Megan Moroney Unveils Vulnerable Glimpse Of 'Faking A Smile' On The Road
By Kelly Fisher
July 10, 2024
Megan Moroney unveiled a deeply vulnerable heartache ballad on Wednesday morning (July 10) as she prepares to release her highly-anticipated sophomore album, Am I Okay?. The 14-track record is set to make its debut on Friday (July 12).
Moroney’s “Hell of a Show,” the final track to appear on the album, is an emotional ballad that offers a glimpse into the Georgia-born singer-songwriter’s headspace while she’s on the road. Moroney sings about seeing her name in lights ahead of a sold-out show, and noticing homemade signs and t-shirts as concertgoers form a line that wraps around the venue. Though Moroney sings that “it’s everything I’ve wanted,” she finds herself unable to fully embrace her rapidly-growing success as an artist because of a guy who’s “so damn mean to me.” Listeners can catch Moroney pause and take a deep breath after singing that line in “Hell of a Show,” and moving on with a vow to “keep it together,” as she takes the stage.
“That song started as a poem, which I’d never done before,” Moroney said in a press release issued Wednesday. “I wrote it by myself on the back of the bus, thinking about how all these unbelievable things were happening and I couldn’t even be happy because some guy was ruining it for me. Even if my fans haven’t had the experience of being a performer, I think they’ll relate to faking a smile to try to make it through when someone else is getting in the way of what should be a happy moment.”
“Hell of a Show” is the fifth track to release from Am I Okay?, following “No Caller ID,” “Man on the Moon,” “28th of June” and “Indifferent.” She’s also released “Never Left Me,” one of the songs appearing on the star-studded Twisters movie soundtrack. Moroney announced the album’s release date earlier this year, following her widely-embraced debut album, Lucky, in 2023. She teased her next chapter of music in a December interview with iHeartCountry, saying at that time: “I've been taking every ounce of free time that I have to write and be in the studio, so I'm just keeping the ball rolling. I know that my fans are excited for new music, so try to keep them happy.”
The reigning ACM New Female Artist of the Year is in the midst of her headlining “Lucky 2.0 Tour” dates with Logan Crosby, and shows on Kenny Chesney’s headlining “Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour,” which also includes Zac Brown Band and Uncle Kracker. See the remaining dates below.
July 11 — Boise, ID
July 13 — Seattle, WA
July 16 — Salt Lake City, UT
July 18 — Wheatland, CA
July 20 — Los Angeles, CA
July 24 — Phoenix, AZ
July 27 — Denver, CO
August 3 — Nashville, TN
August 8 — Columbus, OH
August 10 — Detroit, MI
August 17 — East Rutherford, NJ
August 23 — Foxborough, MA
August 24 — Foxborough, MA
August 25 — Foxborough, MA