Country music legend Lorrie Morgan returns to this province for an intimate evening of spine-tingling storytelling and soul-touching performances
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Lorrie Morgan opens with the words every Newfoundlander loves to hear; “I love it there! I love the food there especially,” she shares with a laugh.
The sultry country songstress, born Loretta Lynn Morgan, has sold over eight million records including fourteen top ten hits, twelve recorded albums and four Female Vocalist of the Year awards. 
Born to Make Music
Morgan, daughter of legendary performer George Morgan, made her mark with what have now become timeless country standards including hits like Five Minutes, Except For Monday, Something In Red, Watch Me and What Part Of No, and established her place as a country star; a modern woman making country music history. But then Morgan was born to make music. At 13, she made an impression on the country music world when she played at The Grand Ole Opry, making her one of the youngest to have made her debut at the Mother Church of Country Music. Three short years later after her dad’s passing, Morgan launched her own career touring with his band. She made history when she became a lifetime member of the Grand Ole Opry at the age of 24 – one of the youngest to ever become a member.
‘Highlights of My Life’
And now Jesse Keith Whitley, Morgan’s son with the late, great Keith Whitley, sometimes joins her on stage.
“It’s emotional for me sometimes. I wish his daddy could see him and his grandpa George could see how good he is and what a good singer he is. Being on the road with him is one of the highlights of my life because I get to bring a part of my family out here. Having him with me is a comfort,” she says of performing side-by-side.
Someone else Morgan performs with regularly is another country music legend, Pam Tillis.
“Pam and I have been on the road doing acoustic shows together on and off… going into our six year which is incredible especially for two divas of country music. We get along really great. We just finished our second album together. Just a couple of weeks ago they finished mastering it and we are doing the photo shoot tomorrow actually and the title is called Summer Wine.”
Morgan shares the two welcome special guests on the album including Joe Diffie and Darryl Worley. “They perform on one song. We were very pleased and honoured to have two great, great country singers on there singing with us and they did just an incredible job.”
Barbie dress-up day
As for the anticipated photo shoot, Morgan teases; “Every time we do a photo shoot it’s like Barbie dress-up day. We have a blast. We go all out. We are not gonna be tame if that’s a word I should use. Pam has to calm me down quite a bit.”
Morgan welcomes questions from fans, including one from one of our readers: What’s made you laugh, and cry, the most in your career?
“Cry the most in my career? Leaving town. Leaving my children. Knowing I’m going to miss a basketball game or a first prom or a first date. Those things really are hard. I’m an emotional wreck anyway so the slightest little thing can make me cry. I’m happy they have their own children now so I’m not leavin’ them alone”
As for the happiest, it’s doing what she was born to do; perform. “The thing that makes me the happiest is recording and new songs, seeing the fans reaction to some of the new songs. And I like intimate settings, I don’t like big outdoor fairs where I can’t get close to the people and tell them intimate stories. That makes me happy. Probably the happiest is when I’m at the Opry and when I’m around my peers, my buds, that’s probably the happiest I could be in my career.”
There’s been so many highlights. From performing with The Beach boys to Frank Sinatra, she’s been blessed, she says.
Favourite Songs
We talk about her – and my – favourite song of hers; Something in Red. We share our colicky baby stories – and how music soothed them – and laugh.
“My daughter had colic so bad … it’s kind of funny but not, so I understand,” she says laughing at the memory.
The touching Something in Red is her favourite she shares, for some interesting reasons, namely because she at first refused to even hear the song through to its end. “It was such a tough song for me to agree to when they first pitched it to me, I thought it was going to be one of those death songs, the last colour is going to be black and it’s going to be gloom and doom and I was like, I’m not recording that. And they were like, you got to listen to this song and I said I’m not doing it and I turned it down about three times before I decided to go past the blue verse. Once I got to being red again I was very happy and it’s the closing number of my show which makes me know the night’s over. I can get on the bus and have my wine.”
What pairs with a good wine? Good food and company; something else Morgan loves. “I love cooking. I love gardening. I love the outdoors. Cooking is very much a relaxing moment for me. I love trying different recipes. My children love my cooking, thank God. My husband loves my cooking and we have a good time. My husband and I get in the kitchen and we try different stuff and it’s fun and more than cooking, I enjoy eating,” she says laughing.
‘Love of My Life’
When asked if country music is the love of her life, she pauses. “It’s the first love of my life. I say often it’s the only love that’s never left me but that’s just a joke. County music is how I first started feeling and loving and my emotions would first come to surface when I’d hear songs, and I knew at a very early age that that’s what I wanted. I wanted to be in country music.”
She wanted the stage, the lights, the cameras; wherever those things were, she would be, she says. It’s fitting then that she’s returning to this province to do just that. She can’t wait to take the stage at the Holy Heart Theatre on Aug. 20.
“Anywhere the music was playing that’s where I wanted to be.”
Lorrie Morgan: Sunday, August 20, 2017. For more visit the Holy Heart Theatre: www.holyhearttheatre.com