Loose Leaf Notes

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on August 8, 2019.

Nothing has been the same for Morgan Wade since she played Floydfest last year.  That was when the Floyd singer/songwriter’s music career converged with Sadler Vaden, the guitarist for Grammy award winning musician Jason Isbell who was a festival headliner.

Isbell’s sound tech, who caught Wade’s performance, gave Vaden her CD “Puppets with My Heart.”  A few days later Vaden contacted her to say he wanted to work with her.  They’ve since worked together in Nashville putting out Wade’s single “The Night” and working on a new 5 track album.  “I call him Dadler,” Wade joked, referring to how Sadler has taken her under his wing.

While working with Vaden in Nashville, booking agents started to call.  Wade chose to work with William Morris Endeavor, a big-league agency that represents some well-known musicians, such as Jason Isbell, Adelle, and Kacey Musgraves.  With her Vaden-produced single and an album of new songs soon to be released, record label companies have come wining and dining, minus the wine since Wade got sober two years ago after experiencing a severe hangover that brought on anxiety and suicidal ideation while touring in New York City.  She realized that she wasn’t able to stop at just one drink.

Wade, who is 24, first sang her songs publicly in 2015 at Dogtown Roadhouse, where she debuted a song in an effort to win back her boyfriend, Joe Link. It worked and they are still together.  Link, who is also from Floyd, played with the Deer Run Drifters (who have since disbanded) and with Wade’s local band “The Stepbrothers” on keyboard, mandolin and harmonica.  Plans are in the works for the couple to move to Nashville, so her back-up band is currently interchangeable, Wade said.

At Floydfest this year, she played three sets over two days in the Deschutes Brewery Libation Tent. The crowd spilled out onto the grounds for her first set and some danced and sang along. Her music, which has been described as Americana or alt-rock, draws from her life and hits an emotional chord.  Delivered with her hard-hitting voice, her lyrics are original and like rock anthems to her fans who sing-along.

And she knows how to tell a story.  Among the songs that she performed, she sang one about drinking … Take me out / get me drunk / teach me the things I forgot about love / sing the songs I won’t remember….  and one about staying sober… Go ahead and put me out / with the other heathens / You can tie me up and shoot me down / for the things I believe in.

Wade’s been on the road a lot and there’s no slowing down in sight. She’s been staying in Damascus with friends because it’s in between home and Nashville. She jokes that she has “a storage unit” in Floyd and stays with her or Link’s family when in town.  “I’m not just moving to Nashville on a whim.  I’m moving because things are happening,” she said.

One of those happening things is that Wade has been scheduled as an opening act for Lee Ann Womack’s Solitary Thinkin’ tour in October.  It’s an acoustic tour and includes a show at the Rocky Mount Harvester on Sunday October 20.  Wade will also be playing a homecoming show at Dogtown Roadhouse on October 26, which was booked before she signed with William Morris, who has been booking her in bigger venues.

She still makes her bed every morning in an effort to create some normalcy.  “My life is 110 % different from what I’m used to,” she said, explaining that there are meetings to attend, publishing deals to consider, writing songs and lots of tour travel.  Her family’s support keeps her grounded, and she credits her ability to manage stress with being sober.  She runs most mornings and she and Link have been running marathons.

“It’s a big ballgame,” Wade said about life in Nashville, but she’s being well taken care of.   “The people I’m working with are great,” she said. – Colleen Redman

Photos: 1. Morgan Wade at the Floydfest VIP Hospitality Tent. 2. Wade performs at Floydfest Voyage Home. Band members pictured are Ed McGee on bass and Robby Carden on harmonica.  Not pictured are Joe Link on keyboard, Brian Gray on lead guitar and Mason Jennelle on drums. 3. A dancer moves to Wade’s music.  4. Wade signed CDs and met with fans after her performance. 5.  Fallon Grace Presley (11), one of Wade’s biggest fans, saw her perform at Floydfest in 2018 and came back this year from Pennsylvania with her family.  Presley performed a Morgan Wade song at an Open Mic at Dogtown while in town, her father said. Note: Type Morgan Wade into my blog search bar on the right for more…