William Michael Morgan Ain’t No ‘Backseat Driver’ to His Career

While he may be only 23 years young, music has been Morgan's mission for the majority of his life and now his day has finally come to let his voice be heard.

Written by Kelly Brickey
William Michael Morgan Ain’t No ‘Backseat Driver’ to His Career
Photo courtesy Warner Music Nashville

For someone like William Michael Morgan, it’s been a long time coming to be able to come out with his first-ever studio album. While he may be only 23 years young, music has been his mission for the majority of his life and now his day has finally come to let his voice be heard.

With the upcoming release of his debut album, Vinyl, following his self-titled EP released earlier this year, Morgan has quickly become one to watch in the country music industry. His current single, “I Met a Girl,” has been climbing the charts since it came out and now finds itself in the Top 15 on radio. But now Morgan is ready to put his mark on country radio by making the old new again.

“We’re just trying to cut the best songs we could cut,” he explained to Sounds Like Nashville. “Still stick to the EP as much as we can and just stay true to our traditional roots, keeping it to the times, of course. But we’re just excited. We went in and cut five or six new songs. We’re ready to get those out there, see what people have to say about that. I’m excited to share it with everybody and see what they have to say.”

The traditional route may sound somewhat muted these days with country radio focused on the hooks of modern country. But because Morgan was raised on the legends of the past, he always incorporates that sound into his songs.

“That’s what I grew up on,” Morgan said of the traditional country sound. “I’ll say this again and I’ve said it in every interview, I’ve been known to call myself traditional too. But I’m just doing the music that I love to do. Just doing the music that I either write or we find that we fall in love with, ‘I Met a Girl’ being included and ‘Vinyl’ being included.”

It seems rare to find an artist that stands up for the music of the past, especially at Morgan’s age. Nevertheless, this attraction to the records played back in vintage times is what makes the country newcomer stands out among his colleagues. It’s also a part of his hardworking journey that got him to the position he finds himself right now in his career.

“It’s been an interesting journey. It’s been a blessing. All of it’s been a blessing, the ups and downs. From five years old listening to a song called “El Paso” by Marty Robbins to 12 years old YouTubing every possible thing I could do between George Jones to Keith Whitley to [Merle] Haggard and [George] Strait and everybody like that to getting my first band together at 15 or 16 years old and coming back and forth to Nashville at that time and actually taking that step and moving to Nashville and signing with Warner Brothers. It’s just been a nonstop ride,” he told SLN.

The ride Morgan’s been on will take him to the release of Vinyl as well as touring around for the months to come and the rest has yet to be planned at the moment. But Morgan still takes everything in stride and continues to take in all of the teachings that his music career can lead him through.

“Playing these shows more and more, I’m kinda figuring out what people react to and what they don’t react to as far as feel-wise, song-wise, lyric-wise, whatever the case may be. Trying to prepare myself for the next record if we’re blessed enough to have a next record to incorporate some of that in there, too. It’s just always a learning process—always growing, growing, growing. Musically, spiritually, physically, you’re always growing,” he said.

Morgan’s debut album, Vinyl, will be released on September 30. He will continue his time on the road hitting up fairs and festivals alike until October 14 in Terrell, Texas. Fans can check out tour dates and information on his website.