Cory Morrow

Born on May 1, 1971, in Houston, Cory Morrow grew up in Texas and established himself as a regional icon across the Lone Star State through a series of independent releases and a relentless touring schedule that stretched from Amarillo to Corpus Christi, cementing his status as a prominent draw throughout the Southwest. At age 15 he picked up the guitar—an instrument his stepfather had acquired in a coin toss at a Mexican border town—and began writing songs during high school while listening to hard-rock bands such as ZZ Top and Led Zeppelin. While attending Texas Tech University in Lubbock, he shifted his focus toward Texas singer-songwriters including Ray Wylie Hubbard and Robert Earl Keen and formed a close bond with fellow aspiring artist Pat Green.

In 1993 Morrow moved to Austin to pursue music full time. He launched his own Write On imprint with the 1997 EP Texas Time Travellin' and delivered his debut full-length album later that same year. Watermelon Records then issued his follow-up, The Man That I Have Been, in 1999, yet the label soon folded and the record went out of print until Morrow re-released it on Write On. A live set, Double Exposure, arrived in 2001; its success, combined with his nonstop roadwork across the region, helped him cultivate a devoted Texas audience.

Morrow's college friend Pat Green achieved comparable success and later invited him to contribute to the classic-country covers project Songs We Wish We'd Written. Morrow maintained a demanding pace of recording and touring, ultimately moving 200,000 units in Texas on his own label, until January 2005, when police stopped him for driving 100 miles per hour and charged him with drunk driving and cocaine possession. A plea deal reduced the DUI count to a misdemeanor and dismissed the drug charges because of the small quantity involved; the episode prompted Morrow to adopt a cleaner lifestyle, deepen his spiritual focus, and begin a relationship that led to his engagement.

Vagrants and Kings appeared in 2008, its songs reflecting his renewed faith in his characteristically gritty manner; the album received national distribution through a one-record agreement with Universal's Sustain imprint. The Ramblin' Man EP followed in 2010 and preceded Brand New Me, issued by Write On via Ampex Records. The EP topped the Texas music chart, while the album reached number 20 on the Heatseekers chart and number 49 on the country albums chart, driven largely by the single "Lead Me On." Two Live at Billy Bob's Texas performances—one electric, one acoustic—came out in 2012, with the amplified version selling more strongly and landing in the Heatseekers Top 40.

Morrow tracked his next studio album, The Good Fight, at East Austin's 12th Street Sound and Zone Recording Studio in Dripping Springs. The fifteen-song collection, released June 16, 2015, through Write On and Thirty Tigers, peaked inside the Top 50 on the country albums chart, the Top 40 on the digital country chart, and number 19 on Heatseekers. Whiskey and Pride arrived in 2018.