – releasing these last few years, both professionally and personally. ‘Letting You Go' is the ultimate representation of that.
There are songs on there like ‘The Farm' and ‘Two Broken Hearts' which seem to encapsulate you coming out of the other side of this period. How did collaborating with Laci Kaye Booth and then you subsequent relationship with her change the narrative of ‘Two Broken Hearts?'
Oh man. That was crazy. Laci's amazing, one of the best singers in the world. We play and write music a lot together but there's a difference between a song that you do together and then a song that absolutely changes when you work on it together. When Laci comes in in the second verse and then we sing together in the second chorus……..I can still remember the first time we did it and we were, like, ‘Holy shit! This is good!' (laughing)
The song wasn't written as a duet but it works perfectly as one. I'd recorded it a couple of different ways but couldn't find the right sound or feel for it until Laci got involved and I think I recorded it the very next day.
I'm really interested to see how people react to this record. People really decide which songs become popular now rather the labels or industry pushing songs onto them. I can't wait to see which songs from ‘Steel Town' resonate with folks the most. I'm excited and anxious all at the same time.
‘Settle it Down' is a newer sound for you – somewhere between Billy Joel and Bob Seger.
Thank you. That's a huge compliment. Making this record without a record label was the most freeing experience I've ever had. In my previous deal we put out a record but when it came time for the next album everything had to go through this very tight bottleneck or funnel of people that were making business decisions about whether or not my music was going to make them money. It became very stifling and wasn't a positive experience for me.
On ‘Settle it Down' we just had a piano part and a vocal. I wrote it with Sam Ellis who I wrote ‘Steel Town' with. We decided to go full 70s rock on that song and we even put strings on it, which is something I'd never done before. I love that you love that song, all the fellas in the band love that song too, it's a little left-of-centre compared to what we've been doing so far.
What's the plan in getting this music out to as many people as possible? Is it better for you to get on a big three-band arena bill or play longer sets in smaller venues to your own crowd?
I think a bit of both. We're looking at the back end of the year in terms of what touring America and Europe might look like. We've got some big shows of my own in Australia and New Zealand in May and June, which I'm excited about. If the right opening slot comes available I'd be open to doing that as well. Every time I come over to Europe or go back home to Australia I feel like people are loving Country music more and more, it's an exciting time to be in the genre right now.
Check out Morgan Evans' new album ‘Steel Town' out now in all the usual places.
