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KEN Will MORTON EmtacGS p Wkollg Ghosts
I recently wandered into Lunch Paper to find out what a creden-
tialed musician and matured and entertaining singer-songwriter
sounds like when he gets a new band behind him. I wanted to
see if Ken Will Morton, a laconic purveyor of melodic one-man
Americana, could hold it together and lead a group of musicians
hand-picked for the job. The answer was evident after a cluster of
fiery alt-country and straight rockin' tunes. While Morton admits to
having been worried about how the team would come together, he
need not have been concerned. It's plain that Morton doesn't have
pouring out some unearthly. Southwestern, turpentine slide guitar.
Once Morton had recruited Goodson (off a musicians-wanted ad in
the paper), the band still needed a drummer; Goodson suggested his
friend "Hot Lick" Brandon Hicks, who also adds backing vocals.
Kyle Harris, looking every bit the funky bass player and feeling
every note like nothing else matters, is one of Morton's best friends
and a man who lu;s seen him through the dark times of divorce and
substance abuse. He can now stand beside his old friend on-stage,
contributing fat sounds to Morton's soulful alt-country-blues.
The real test wouldn't be whether
the Ghosts could leam the material
from Morton's first solo album In
Rock & Roll's Hands and the upcoming
King of Coming Around, but whether
the four could go out on the road
together sharing the claustrophobic
touring van environment without
falling into dark humors and antago
nizing bickering.
Morton took the group on a small
tour to Los Angeles and the Joshua
Tree Musk Festival in May; he says
the guys passed with flying colors,
promising to commit to the heavy
touring that he and his manager/
partner Michelle Roche have planned
once the album launches in late June.
Recording for postsritg
Morton says the new album is
"cohesively diverse." but not that big
a stretch from the happy-go-lucky yet
philosophical country of In Rock &
Roll's Hands. Morton is confident that
the new album will win through in
two areas that he says his debut solo
album lacked.
He first cites the upcoming
album's production quality; the
recordings were worked on and mixed
from Rob Gal (Swimming Pool 0's, ex-
Coolies) and Ben Holst (Love Tractor,
ex-Avenues, ex-Velure) at Chase Park
Transduction studios. The other
improvement is a much more consid
ered selection process for collabo
rating musicians (whom Morton
describes as "stellar, enthusiastic and
creative"), whereas he says the debut
was more a matter of using whomever
was on hand at the time. Thus, in
spite of attempts to the contrary by
Roche, Morton is reluctant to play
premature recordings of the album
until he feels that it has the final
to lead the Wholly Ghosts, and he doesn't have to worry about them
getting out of place, detracting from or overshadowing his music;
while Morton is undoubtedly the frontman, this four-piece band
plays as one.
Comparing this performance at Lunch Paper to a captivating solo
performance I saw at Tasty World a little over a year ago when
Morton was still new to Athens, I can say that nothing has been lost
Everything has been built upon. Morton and I discuss the difference
between this band and the two bands he has walked away from in
the past (Wondertust and The Indicators). "I didn't know what the
hell I was doing back then," he says, 'and I think I do now."
The Band Dgiuimc
The Wholly Ghosts are already a tight outfit Nk Goodson (Sleepy
Horses) shares lead guitar and backing vocal duties, as well as
polish that he now values so much.
"I feel poised to take off as far as I can go with my music," says
.Morton. If this album lives up to its potential it could establish Ken
Wul Morton as a contender to the tenuous throne of Ryan Adams in
the world of alt-country, as well as edge him into some of the lime
light being generated by the Drive-By Truckers' Patterson Hood, one
of Morton's admitted idols.
Having already shared stages with the likes of Sugarland and the
John Butler Trio, the next test for Morton is whether he can live up
to his potential and find more opportunities and audiences for his
warmly-melodic, upbeat blues and roots-rock: the kind of opportuni
ties that Ken refers to as "fishing" when it comes to record compa
nies, conceding that there have been some nibbles but knowing
that it remains to be seen if someone will take the bait
Ben Gerrard
/
WHAT: Songwriters in the Round” with Nathan Sheppard.
Ken Will Morton, David Koon, Kip Jones
WHERE: Georgia Theatre
WHEN: Tuesday, June 14
HOW MUCH: U
J
r
L
' ' : ^
WHO: Sleepy Horses, Ken Will Morton l the Wholly
Ghosts, Thriftstore Cowboys
WHERE: Caledonia Lounge
WHEN: Thursday, June 16
HOW MUCH: $6
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