Megan Moroney<\/strong> may have hit the big time, but that doesn\u2019t mean the country upstart has forgotten where she comes from. And when it came time to pick a date to the CMA Awards<\/a> \u2014 where Moroney is nominated for Best New Artist and Best Song (\u201cTennessee Orange\u201d) \u2014 she knew exactly who she wanted to bring.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m taking my dad as my date,\u201d says the 26-year-old star, who has been the topic of much online dating speculation lately. \u201cHe taught me how to play guitar and he was the one who made me love music as much as I do, so to be able to bring him the first time I\u2019m nominated, I\u2019m just really excited about that.\u201d<\/p>\n But don\u2019t expect them to pull a Britney and Justin and dress alike<\/a>. Moroney says their look will be \u201cclassic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s going to wear a black tux, because we didn\u2019t want to look like we\u2019re going to prom together,\u201d she says, adding with a laugh, \u201cHe wanted to wear a hat, but he was like, \u2018What if we\u2019re sitting in front of people and they get annoyed?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Moroney has earned a prime seat at the show after spending the past year riding high on the massive success of her debut album<\/a>, Lucky<\/i>, which she released in May and features the No. 1 platinum hit \u201cTennessee Orange.\u201d And while the Georgia native has always loved music, growing up in a small town in the South she didn\u2019t realize it was a career option.<\/p>\n \u201cI just thought I was going to be an accountant and live in my hometown,\u201d she says. \u201cMy mom was an accountant, and, for the most part, where I\u2019m from you just do what your parents do, maybe get a family business. Being a country artist was not even on my radar, because I did not think that was something that would be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n But her love of songwriting and performance took over. At a University of Georgia sorority event, she opened for John Langston<\/strong>, performing her first-ever self-penned song in addition to a few covers. Around that same time, she began interning for Sugarland\u2019s Kristian Bush<\/strong><\/a>. The two kept in touch, and when Moroney made the move to Music City, it was Bush who introduced her to the songwriting community. A few years later he produced Lucky.<\/i><\/p>\n Fast forward six months, and she\u2019s on a career trajectory most artists wait years for. And she knows how, well, lucky, she is.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s surreal. That is the word I would use to describe it,\u201d Moroney says of her CMA Award nominations. \u201cI freaked out last year when I got a ticket to the show and got to walk the red carpet. I never thought just a year later I\u2019d be nominated<\/a>. I released my debut album this year<\/i>, and it\u2019s been a big year, but I didn\u2019t expect any nominations.\u201d<\/p>\n Not only is Moroney nominated, she\u2019s also performing \u201cCan\u2019t Break Up Now,\u201d a collaboration with one of the industry\u2019s most beloved acts, Old Dominion.<\/p>\n![\"Country](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Country-Star-Megan-Moroney-on-Her-Whirlwind-Year-and-Her-Sweet-CMA-Awards-Date-It-s-Surreal-335-366.jpg?w=1000&quality=86&strip=all\")
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