This weekend, country musician Lee Brice is coming to the South Shore Music Circus and Cape Cod Melody Tent with opening act Maggie Rose. “Country music’s most unexpected new darling,” Rose will be performing her classic roots/country music with an innovative mix of pop melodies and gospel all weekend long.
We caught up with Rose recently to find out what inspires her when she is writing music and how it feels to be opening this summer for big names like Lee Brice, Hunter Hayes, Cassadee Pope and Tim McGraw.
How would you describe your music style?
My musical style is dynamic. I try to use all the tools in my bag and as a writer and producer I want to do every song justice by making sure that I don't bend it to fit into a genre in which it doesn't belong. I keep my vocal ID consistent because I want that to marry all these sounds together.
What inspires you when you write a song?
One of the things I love about my job is the amount of traveling that I get to experience. I meet all sorts of people in many different settings and it's a wondrous thing to see, but it is even more inspiring to see how similar most people are when it comes to the fundamental things and that makes the world not seem so complicated. I try to remind myself of that when writing and taking on the task of creating something universally relatable.
How does it feel to be performing with big names like Lee Brice and Tim McGraw this summer?
I have known Lee for years and respect him as an artist so I am really looking forward to meeting his fans because I think we will click with each other. Not many people from ANY genre can deliver a song the way he can. He let me sing background vocals on "Panama City" which was recorded live and I was in awe of his bravery to put forth a record formatted that way. I remember going to Tim McGraw concerts growing up and had you told me then that I would get to share a stage with him someday I would have fainted. He is legendary and with the quality of songs he has put out, especially his recent releases like "Humble and Kind" and "Damn Country Music" it is apparent that he is still getting better and better after already having a monster career.
Why do you think country music has become such a worldwide sensation in the last few years?
I think country music has always been a worldwide sensation but it may just be my perspective. I grew up when Shania and The Dixie Chicks and Faith Hill and Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw were ruling the airwaves. Maybe the boom of all those artists emerging at the time made the following years seem sleepy for county music but music is cyclical like anything else. I think the standard demographic for country music has widened with the evolution of new sounds and production has brought us to a bigger stage where unlikely country fans are emerging and that is great. There are several sub-genres of country music now which is an exciting thing.
Who are some of your favorite musicians who have inspired you on your path to success?
Two of the greats who have passed, Michael Jackson and Prince, were artists who were not desperate at the thought of being understood or categorized and that was always very exciting to me. They had the burden of being able to do everything which could have been overwhelming but they gave us everything. Madonna is the same way when it comes to reinvention, Janis Joplin is similar is that she was so endowing of herself and her feelings and honesty.
What have been some of the most memorable highlights of your career?
Every time I play the Opry I get nervous. It takes me about half of a song to relax and remind myself to enjoy the moment before it is over. I have played there 36 times and it will never get old. I have had the chance to play the Ryman a few times which is another venue very sacred to me. I took the stage with my friends Dallas Davidson, Mannie Fresh and Big Boi to sing our new song "Laid Back" at an event my husband, Austin Marshall, produces annually for the Georgia Music Foundation and it was a surreal moment indeed.
