Morgan Wade: Reckless
Photo by David McClister
Morgan Wade is dynamic and an artist who is rightfully on everyone’s list now, but Virginians who love music have known about the powerhouse talent coming out of our southwest corner for quite some time. It has been exciting for us to watch as she lit up stage after stage at her own shows, whether full band, or solo, and opening for the likes of Tyler Childers, Ashley McBryde and The Steel Woods. Last year, she was set to tour with artists like American Aquarium, Ian Noe and Amanda Shires, as well as figure prominently in festivals all over the country, but as things changed, she did what she had to do and shifted to on-line streaming from her home. There, she was able to sing, play her guitars and talk about her music, along with telling friendly anecdotes about many aspects of her life. In addition to rehearsing and recording, she also dedicated that time to supporting and preserving the trails she loves to run on as an ultra-runner, helping with the funding of a dog park in the town where she calls home, and sharing her experiences with sobriety and mental health. This twenty-six year old has a lot to say, and is not afraid to say it, especially if it will help someone else move forward. She has used her platform afforded to her as an artist to do just that, and I admire her greatly for it.
Following the highly acclaimed 2019 release of “The Night,” illustrating and representing struggles with mental health and self-medication, her “Not Okay” message resonated because validating that it was “okay to not feel okay sometimes” and to face challenges and emotions head on instead of hiding them was something she encouraged us to do, particularly when the world flipped on its end. Beyond her live streams, her on-line presence continued to grow through viewings of her videos of fan favorites “Angry Bones” and “The Night,” recorded at Pure Grain Studios with SomerSessions in 2019, which showed a more raw edged artist, and Our Vinyl sessions in 2020, which allowed that same rawness to come through, but the softly lit stage also showed a softer side. That series of acoustic singles, including “Stay,” “Through Your Eyes,” “Left Me Behind” and another recording of “The Night” continued to captivate her fans and increase her exposure to wider audiences. While those songs are not on the new album, Reckless, they helped solidify a fan base that has gone all over the world, and has become fervent in their anticipation of its release. While the exclusion of “The Night” on this album may confuse fans, Morgan assured me that it will be heard again in the future as she develops it into its own project with an extension of this meaningful theme in her life.
Her well documented partnership with Sadler Vaden, as well as Paul Ebersold, and all of the acclaimed musicians who recorded with her, just provided the perfect conditions to create Reckless. While she knew the album would open with the upbeat “Wilder Days” and close with aching “Met You,” Sadler arranged the order of the interior songs and she loved the way each song worked into the next. She really dug his insight and placement from the outset, and it is no wonder they work so well together as writers, musicians and production team. They knew “Reckless” was going to be the title track for this album immediately. Starting with an acapella intro, it quickly becomes this kick-ass power song about breaking away from toxicity, “I don’t know where I’m going now. I see no signs of slowing down.” I think she knows exactly where she’s going - and she is definitely not slowing down in her life, either!
When asked about the inclusion of “Mend” from her first EP, Puppets With My Heart, it was Sadler who insisted that song be included on the album because it was the first song he heard her sing, and he absolutely loved it. “Mend” was one of the first songs I heard Morgan sing as well, and I’m glad it will continue on and be heard by new fans. One of her most vulnerable songs, lyrically revealing heartbreak and redemption, her words are powerful when she sings, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me / But you came along and finally I see / The type of love I know I need / No words spoken / I’m so broken / I hope you can mend me.”
Further discussing Puppets with My Heart, her 2018 EP recorded as ‘Morgan Wade and the Stepbrothers,’ she described that as an almost mix tape of her writings and performances from songs she penned at a very different part of her life while she was living a very different kind of life. Reflecting on those songs in tandem with her path to sobriety, relationships that burned, and on-going attention to her mental health and well being over the past several years has given her much to think about as she grows at an almost exponential speed. Long time fans of Morgan’s work have their favorites, and she doesn’t discount their impact, she is just moving forward with her art and wants to bring us all along with her. However, if you are yearning for a song that connects her EP to her LP, “Other Side” will satisfy that need. I love the opening, “You knew my skin back before I had all these tattoos / You remember me on late nights strung out from pills and booze / We’ve had some bad times, baby – but we had some good times, too / You knew my skin back before I had all these tattoos.” It’s as if the protagonist from Puppets has grown up and moved comfortably into Reckless.
