Sam Morrow – There Is No Map
Frank Gutch Jr.
Posted On November 29, 2015
Sam Morrow and I have been friends for a few years now, not that I’ve ever met him. Eric Corne over at Forty Below Records told me to listen and I did and found a talent buried by circumstance but ready to claim its due. Times were hard for Morrow, to say the least, but the music… oh, that music. I’ve followed him since, writing about him when the situation permitted. Mainly because I hate seeing lesser talent get more than their fair shares while those whose hearts are wrapped around something special flounder.
That is not to say that Morrow floundered but that he was not being given the respect he deserved. I heard it right off. The man is one of those treasures music writers wait for. Take a listen.
He’s not all folk doom and desolation, but it gives you an idea of the depths of his soul. When I first heard the album from which “War” was taken, Ephemeral, I wrote this (April, 2014):
“Sam Morrow was headed for hell. Actually, he was headed for oblivion, living a lifestyle which would surely have ended in death but for his music. Even in despair, he was always surrounded by music. He grabbed it and hung on and started pulling himself out of the hole he had dug himself and made it work for him— to help him. The result is Ephemeral, an album of music which he admits might never have been written but for….. but let it be told in his own words:”
Three years ago these songs might never have been written. Three years ago, Sam was barely alive. He was a shell of a soul and a withered voice. A 20-year old man entering his prime, found himself trapped by the burden of a destructive life. As I fought through my addiction, music was an unshakable constant. It was there in the depths, it carried me in the chaos, and when I sobered up, it offered me redemption. Thus, I wanted to make a record full of contradictions, constants, and loss, to reflect the lives we all live. I started out in churches and now play in bars, but I’ve found crowds are pretty much the same wherever I go. We’re all searching for something bigger than ourselves, some truth we haven’t found yet. But that’s what keeps us searching, because the moment we quit looking, is the same moment our pens run out of…
He hasn’t run out. Not yet. In fact, his latest album finds a rejuvenated Morrow, wrapping himself up in a more upbeat attitude, rocking a bit more, living on the roots laid down by musicians such as Tony Joe White and the many semi-rockabilly musicians of the past. No, he doesn’t play rockabilly except on occasion, I would guess, but let us say that his rock roots come through.
His first caught my ear. This one has me seeing the future. His is bright. This might help convince you. It convinces me every time I watch it. There is no map. Just listen.
There Is No Map available from his website. On vinyl, too, while supplies last. Click here.
