Maren Morris and Molly Tuttle tell their origin stories anew

People often underestimate how central self-reinvention is to country and bluegrass, where the idea of carrying on tradition and the appearance of continuity holds tremendous weight. But some of those genres' most riveting figures, Maren Morris and Molly Tuttle included, find ways to evolve without rendering themselves unfamiliar. As pre-teens, they were regional sensations in country and bluegrass, respectively, before they climbed into considerably broader and brighter spotlights in the 2010s. At this point, they're well established in their careers, exemplars of musical possibility, and yet they each chose this moment to tell their origin stories anew.

During the opening lines of "Circles Around This Town," a single from Morris' new album that's gotten some radio airplay, she rolls her eyes recalling the audacity of her younger self relying on weathered wheels and homegrown recordings to transport her from Texas into the successful songwriting ranks of Nashville, Tenn. What she dwells on are the work ethic and want-to that she brought to town with her, or as she puts it with casual conviction in the hook: "Try'na say somethin' with meanin', somethin' worth singin' about." Those are values heralded in her industry's most high-minded mythologies. Even if her initial Nashville efforts registered as low-key irreverence at the time of their release, she reframes