Megan Moroney “Hair Salon” – Americana UK

To be honest, Megan Moroney is not the kind of artist that is usually mentioned on AUK, but this post is about the song, and in Americana music, the song is the story. And Moroney is a storyteller par excellence. I first encountered her at the 2023 Long Road Festival expecting to stay for one song and then move on to the next act. Captivated from the first moment, I stayed for the entire set. Moroney has released an album, “Happy” (2023) and has a successor scheduled for July 12th, titled “Am I okay?”. She previously released an EP in 2022 “Gun made of roses” consisting of six songs, one of them:Barber’, is the theme of this piece.

The story takes place in the local hair salon, where the narrator gets her hair color corrected. The linear narrative begins with the booking:
“I called Bernadette, she had a 10 o’clock
Thank God she still had time to squeeze me in.”

The first verse is a micro-observation of the appointment and is delivered in a light-hearted voice. But a hair salon is not just a production line, it is a living social network. The chorus takes the narrative in full 3D to a series of stories in the city that revolve around fertility, fidelity and sport. But also “from three chairs down”brings the news that the narrator’s first love marries someone else and leaves her “Heartbroken in a hair salon”Moroney’s tone changes suddenly at this shocking news when she “out the window, hoping that they won’t see the tear in my eye“. The rest of the verse is a battle between her emotions and her determination not to show everyone how she feels.

The second rendition of the chorus is delivered in light of the shock of the first. After the guitar entry, there is a brief reflection before a final, more resigned chorus adds:
“It’s always happy hour
In the bar in the city center
Maybe I’ll just drink until I don’t feel anything anymore.”

Musically, ‘Barber’ has a stripped-down accompaniment that begins with an acoustic guitar and pedal steel guitar before bass, drums, violin and a subtle electric guitar part join in, providing a perfect backdrop for Moroney’s beautifully constructed story.

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