Six questions with country music star Lorrie Morgan: Concert this Friday in The Woodlands

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Country music star Lorrie Morgan will be performing at Dosey Doe in The Woodlands Friday April 21.

Morgan has sold more than 8 million records, has 14 Top 10 hits, and four Female Vocalist of the Year awards. She's best known for her singles Five Minutes, Something in Red, Watch Me, and What Part of No.

At age 24, Morgan made history when she became a lifetime member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Woodlands Online chatted with Morgan in advance of her concert this Friday.

WOL: What can the audience expect?

LM: I've played at Dosey Doe several times, but this is the first time with my full band. Usually it's me and a couple of guitar players, or a guitar player and a piano player. I'm a little limited when I don't have my full band as to what songs I can do, but with the band there, I have leeway to do more, things that people haven't heard before. And my son Jesse Keith Whitley is opening for us. We're just going to have a good time.

WOL: If you had to pick your most meaningful song, which would it be and why?

LM: "Something in Red." It's actually a song I passed on three or four times. I never listened to it all the way through because I didn't want to sing depressing songs about death and losing somebody. They actually trapped me in a bathroom to make me listen to the rest of the song. Once I heard the last verse, I was in tears. I thought "I want to do this song. This is for me."

WOL: Who are your biggest musical influences, and who do you admire in today's country music industry?

LM: My dad was my biggest influence, but as far as who I idolized: Jeannie Seely, who is a great lady and a very good friend of mine; Karen Carpenter, Dottie West and Tammy Wynette. I really admire Miranda Lambert, because she's the real thing. She'll be around for years. She sings about real stuff and things people can relate to. I also really like Keith Urban. He's got staying power.

WOL: What is your earliest memory of realizing you could sing?

LM: My dad (country music singer George Morgan) bought me my first guitar when I was 12 or 13, but I had been singing since the age of 5 or 6. My dad told me I could carry a melody, and when I sang it just sounded right in my ears. He would just sit and listen to me sing.

WOL: If anyone would have told you, when you were 13, that you would still be singing your heart out in 2017 … what would you have said?

LM: I would have never believed it. I can't believe the great fortune I've had in my career. God has blessed me so much, and so many times when I was younger, I looked a gift horse in the mouth. I took it all for granted when I was younger. I was a little cocky! I have been blessed with a career that still lasts.

WOL: What's next for you?

LM: I'm working on two books right now. One is a restaurant book, a food book actually, about places I've eaten at all over the world. I love food and I get mad when food is bad. My husband, son and I are thinking about opening up a restaurant. The second book is kind of an autobiography about growing up in the industry – the good, the bad and the ugly. I'm also working on a new album right now with Pam Tillis. It will be our second, and should be out later this year. (Lorrie's first album with Pam Tillis, Dos Divas, was released in 2013.)

Tickets to Lorrie Morgan's show are available here.