Morgan Guitar

During the past year I’ve entered some of my music into music competition at www.ourstage.com. This is a website where indie musicians upload songs and music lovers can discover new artists.  They have various contests and type of social networking built into the site.

“One Step Closer to Cool” from Motionography made it to the quarter finals for this month. One of the benefits of that is that if I add 20 new fans before the end of the month my music will be submitted AOL for further promotion. That would be kinda cool. (I often tell people that I’ve outgrown my desire to be a rock star, but Connie says “no, not yet.”)

I realize that you probably get all kinds of e-mails asking you to do this or sign up for that, so no pressure, but if you want to and have time, check out: www.ourstage.com . If you like it sign up.  If you are so inclined, sign up to be my fan.

Here’s how to do it: Go to the www.ourstage.com home page. About two-thirds down the page is a grayed area. Inside this gray area click on Artist Access. In the Artist search box (top right section of the page) type “jdmguitar”. That will bring up my picture. Click on Join Fan Club. That should do it. If I become a rock star I’ll let you know.

Recently I was leaving the gym and said hello to an older couple. The woman said, “Is your name David.” “Nope, John.”  

She said, “That’s funny you look just like David.”

For some reason there is an abundance of 50’s model, prematurely gray, causacian males who all vaguely look alike – maybe it’s the leather aviator jackets. In any case I’ve heard this comment on a number of occassions. My pre-fabbed response is: “Well then, David must be a pretty hansome guy.” To which she replied, “No, I said… he looks just like you.” She got a great look from her husband, along with a gentle poke in the ribs. That was the start to my morning. Hope you are having a great day.

Earlier in the year I got a call from the music director of the Methodist Church in Lancaster to see if I was available to be part of the band for a production of Cotton Patch Gospel. We had performed this show for two years running a couple of years ago and all of the principle characters were availalbe. In the memorable words of the Blues Brothers: ”Get the band together. We’re on a mission from God”. It was a great time.

The music, by Harry Chapin is a cross between bluegrass and Broadway, which doesn’t sound all that compatible, but it actually works well. The telling of the story – the Gospel of Matthew – is also well done. The setting is switched from the ancient middle east to northern Georgia, opening up some great comic possibilities while maintaining the authenticity of the message. It was a great production with a bunch of wonderful folks.

It worked out and I was able to join the ol’crew. ll of the principle characters

Recently I was invited to a local career day. This is an annual event in which working adults tell sixth graders what the working world is like. It’s always fun to have the opportunity to tell these students how I go about making a living as a musician in a place that isn’t exactly Los Angles, New York or Nashville. The kids were great and had lots of good questions.

A week later I received a packet of thank you letters. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes:  “I choose your presentation because I wanted to see if there was more to music than I already knew.” “It’s pretty cool that you get paid just to do what you love. It’s also cool that your office is in your basement.” “Thank you for your great guitar playing. I never knew that an adult could know so many Guitar Hero songs.”

Hello folks,

Here’s a link to an interview I recently did for an on-line radio show. Lots of fun. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/indepthyou/2008/03/01/Indepth-with-John-Morgan-1

Enjoy,

John