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When Maren Morris thinks about the pop culture that shaped her, the first thing that pops into her mind is Steel Magnolias. The beloved 1989 film sticks out to the “Circles Around This Town” singer because her mother is a hairdresser, she recently explained. Steel Magnolias is about “a young beautician, newly arrived in a small Louisiana town, finds work at the local salon, where a small group of women share a close bond of friendship, and welcome her into the fold.” The movie stars Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, Julia Roberts and country music legend Dolly Parton.
It was because of Steel Magnolias that, at first, Morris didn't realize Parton was a singer.
Speaking on a recent episode of Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, Morris reflected: “...my sister and I, we grew up in her salon and we would get to like, style the mannequin heads, and you know, that was my first real job was like, being a receptionist for her salon. But watching the movie Steel Magnolias as a kid, I only knew Dolly Parton as [her character,] Truvy. I didn't know she was Dolly Parton, the country music star. I just thought she was an actress. And then, through a movie about Southern hair and diabetes, I found Dolly Parton.”
Morris continued, gushing over Parton’s “golden light of songwriting and feminism and just all the things that she has done over the last, like 30, 40 years, writing the most beautiful songs in history, but also such a diversified human. ...I think that was what made me think, 'OK, wow, country music is f***ing cool if they have her at the helm.’”
Throughout the episode, podcast hosts Matt and Bow delved into “how the need to slow down during the pandemic affected Maren's writing, and Maren's discovery of Dolly Parton as an actress before she ever even realized she was a singer. Also, Steel Magnolias, 9 to 5, Maren's new album Humble Quest, the ‘short king’ phenomenon, and an explanation of the lyric ‘like a Coca Cola on Christmas Day’ from Maren's song ‘Sugar’. …This episode? That's myyyyyyyy churchhhhh!”
Listen to the full episode here: