Song Review – William Michael Morgan “I Met A Girl”
Quietly, stealthily, some of country music’s major labels are starting to retool with very young, and very country performing talent. Whether they’re hedging their bets, or hoping for a hard country resurgence, Mo Pitney is not just an anomaly anymore, he is one of a number of traditional-leaning performers being groomed for what may be the next big movement in country after the current R&B disco craze invariably crashes.
William Michael Morgan is a 22-year-old singer and songwriter from Vicksburg, Mississippi. He started his first country band in 9th grade with a bunch of middle-aged country players, and would gig regularly at honky tonks in town. “The great thing about finding those guys who were older than me is they all loved the same kind of music I did and we just blended so well,” Morgan says, citing Merle Haggard, George Jones, and Keith Whitley as influences. “I was lucky enough to have a steel guitar player all those years, and I just fell in love with that sound.”
After school Morgan worked as a roofer and a cashier at the Piggly Wiggly, but ever since he was 16-year-old, he would travel to Nashville to write. He moved to town permanently when he turned 18, and on September 5th found himself standing in the center of the hallowed Grand Ole Opry stage making his debut with a song called “I Met A Girl.”
I’d heard the studio version of this song a few times before, and it was intriguing in the way it was emanating from an artist singed to Warner Music Nashville, and in some respects made you feel the way you did when you first heard Randy Travis. But as per normal with mainstream Nashville singles, the slickness bore the hallmarks that warn you that no matter how promising, Music Row eventually figures out how to screw everything up. It didn’t help that when you started digging deeper into this song you found out the news that’s like traditional country Kryptonite: Sam Hunt is actually one of the co-writers along with Shane McAnally and Trevor Rosen from Old Dominion.
However this isn’t unusual in itself. When Sam Hunt first came to town, he was known as a quality songwriter, even in the traditional realm. Quite likely this song was left on the cutting house floor when Hunt was putting together his debut album with producer Shane McAnally, and Morgan did what many of the greatest traditionalists have done over the years: recognize gold when they hear it, and know how to make a song their own.
Despite some of the dryness of the studio version and whose name shows up in the songwriting credits, it was William Michael Morgan’s performance of the song at the Grand Ole Opry than won me over. The way he holds himself, and the passion in the performance gave me the assurance that my eyes weren’t seeing an illusion. It reminds you that it’s not always what is said in country music, but how you say it. Morgan needs no catchy melody to make “I Met A Girl” work. You get lost in the enveloping cadence of the chorus until you find yourself reminiscing over moments when a significant other once had you so nervous and excited you though your heart would bust its seams.
“I Met A Girl” is a classic country tune in style and approach, very mid to late 80’s if you had to assign it to an era, but with a sway and message that is timeless.
When you’re at your lowest point, there’s only one direction to go. Maybe how we talk about the “Class of ’89” today, future generations will talk about the “Class of 2015”: Chris Stapleton, Mo Pitney, William Michael Morgan, and others who are infiltrating the system and could change the paradigm. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s just sit back and enjoy this song for now.
October 10, 2015 @ 8:37 am
He’s on the Opry again tonight if you’re into tuning in.
October 10, 2015 @ 12:35 pm
I’ll definitely be tuning in, I dug the song, and I try to listen to the Opry every weekend before I head out for my gigs. I even caught some special on tuesday I think it was? Bill Anderson sang “Will the Circle Be unbroken” with Keith Urban and Vince Gill playing guitar, to close the night out and it gave me chills.
October 10, 2015 @ 8:46 am
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these new mainstream traditionalists are being pushed heavily on the Opry. I’ll enjoy it while it last….but I hope it’s not another Nashville trend that will eventually fade in a year.
October 10, 2015 @ 8:58 am
I think over the last couple of years we’ve been seeing a resurgence in the Opry trying to cater to the more traditional sound of country. When I started this site 8 years ago, it seemed like the Opry was doing everything it could to abandon its roots and appeal to the here and now hot stars. But the simple fact is 15-year-old girls aren’t going to go to the Opry or listen to WSM. The Opry is an older, more traditional country crowd, and it’s also a great showcase for artists like Mo Pitney and William Michael Morgan, while someone like Sam Hunt feels completely out of place.
I also think it was a great move for them to start posting more videos like this. Their “no everything” policy over the years meant some magical moments went unseen unless you were there. Putting out high quality video only raises the mystique of the institution.
October 10, 2015 @ 9:07 am
Whenever I see someone like Sam Hunt on the Opry playing a new song or whatever, I have to ask the question: Does this song sound this good, or does the Opry house band make it sound this good? There have been many occasions where the Opry house band makes a song sound better.
I agree with you on the videos. It helps to keep the Opry fresh too and makes it something where you are more likely to say “hey, I want to be there.”
October 10, 2015 @ 9:42 am
I hear a whole bunch of Blake Shelton and Joe Nichols in his voice. Looked like Wes Hightower singing harmony. Is he involved with the project? For those who don’t know, Wes IS the vocals for an entire generation of country music.
October 10, 2015 @ 9:45 am
Eh, I don’t like it much. Yeah, it was way more country than my radio, but I couldn’t get past the fact it sounded like a rascal flatts song – if only they had a real country singer.
Either way, definitely gets an “above-average” grade relative to today’s country music. But it’s all relative.
October 11, 2015 @ 8:23 am
…” it sounded like a rascal flatts song ”“ if only they had a real country singer.”
Not that it matters to RF fans …but I’m not sure I could name 3 RF songs at gunpoint . They must be the most successful insignificant “country” act ever .
October 10, 2015 @ 9:55 am
I like the song well enough, and the instrumentation and arrangement are a nice step up from what we’re used to hearing from a major. I don’t think Morgan’s voice is anything special, but it suits the song just fine. My one gripe with the song is the laundry list chorus. It’s slightly more endearing because it doesn’t play up today’s typical clichés, but it’s still something I wish would be avoided at all costs due to the over saturation of the technique. Morgan does a nice job of making the chorus decent, and it doesn’t completely distract from the rest of the song.
October 10, 2015 @ 10:34 am
This song takes me back a few years to when Jason Cassidy’s “What If” came out. I wish that tune could have had more national recognition–probably the best “I done you wrong” song of past 5 years. “I Met a Girl” actually has me swapping between my classic country station and Nashville stations. It’s the kind of song a guy wants to hear, even if he has to suffer through some of the mediocre tunes like “Break Up With Him.”
I know that Metropolitan is worse than any trend we’ve seen in modern country music, but those songs are admittedly few and far between on Nashville radio right now. There is more substance and it seems to be growing. Most of the songs are mediocre but I’ll take mediocre substance over checklist hookup songs.
October 10, 2015 @ 11:01 am
That’s producer Jimmy Ritchey playing guitar next to William. Wes sings on most all of Jimmy’s records. Jimmy brought Jake Owen to town and produced his first two records as well as Tommy Shane Steiner, and Greg Bates. Ritchey also produced and published Sam Hunt when he was countryish but had him snaked away by Shane McCanally the disco diva. This may be Jimmy’s best work yet. Williams is managed by Joe Carter the Texan responsible for Tracy Byrd’s once huge but now lost career. Make no mistake, William was put into the Music Row machine for a couple of years to write songs. Good on him for sticking to his country roots. It almost seems impossible that Warner president/producer Scott Hendricks didn’t try to take this over the way he did Blake Shelton, slick it up more towards pop, and fuck it up. William Michael Morgan may have some Honky Tonk Angels watching over him.
October 10, 2015 @ 11:22 am
This is a really nice song, and a great rendition. The guy has a very good voice, beautiful tone and style, and great stage presence.
It sure would be nice if things went this direction. There’s not much doubt that the players, singer/performers and songwriters are there who can do very good things if given the chance.
October 10, 2015 @ 12:10 pm
Good country song but I’m sick of guys singing about a girl. It’s been every other song on the radio for too long and most or every song on some albums. Talk about one dimensional one trick ponies. Where are the girls singing about guys and girls and guys singing about everything else?
October 10, 2015 @ 1:14 pm
Guys pining about girls is one of the most basic building blocks of not just country music or music in general, but really all human art. I completely understand if this song doesn’t speak to you or someone else, but if you tell artists they can’t sing about love, you’d eviscerate 90% of the songs ever recorded.
October 10, 2015 @ 2:44 pm
I know it’s a basic song theme but apparently this is a single and we already have too many “girl” song specialists and singles, too many guys with most or all of their singles about that same subject. Girl at the bar, girl in your truck, girl at your house party and so on and many aren’t really love songs. Almost every song on the radio is a guy singing and rapping about a truck, beer, girl, and/or party so it’s way overdone and radio is saturated with them. Making it worse is many of those songs use the same lyrics. And there are many country songs about many other topics that aren’t getting played because they play too many “girl” songs.
Here is Hunt’s version just so we can hear how much better this song is with country instruments and vocals vs. synthesizers and pop and R&B talking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Exfo3tcqnE
His vocal sounds OK until he starts talking.
October 11, 2015 @ 6:46 am
Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers always used the term ‘lady’ instead of ‘girl’ in most of their songs. That is called class.
October 11, 2015 @ 6:56 am
Why does he do that stupid thing where he talks in the middle of songs? It sounds so much better when it’s sung like WMM does. Sad thing is, when I watched the WMM version I thought to myself “I bet if Sam Hunt recorded this he would talk through the chorus and ruin the song” ugh.
Glad to see someone like William taking on these R&B influenced songs and turning them into traditional country gold. Some (not all) of the R&B songs being released aren’t terribly written and would sound so much better (AND COUNTRY!) if they were performed like this. I hope this is the next phase of country radio, I might actually listen again.
October 11, 2015 @ 7:32 am
I get what you’re saying. Nothing at all wrong with a love song, but I’m sick to death of hearing about “a girl.” Give her a damned name or something. Make it personal. That’s the difference between forgettable crap and songs like Jolene or my Maria. Makes it more personal and more relatable
October 11, 2015 @ 8:25 am
…” it sounded like a rascal flatts song ”“ if only they had a real country singer.”
Not that it matters to RF fans …but I’m not sure I could name 3 RF songs at gunpoint . They must be the most successful insignificant “country” act ever .
October 10, 2015 @ 1:31 pm
Also, that band is outstanding. You could take this live performance and put it on an album without changing a note.
October 10, 2015 @ 2:06 pm
Very good song, with excellent vocals. However, I do find the melodically flat, rap-like segment in the middle to be a bit annoying. Unfortunately, it looks like even if we have a traditional country revival, some features of rap and EDM are here to stay. It would be analogous to how even 80s neotraditional country often used prominent rock drums, and how Hank Williams borrowed from the jazz musical style via Western swing.
October 10, 2015 @ 6:53 pm
“some features of rap and EDM are here to stay.”
That remains to be seen. Elements of Mexican music in country where at one point heard, yet they don’t feature anymore.
That will have to depend on what playground rules become established once this metro-bro era fades.
October 10, 2015 @ 8:32 pm
The thing is, though, that rap and EDM are overwhelmingly popular among people born after roughly 1973, and almost universally so among those born after roughly 1982. It is virtually guaranteed that mainstream country will incorporate some elements of those genres no matter how strongly the tide turns toward a more traditional style.
October 11, 2015 @ 7:44 am
I was born after 1982 and I’ll admit I blast some rap here and there. From the beastie boys to immortal technique, I definitely play it. But I like my rap to sound like rap and my country to sound like country.
Don’t even want to imagine the beastie boys doing tear in my beer or luke bryan covering cause of death. Those’d be just downright pathetic and awful.
October 12, 2015 @ 4:04 pm
I agree completely with you. Just because I like more than one style of music doesn’t mean I want my music to sound like all those styles fused together.
October 12, 2015 @ 5:34 pm
Absolutely right. However, even in neotraditional country, drums with strong backbeat were often featured, such as in this famous Clint Black song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv_x4DWiS_s
If a new form of traditional country emerges, it may feature electronic drums and rapping segments (similar to those in this William Michael Morgan song) on a frequent basis.
October 12, 2015 @ 8:01 pm
I understand what you’re saying about the chorus Eric, but let’s not take it too far by making it analogous to rap. Sure it’s more rhythmic than melodic, but that doesn’t make it rap, or even close to it. That’s just as unfair to rap as it is this song.
October 10, 2015 @ 2:19 pm
If Sam hunt can write like this, maybe I can.
October 10, 2015 @ 8:06 pm
I’m sure you could Cruise all the way to number 1
October 10, 2015 @ 3:00 pm
“Maybe how we talk about the “Class of ”™89” today, future generations will talk about the “Class of 2015”³: Chris Stapleton, Mo Pitney, William Michael Morgan, and others who are infiltrating the system and could change the paradigm.”
For the record I hope you’re right. Not doubting your judgement on good people it’s the mainstream fans I don’t trust.
October 12, 2015 @ 5:32 am
I think the jury is still out on all those guys in my eyes. I want to like them for, but in the case of Pitney and Morgan they almost feel a little too “safe” regarding their song choices and production. Stapleton wrote and recorded one of the best albums of the year, but the reason I say the jury is still out on him is he has writing credits on some of the worst crap coming out of Music Row today.
Honestly the guy I am watching closely is Jon Pardi who has really surprised me this year with his EP and his new single. I think if he can avoid the pitfalls of navigating Music Row he could really surprise some people.
October 12, 2015 @ 1:53 pm
I don’t know if you seen Stapleton live or not…But his live show made me a believer. Couldn’t tell you the last time I heard somebody with such a commanding voice on stage. It’s pretty damn incredible. If you haven’t I highly suggest it. Might just sway you to forgive him of his past song writing sins. ha
October 10, 2015 @ 3:08 pm
Wow, I[m impressed. He’s good and the back up band is on target. I’m proud that the opry is realizing the key is with the traditional like minded artists. It is what keeps country genre alive after all and keeps it going forward instead of backwards.
October 10, 2015 @ 7:30 pm
I was actually at the Opry the night this happened and have to admit he did a great job. It was his debut and he seemed genuinely humble and proud to be there. Plus before he did this song he sang the Lefty Frizzell/Keith Whitely song I Never Go Around Mirrors which was the highlight of the night.
October 10, 2015 @ 7:50 pm
I saw him open for Brantley Gilbert in Vicksburg a few years ago. 😐
William Michael Morgan was really good. 🙂
October 10, 2015 @ 7:57 pm
I was thinking a rewrite is in order. I pet a squirrel. What do you think?
October 11, 2015 @ 7:46 am
I like it! Does the squirrel at least have a name though? Or just a generic squirrel in cut offs?
October 11, 2015 @ 9:58 am
Can I suggest Fuzzy TwoShirts to help you write this masterpiece? Trust me, he knows a lot about squirrels in cut offs. He pulls a ton of bushy tail.
October 10, 2015 @ 7:59 pm
I like it!! Nice to hear some good tunes from new artists in Nashville!
October 10, 2015 @ 8:13 pm
I love this, its a great country song. But I never thought I would see the day the day you back a Sam Hunt song like that lol.
October 11, 2015 @ 6:36 am
It’s amazing what an arrangement can do. After all, it makes a song. The irony is Sam Hunt co-wrote that song and I can’t but help hear it in one of his bass-thumping rap arrangements. But the Opry band saves it and I really like WMM voice.
October 11, 2015 @ 8:25 am
Nice song. I like it.
October 11, 2015 @ 11:35 am
A country-ish song by a singer in a cowboy hat? It isn’t Christmas yet…
October 11, 2015 @ 2:56 pm
It sounds like someone with a good country voice is trying to make a Sam Hunt song listenable..
Just goes to show that Sam Hunt can only write in a grocery list format. The chorus is flatter than a Patriots game ball.
October 11, 2015 @ 8:58 pm
EXACTLY !
October 11, 2015 @ 8:58 pm
Hmmmm. To my ear this is pretty much a bro song without a banjo and a drum machine . Another list song with no narrative , no movement lyrically , a boring melody that never gets off the ground and never challenges the vocalist’s range or gives him any way of conveying emotion musically . It’s forgettable overall . Nothing fresh whatsoever . There are SO MANY much much better songs out there that are more inventive , interesting , smart and fun for a singer to wrap himself around .
October 12, 2015 @ 9:11 am
This isn’t necessarily a great song, but the lyrics and arrangement place it a notch or two above the average bro-country song, in my opinion. It’s breezy and light, and the lyrics have a touch of poeticism that places it in the realm of the romantic rather merely the carnal. It basically sounds like a mild George Strait cut, at least to me.
One thing that I think would add some “oomph” is if the singer jumped up an octave vocally for the chorus. I actually expected him to that, but he never did. I think that would give the chorus a needed lift.
October 12, 2015 @ 10:41 am
It might just be me, but his voice reminds me of Chris Young (quite deep) and his appearance (in the picture) reminds me of Justin Moore on his “Outlaws Like Me” cover.
Sorry, way off topic.
October 12, 2015 @ 3:27 pm
I’ll take this for a great country song…
“If You Were Whiskey”
http://jebbarry.com/track/843869/if-you-were-whiskey?feature_id=159176
Yeah, I’m a little biased HAHAHAHA
October 12, 2015 @ 3:49 pm
Holy smokes, I’m really liking this song. I have to thank Sam What’s-His-Name for giving away a good country song to someone who can sing it like they mean it. And 1:22 is a total George Strait move. 😉
October 12, 2015 @ 4:56 pm
Did anybody notice that he isn’t wearing skinny leg sweatpants, a too-long blouse, and a flat billed hat?
October 17, 2015 @ 9:07 am
Will they ruin Morgan like they did Easton Corbin? Remember, when Corbin came on the scene with “A Little More Country Than That” everybody and their mother was hyping is the “Young King” or George Strait 2.0. It turned out that we got two strong albums of traditional country from Corbin before he was forced to release a pop album. What’s to say three years from now we aren’t saying the same thing about William Michael Montgomery?
October 17, 2015 @ 9:16 am
That’s why the fans have to support these artists and let it be known that this is the kind of music they want to hear.
October 17, 2015 @ 11:30 am
So enough people didn’t support Corbin or what?
October 17, 2015 @ 12:41 pm
I see the value in remaining positive that these artists will stick to who they are, and fans telling them THAT is what they want to hear can’t hurt. He could be like Easton Corbin, or he could be like Joe Pardi and stay true. Let’s hope for the latter.
October 22, 2015 @ 9:21 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Exfo3tcqnE