William Michael Morgan surfaced as an emerging vocalist and tunesmith whose work draws deeply from longstanding country conventions, taking his earliest steps toward Nashville prominence at an age that still barred him from purchasing alcohol. Born May 13, 1993, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, he absorbed classic country sounds through his parents and, by six, had become a devoted Marty Robbins follower after hearing one of the singer’s recordings at home. At nine he obtained his first guitar and spent countless hours self-teaching Keith Whitley and Mark Chesnutt numbers, sometimes turning to online instructional clips when licks proved elusive.
After seeing a Dierks Bentley show at twelve, Morgan began performing publicly and assembled a band of local musicians—most old enough to be his father—who played weekend dates around Vicksburg and neighboring communities. In 2006 the thirteen-year-old and his group issued the independent album Always Country, with Morgan taking part-time weekday work to fund his projects. Regular visits to Nashville, Tennessee, for songwriting sessions started at sixteen, and at eighteen he relocated to the Music City to chase his ambitions.
By nineteen he had obtained a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music and a recording contract with Warner Music Nashville. His first Warner single, “I Met a Girl,” appeared in July 2015, drawing strong notices from country music blogs before landing airplay on both terrestrial and satellite radio. September 2015 brought another milestone when Morgan made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry. Although a self-titled EP followed in spring 2016, a full year elapsed before his debut long-player, Vinyl, arrived in September 2016.
