Niall Horan to wow 2017 CMAs
Ex One Direction star playing his new single for first time at awards
Last updated 8th Nov 2017
Niall Horan isn’t a name that springs to mind when you mention Country Music, but the former One Direction star has a fondness for the music of banjos, Stetsons and cowboy boots.
Currently, he’s touring America on a solo trip showcasing his debut solo album ‘Flicker’ and is set to play on the iconic Ryman Auditorium on the 13th of this month. The iconic venue is the winter home of the Grand Ole Opry and is known as the ‘Mother Church of Country Music’.
However, that’s not just his only Nashville performance this month. Horan is set to debut his latest single, ‘Seeing Blind’ live from the CMA awards tonight. The single is a collaboration with country star, Maren Morris, which came about after Horan made contact with Morris via email. He describes the acoustic track as having ‘an infectious chorus accented by Morris’ vocals’. The two singers will duet together during Country Music’s biggest night to rock, held at the Bridgestone Arena.
“It’s definitely a first for me. When Niall approached me last year about being on “Seeing Blind,” I never saw it exploding the way that it has and getting to debut it on the CMAs,” 27 year old Maren confessed. “He’s a huge fan of this genre, and he completely gets the weight of getting to debut this song on the CMA stage.”
It still doesn’t end there. Horan has been using the same producer for some of his new album that has helped Shania Twain put her latest album together, so quite possibly we can expect some similarities in styles.
He lists Shania, The Eagles and Garth Brooks as influences whilst growing up and also went on to say "Country is the heart of the kind of music that I like. When you hear my album you will hear flavours of folk and country and stuff like that."
It’s also not the first time a One Direction’er has gone country. Harry Styles performed in the Ryman back in September and took time to do an acoustic cover of Little Big Town’s ‘Girl Crush’.
It seems this country stuff is infectious.
Have a listen for yourself, and let us know what you think. The CMA awards kick off at 1am GMT on Thursday morning. Keep locked onto Downtown Country over the few days for all things CMA related