A female musician with long blonde hair and sunglasses is performing on a stage. She is smiling and singing into a microphone while holding a black electric guitar. Bright stage lights illuminate her from the side, and another musician is partially visible behind a keyboard to her right.
Maren Morris plays Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego, California on Sept. 13, 2019 Credit: L Paul Mann / Shutterstock

Be a bitch, because ex-country singer-songwriter Maren Morris is returning to Tampa Bay for a free concert part of an open house weekend hosted by Benchmark International Arena.

The 35-year-old Texas singer-songwriter has had a reformative few years, especially with her exit from country music, triggered by โ€œgo woke, go brokeโ€ fans starting to whine about how she dared to stand up to Jason Aldeanโ€™s wife for not supporting trans rights. Morris, who also went through a divorce with her husband Ryan Hurd not long after, recently played St. Augustine’s Sing Out Festival and just dropped a new, singer-songwriter album Dreamsicle in May, which she described as a depiction of what happens after a divorce of sorts, as well as the healing that one endures afterwards instead of the pain of the process.

Dreamsicle is an expansion of the Highwomanโ€™s 2024 EP Intermission, and if this show is anything like her incredible summer 2024 appearance at St. Peteโ€™s Mahaffey Theaterโ€”where she played the entire EP and moreโ€”this wonโ€™t be a free gig to sit out.

Thereโ€™s no cover to see Maren Morris play Tampaโ€™s Benchmark International Arena on Saturday, Oct. 18, but you have to reserve your free ticket online.

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Maren Morris

Josh Bradley is Creative Loafing Tampa's resident live music freak. He started freelancing with the paper in 2020 at the age of 18, and has since covered, announced, and previewed numerous live shows in...