Morgan’s catalogue of songs that she has written is long. When she writes, she often just sits with her guitar, her vocals and the lyrics that are always roaming around in her head. She pulled from those, further developed them and then co-wrote her newer songs in formalized sessions with Sadler and Paul. Co-written with Sadler, “Wilder Days” and “Matches and Metaphors” have been live show favorites for a couple of years, and then YouTube and livestream favorites when that became our only avenue to hear her perform them. “Northern Air” has a unique almost old-western sound to it, and the visuals represented lyrically send the listener into her heart as she croons “I haven’t seen you in so long. But after all this time, these feelings / They’re not gone.” Morgan’s vocals and the instruments selected to accompany her here show some of the country roots that influence her. All three songs address love interests from different perspectives and places on a relationship timeline. A theme that is quite common and meaningful in Morgan’s music.
“Angry Bones” was the title that has been used for the past two years, but released with a full band behind her that expanded her acoustic version with a fuller sound, I love them both. When I asked Morgan the obvious question that those of us who have known the song by the former title needed to know, she just said that “Angry Bones” worked when it was just her and her guitar, but with the new arrangement and added instrumentation, the hook that really came through was the refrain, “Take Me Away;” so the title was changed. To me, the new title also seems to fit better thematically, it will just take me a little while to refer to it by its new name.
“Don’t Cry,” a collaboration with Paul, is anthemic in so many ways. In one song, with the accompanying video she shot with it, Morgan’s vibe and message are both on display in a powerful way. Singing by herself in a closed club under a singular spotlight with the first words, “I’ll always be my own worst critic / The world exists and I’m just in it.” That is a feeling that is echoed in so many of our minds. With her “not okay” message woven into the lyrics, and the acoustic breaking to the ethereal, echoing effect where she sings, “I am not who I seem / My alter ego takes the lead / Sit back and let her drive / Only one makes it out alive/ I gotta take control / Lose myself to gain my soul,” that just took my breath away. Sadler and Paul’s influence are felt throughout this album, but I hear it the most in the arrangement of this track
When I asked Morgan which song from this album she was most looking forward to playing live, with a full band, she didn’t even skip a beat when she named “Last Cigarette.” Written by Morgan, Sadler and Paul, she is providing only vocals here, and said it was most representative of the sound and direction she wishes to take her music. The refrain, “I want you one last time / Another hit to ease my mind / I don’t want you to be over yet / Won’t you be my last cigarette?” is such fantastic imagery. The echoing of her vocals and backed by more rock guitar, a steady beat, and repeating backing vocals that end abruptly is a bit of a different sound than we are used to from her previous work, but the versatility and moving into different genres on this album is what makes her so damn good at what she does.
Morgan has a way of meshing vulnerability and strength in her writing that stays with the listener. Her lived experiences, from which she readily makes connections, her interplay of language and hitting just the right note, or emotional rasp that is so real - that is what draws us in and keeps us there waiting to hear more. I think we will all hit repeat on song after song, because what she has given us with this album are all just metaphorical windows and mirrors that reveal and reflect many facets of our lives.
Morgan is playing two sold out shows on March 18th, at 3rd and Lindsley Bar & Grill in Nashville to celebrate the release of Reckless. She will be scheduling other shows as restrictions lift, and is showing up prominently on upcoming festival bills like Mile 0 Fest in Key West and Laurel Cove Music Festival in Pineville, Kentucky. Until you can see her live, download her music on all streaming services, and you can get her album at morganwademusic.com.
Produced by Sadler Vaden and Paul Ebersold
Engineered by Paul Ebersold
Recorded at The Bakery in Nashville, TN
Mixed by Sadler Vaden and Paul Ebersold
Mastered by Richard Dodd
Vocals: Morgan Wade
Background Vocals: Sadler Vaden
Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitar, 12 string Acoustic Guitar: Sadler Vaden
Bass: Sadler Vaden, Jimbo Hart (Reckless, Take Me Away, Other Side)
Drums: Jamie Dick (Wilder Days, Matches and Metaphors, Mend, Northern Air)
Fred Eltringham (Other Side, Don’t Cry, Take Me Away, Reckless)
Paul Ebersold (Last Cigarette)
Keys, Synthesizers, Mellotron: Sadler Vaden, Paul Ebersold, Derry deBorja (Take Me Away, Met You, Piano on Reckless)
Percussion: Fred Eltringham (Other Side, Don’t Cry, Take Me Away, Reckless) Jamie Dick (Wilder Days, Matches and Metaphors, Mend, Northern Air)
All songs written by Morgan Wade except Wilder Days, Matches and Metaphors, Reckless Northern Air by (Vaden/Wade), Don’t Cry (Ebersold/Wade) and Last Cigarette (Ebersold/Vaden/Wade)
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