Teddy Morgan

Growing up in Minneapolis, Teddy Morgan took up guitar during his early teenage years. As a vocalist and composer he initially drew inspiration from Bob Dylan, yet a Lightnin' Hopkins album prompted him to commit instead to straightahead blues. Although he absorbed Dylan's blues material along with the Allman Brothers and Jimi Hendrix, Morgan chose to focus exclusively on blues; nevertheless, like many younger musicians, his playing reflected blues-rock influences almost as strongly as the classic style of Hopkins.

He dropped out of high school at 17, and the following year he joined the Lamont Cranston Band. That association led to recording and touring opportunities with James Harman and R.J. Mischo.

Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds caught Morgan playing guitar in a club, took him under his wing, and urged him to visit Austin to explore its blues scene. Clifford Antone, owner of the city's longest-running blues club, Antone's, flew Morgan to Austin for a performance, after which he quickly joined the artist roster of the Antone's label. When that label entered a partnership with Discovery Records, Morgan's recording prospects improved through reissues of much of the Antone's catalog. He issued two albums on the Antone's/Discovery label: 1994's Ridin' In Style with his band the Sevilles, and 1996's Louisiana Rain, which featured Kim Wilson on harp, Derek O'Brien and Gurf Morlix on guitars, and "Blue" Gene Taylor on piano. His Hightone label debut, Lost Love & Highways, followed in 1999.