Joining Jason Aldean on his Rock N’ Roll Cowboy Tour this summer is John Morgan, a singer-songwriter who appeared on NBC’s American Song Contest and who has already scored two number one hits as a songwriter.
Morgan chatted with Music Mayhem about his journey to becoming an artist, the story behind his current single “Good With Goodbye,” and what fans can expect from his upcoming shows with Aldean.
The North Carolina native’s journey to stardom started with a visit to Nashville one night with a friend who was showing him around town. His career path changed with one Uber ride. “[The driver] tells us he had some Jason Aldean cuts back in the day,” Morgan told Music Mayhem. “Obviously we thought that was cool… He gave us a card and I really didn’t think anything of it.”
Fast-forward to eight months later, when Morgan was living and working in Nashville. “I was working at Lucky Brand over at Opry Mills and was folding jeans one day. This guy came in, I’m like, man, I recognize that guy. And sure enough, when he came up to the register, I just asked him, I was like, man, like, what’s your name? I feel like we’ve met. And it was my Uber driver from eight months earlier,” he laughed. They rekindled that relationship and Morgan sent him demos he’d been working on. “Honestly, I didn’t have anything really going for me at the time. I was just kind of grinding and writing songs and figuring out how to build tracks… long story short, he ended up sending a couple of those demos to Aldean’s bandmates [Kurt Allison and Tully Kennedy], which in turn got me a write with those guys.”
That connection was the beginning of Morgan’s journey to writing songs for Aldean, which resulted in eight cuts on Aldean’s double album, Macon, Georgia, including two number one hits, “Trouble with a Heartbreak” and “If I Didn’t Love You.” His other Aldean cuts include “Midnight and Missin’ You,” “State I’m In,” “God Made Airplanes,” “Over You Again,” “That’s What Tequila Does,” and “This Bar Don’t Work Anymore.”
Morgan also landed a spot on NBC’s American Song Contest in 2022, representing his home state of North Carolina. “My management team had a friend that had worked on The Voice’s production team and American Song Contest was taking the place of one of the seasons of The Voice,” said Morgan. “She mentioned that they were looking for somebody to represent North Carolina and my manager, Chris Parr, was like, well, that’s funny you say that, cause we just signed a guy that is from North Carolina.” Morgan advanced to the semi-finals with his original song “Right in the Middle.”
With two number one songs and a stint with reality tv under his belt, Morgan is now forging his own path as an artist. He wrote his current single, “Good With Goodbye” and Kurt Allison, Tully Kennedy, and John Edwards, that Uber driver who had helped kick start his career.
“Edwards just had this idea, like nothing goes good with goodbye and we just tried to capture all those things that most people had experienced with a breakup,” shared Morgan. “You just kind of try to relive those probably not so good memories to pull from what you were feeling then and all the stuff you tried to kinda make it better, and realizing later on that none of it helped.” He added, “It’s another heartbreak song that kind of tells a story about somebody getting hurt and trying to get over the person they’re still hung up on.”
Morgan had an acoustic set on Aldean’s tour last year, and now, he’s excited to take it to the next level on this summer’s Rock N’ Roll Cowboy Tour. “We got a little bit longer slot at a later time this year, so I’m pretty stoked about that,” said Morgan.
So, what can fans expect to see?
“Now we’re able to have all our guys out there and go, go out full band and, and kind of do our thing,” Morgan shared. He hopes that fans see all the hard work that he’s put into his music. “A lot of the songs that I’ve been writing are kinda heartbreak songs, but I hope people will take away the time that I’ve tried to invest in all aspects of what we’re playing and the writing side on the production side and the live show. I hope that that bleeds through in our performance.”
This fall, Morgan will shift his focus to his personal life, as he plans to tie the knot with his fiancé Hailey King on October 13, 2022. The couple met at a friend’s birthday party in November 2019 and Morgan popped the question on New Year’s Eve 2021, surrounded by family. “We went back to my hometown in North Carolina for Christmas this past year. There’s a place up there called Highlands, North Carolina. It’s just a very pretty area of our state and that’s where we go for date night or that’s where my parents went on their honeymoon and all that. So we ended up going up there to see the Christmas lights. I had a lot of my cousins and family there with us, so it was kind of cool. It started raining and I got it over with as quickly as I could.” laughed Morgan.
The couple welcomed their first child, Willie Magdalene Morgan, on March 11, 2022. Becoming a dad turned Morgan’s world upside down in the best way.
“I’ve done a 360 as far as my perspective on things and my career and what takes priority now and what doesn’t anymore,” said Morgan. “I think honestly it’s been a huge blessing to me, probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s a different drive. Now I’m doing it for her and for Hailey, instead of just myself. That helps kind of keep your focus on what you need to be doing and not all the distractions that come with it.” He added, “I obviously didn’t expect it to happen as quickly as it did, but I wouldn’t change it. It’s been a huge blessing to me.”
Fans can find complete details about Morgan’s upcoming shows and more at ;
