Pages tagged “Ken Will Morton”

After four days of Bonnaroo, AthFest felt wonderfully local. Instead of trying to decide between Cat Power and The Avett Brothers, I was watching bands I'd never heard of—some good, some bad. And the bad ones left me plenty of time to reconnect with friends in Trappeze, Athens' coolest pub, which also happens to be run with one of my old bandmates.

One set that I wasn't going to miss, though, was Bill Mallonee's. Paste first launched as a company in 1998 by releasing a live album from his old band, Vigilantes of Love, and he played several Vigilantes songs with his new wife, Muriah Rose, including "Skin," about Vincent Van Gogh. Not many folks write lyrics this good:

Hometown: Athens, Ga.
Band members [L-R]: Nic Goodson - guitar; Ken Will Morton - vocals, guitar; Kyle Harris - bass; Brandon Hicks - drums
Fun fact: Morton likes to visit Civil War battlefields and dig up bullets. “I'm rapidly becoming a Civil War buff,” he says.
Why they're worth checking out: A top-notch songwriter with some serious guitar chops, Morton—aided and abetted by his new band the Wholly Ghosts—puts on raw, energetic performances that are often riveting.
For fans of: Bruce Springsteen, Paul Westerberg

Ken Will Morton still recalls his first musical experience like it was yesterday: “I remember my sister's mangy, asshole boyfriend teaching me chords on the guitar,” he says, laughing.

But Morton won't deny that he owes a lot to his sisters ex-boyfriend, no matter how mangy. Since then, the raspy-voiced, Georgia-based rocker has been in several rock and punk bands, and now has a burgeoning solo career in his sights. “I started taking charge of my own songs,” he says of the transition from side-guy to frontman. “And maybe in my old age I've toned it down a bit.”

Morton's forthcoming album, King Of Coming Around (due Feb. 2006), cleverly blends rootsy rock, blues and country elements, and the Wholly Ghosts offer some significantly rocked up accompaniment in the wake of 2004's moody, melancholy In Rock'n'Roll's Hands. “There's better players and a clearer focus of songs,” Morton says of the new album. “Before, I was going through all kinds of personal crap.” While his earlier, rough-around-the-edges take on the singer/songwriter genre was an impressive solo debut, Morton feels more at home fronting a rock ’n’ roll band

As for the new album's title, “Every time people think I'm down for the count, I end up coming around,” he says. “It's sort of a ‘Haha, I'm still here’ sort of thing.”

Morton's tastes are as broad as his musical history, ranging from Muddy Waters and Hank Williams to AC/DC. Lately he's been listening to early American songs recorded before music was an industry. “The people who were doing it back then were doing it for the purest of reasons,” he says.

Morton's reasons for making music are pretty pure, too. “It's the only thing I'm comfortable in my own skin doing,” he says. “I can't shake the muse.”

(To catch the latest news and tour dates for Ken Will Morton & the Wholly Ghosts, visit www.kenwillmorton.com)

Ken Will Morton has been kicking around the American Southland for about 15 years, playing with punks like Wonderlust and The Indicators, the latter a folky Americana outfit with a pop edge. Morton started writing while he was with The Indicators, but grew tired of the group and, apparently, stability of any kind. He ditched the band, packed his bags and started wandering. In the past few years he’s built a strong regional following on the vitality of his open-vein, stream-of-consciousness writing and affable stage presence.

In Rock’n’Roll’s Hands—Morton’s solo debut, recorded in bits and pieces over the past year with producer Chuck Jopski and a handful of talented sidemen—is ragged but powerful, sloppy and full of heart in the best sense of the garage-band tradition. Winning tracks include “Little Victories,” a celebration of life’s uphill battles, “Breaking Ties,” a meditation on the limits of friendships and love affairs, and “The Day the Sun Never Came Up,” an anthem for anyone who’s had to kiss a lover goodbye and hop on the lonely interstate. At times, Morton’s word-heavy lyrical spew bogs down the songs, many of which are built on linear melodies that are barely more than chord progressions. Still, even the weaker songs are peppered with clever turns of phrase. With a bit of judicious editing and more attention to melodic structure, Morton could easily be a contender.