Robin Hilton | March 7, 2025 When Megan Moroney first showed up for her Tiny Desk, decked out in a blue sequin dress and Uggs, she was fresh off winning best new artist at the Country Music Association Awards, an honor she earned for the affecting ways she blends classic country with earworm pop and confessional storytelling. The blue color scheme, also reflected on her guitar and nail polish, is a nod to the heartache and sadness found across 2024's Am I Okay?
The self-proclaimed Emo Cowgirl opens her Tiny Desk with "I'm Not Pretty" from her 2023 debut Lucky. Backed by pedal steel and sparkling harmonies, she sings about struggles with intrusive thoughts, self-sabotage and peaking in high school. Like all great country music, her songs reveal deeper and universal truths in life's smallest and messiest moments.
But Moroney's music is as much about resilience as it is grief. For this set, she also includes a version of "No Caller ID," which celebrates the friends who help you move on, as well as "Tennessee Orange," her 2022 breakout hit and ode to young love. She closes with the title cut to Am I Okay? "In my discography of sad songs," she tells the NPR Music office, "it's proof that a man was once making me happy." She quickly adds, "It's no longer true, but fun while it lasted!"
SET LIST "I'm Not Pretty" "No Caller ID" "Tennessee Orange" "Am I Okay?"
MUSICIANS Megan Moroney: vocals, guitar Riley Lowery: guitar, background vocals John Barker: guitar Eric Pritchard: drums Alex Shernit: bass, background vocals Justin Schipper: pedal steel Amie Miriello: background vocals
TINY DESK TEAM Producer: Robin Hilton Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Sofia Seidel Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer Photographer: Catie Dull Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Lars Gotrich Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
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