In light of the events that occurred at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, Maren Morris recently debuted her previously unreleased track, “Dear Hate.”
Morris had written the song (which features country legend Vince Gill) after the 2015 church shooting in Charleston, S.C.; and according to Rolling Stone Country, who recently interviewed Morris, the song is a prayer of belief in the power of healing in the face of violence.
Morris tells Rolling Stone, “I’ve had the song in my pocket for the last few years and I never knew when to release it. I wanted to be precious with it because it is such a sensitive subject. It’s just insane how relevant the message still is today. ”
Morris first performed the song live on Oct. 5 – just four days after the Las Vegas shooting – during her show at the Kalamazoo State Theater in Kalamazoo, Mich. An emotional Morris ended her usual stage show and then added “Dear Hate” as an encore.
She asked the crowd for a moment of silence for the lives lost in the tragedy and continued with a heartfelt message thereafter.
“I never thought I’d be performing (‘Dear Hate’) honestly, but I feel like the message was so powerful the day we wrote it and that was three years ago and it rings even more true now, unfortunately,” Morris said onstage. “Music is such a healer and you guys as music lovers, I know I said it earlier, but one of the most powerful things you can do is just showing up here tonight. We’re not gonna stop playing music. We’re not gonna stop going to shows. So I wrote this song with some friends of mine a couple years ago. … The response has been just so incredible, so I’m gonna sing it tonight and I hope that, God forbid, any of you lost anyone in that tragedy or if you’ve just gone through some dark times, I hope this maybe brings you a little light.”
Morris performed at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Sept. 30, opening for headliner Sam Hunt.
Photos From the Shooting Scene Show Chaos, Courage
This Article Was Originally Posted at www.TasteofCountry.com
http://tasteofcountry.com/maren-morris-dear-hate-first-time-watch/
