“I always get scared playing this one in Dallas,” she said. “I’m worried an ex-boyfriend will show up.”
That sensation of homecoming seems to grow more potent each time Morris returns — Friday was her first headlining performance in North Texas in three years, following a sold-out stop at the then-Bomb Factory in Deep Ellum — and one she readily acknowledged near the roughly 105-minute set’s conclusion.
Backed by her tight-knit band — guitarists Bennett Lewis and Eric Montgomery, drummer Christian Paschall, keyboardist Josh Blaylock, vocalist Rachel Beauregard, and bassist/vocalist Annie Clements — the 32-year-old Grammy winner displayed plenty of that fire throughout the night, pulling from her latest album,As can be typical of going home, the night was a pleasantly chaotic one.
All of it folds into her sound and style, making Morris as fitting an exemplar as any for all of country’s music possibilities. While she may make her home in Nashville, her art knows no boundaries. She even made time for a cover of Fiona Apple’s “Criminal,” which, given Morris’s wicked sense of humor, could possibly be read as some kind of sly commentary on her recentStill, the prevailing feeling in the air Friday was one of gratitude.