For the Sake of the Song: Megan Moroney “Hair Salon”

To be honest, Megan Moroney isn’t the type of artist that tends to get coverage on AUK, but this feature is about the song and in americana music the song is the story.  And Moroney is a storyteller par excellence. I first came across her at the 2023 Long Road festival in the expectation of staying for a song then moving on to the next act.  Riveted from the first, I stayed for the whole set. Moroney has released one album, “Lucky” (2023), and has a follow up due on 12th July entitled “Am I Okay?”.  Before that, in 2022, she released an EP “Pistol Made Of Roses” which comprised six songs one of which, ‘Hair Salon’, is the subject of this piece.

The story is set in the local hair salon where the narrator is going to get her hair colour fixed.  The linear narrative starts with the booking:
“I called up Bernadette, she had a 10 am
Thank God she had the time to squeeze me in”

The first verse is a micro-observation of the appointment and is performed in a carefree voice.  But a hair salon isn’t just a production line, it’s a living breathing social network. The chorus takes the narrative full 3D to a series of stories in the town embracing fertility, fidelity and sport.  But also, “from three chairs down”, brings the news that the narrator’s first love is getting married to someone else leaving her “heartbroken in a hair salon”. Moroney’s tone changes abruptly at this shock news as she looks “out the window, hoping they don’t see the tear in my eye”.  The remainder of the verse is a struggle between her emotions and her determination not to show everyone how she feels.

The second rendition of the chorus is performed in the light of the shock of the first.  After the guitar break out, we get a brief reflection before a last more resigned chorus which adds:
“It’s always happy hour
At the bar downtown
I might just drink ’til I feel nothin’”

Musically, ‘Hair Salon’ has a stripped-back accompaniment starting with acoustic guitar and pedal steel before adding in bass, drums, fiddle and an understated electric guitar part providing a perfect setting for Moroney’s beautifully constructed story.