"A few years ago, The Morgans Project started playing acoustic shows in the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton area. Surprisingly, for an area as hostile toward acoustic music as this, the Morgans brothers were able to drum up quite a bit of support, with some of their shows filling out crowds in the hundreds.
Then, they just sort of disappeared… But apparently they’ve been working.
Burning the Portrait is a 5-song limited edition release of some of their older music (remixed with extra vocal tracks) and some new tracks.
If there’s one thing I’ve always loved about Jay Morgans, it would either be his sarcastic, witty attitude, or his skill with manipulating the English language.
The Morgans Project takes folk in a little different direction, with an old school punk background and Bukowski-esque lyrics, Jay rips out well-written, well diversified songs documenting love, loss, the human condition, and, well, drugs.
What else can you ask for in an acoustic folk rock band?"
~brian emmershaw, signalfading.com
"Their acoustic style is the perfect accompaniment for their passionate lyrics, some of which hit home in a strong way...
The Acoustic style of music is very personal in nature. The musicians who choose this style are, in a way, artistically exposed, meaning that they stand before their audience without the technological advantages that many of their peers choose to employ. However, when performed well, there is nothing that compares to the acoustic style (Eric Clapton’s "Unplugged", for example. The version of "Layla" on that recording is priceless).
It is exciting in it’s simplicity and appealing in it’s seemingly effortless beauty.
The Morgans Project, composed of and created by two brothers, Jesse and Jay Morgans, brings the simple art of acoustic music to a new level.
In their talented hands, the acoustic style gets a once-over, and then a twice-over just to be sure.
The lyrics are power-packed and emotionally charged, the music is seamless and perfectly timed, and the raw edge of each and every track will stay with you for days.
These brothers know how to get your attention and they don’t let go until the CD stops."
~dannick.com
"The Morgans Project is a constantly evolving example of what happens when you give acoustic guitars to a pair of brothers raised on punk rock and old school hip hop.
(The brothers) are long time staples of the local music community ... The Morgans Project’s acoustic series, which began as a one time event, has now become the sole focus of the group and is their most impressive work to date.
Emotion laced and soulful lyrics bonded to creative acoustic styling fuel the tracks on the band’s debut indie CD..." ~michael faillace, the weekender
out of the wordinary
by gene padden for diamond city
It’s a line often attributed to its on-screen mouthpiece, but it was Chuck Palahniuk who wrote Fight Club’s famous utterance, "It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything."
And if ever there were a songwriter in Northeastern Pennsylvania who could feel those words, sit back, and exhale them into something just as inspiring ... that man would be Jay Morgans.
You see, kids, a decade before The Woody Browns Project, it was Jay and The Morgans Project that sent us scrambling through the dog-eared apostrophe section of our style guides. (OK, maybe it was just us.)
Back then, a demand for unsigned artists existed in Wilkes-Barre, and Jay was the flyer child for the movement. In those days, you went to Gallery of Sound to buy music, but you also went to find out where Jay was playing ... usually Mantis Green or anywhere mugs of coffee-flavored coffee outnumbered cell phones on the counter top.
Then, you got your crew together and hit up the show well after doors opened, because while there was late, fashionably late, and "maybe the show was cancelled" late - Jay Morgans invented "Jay Morgans late."
Not the most driven of cats, if Jay had even a quarter of the motivation it takes to tell somebody to make a few tapes for you, he would have sold thousands. His lack of enthusiasm, however, was pardoned by our selfish pining to follow the one Wilkes-Barre white kid cool enough to be called "cat."
Like few before him and less after, Jay flourished because his words hit so hard. It wasn’t volume or gimmick or guitar trickery that resonated, but rather the ungoverned and unceremonious verses he used to tell his wretched tales. Often compared to Tom Waits, Jay always left you wondering if the show you just witnessed was his last.
And though he denies it, on the day Jay stopped playing, the scene went with it.
"I was basically unfunctional around here for a while," he said. "But I kept writing and I kept playing in New York and Philadelphia.
"There was a time when I was touring with a band and I didn’t show up for a gig at this place in SoHo, and it was the type of place where it’s easy to get into, but if you mess up, they won’t ask you back. I told myself that if this is what I really love to do, and I’m doing something detrimental that ruins what I do, then I need to reevaluate everything."
He found himself in some hopeful circles, recording on a nationally released comp with Lori Carson in 2002. Through the connection, he landed a gig managing merch on Aimee Mann’s tours. He even saw one of his writings make the big screen in a film called The Quiet Sear in Australia.
Now 10 years removed from the scene he used to anchor, Jay Morgans has finally returned to our bulletin boards. He’s flyering mySpace these days, and his venue of choice doesn’t have a coffee pot. Still, the father, husband, and returned resident of Wilkes-Barre is anxious for his comeback show at BAR.
"I’ve been getting a lot of messages and e-mails from the old heads - mostly to find out if I’m serious about playing," he said. "They want to know if I’m actually going to show up to this one."
He hasn’t settled on a setlist yet, but now that he’s settled in life, we could see more of Morgans. And, he has some unfinished business with headliner Bret Alexander.
"At the time my life was falling apart, I recorded an album with him," Morgans said. "I never did anything with it. But they did a good job with the rough mix, and I may go back and finish it.
"Those songs are from a different time in my life, but it’s like singing a song about a girl you don’t f*ck anymore. You can still sing it."
Jay Morgans will open for Bret Alexander on Friday, May 11 at BAR in Plains. Showtime is 9 p.m. (No word on if Jay is running on schedule.)
9/27/07
from diamond city
By Sarah Stachura
Wilkes-Barre’s longtime acoustic folkman Jay Morgans is at it again.
Fans of Morgans’ biting lyrics and climbing melodies will be pleased to hear that The Morgans Project is playing a show Friday at BAR in Plains.
My favorite bit of Morgans witticism is from the tune "Ani DiFranco Wants Me:" "Ani DiFranco wants me/and her wanting keeps her very busy/she doesn’t have time to write me letters/and the ones I send come back to me."
The Songs at the Point: Songs from the Lori Carson August 2002 Workshop comp is finally available at http://www.themorgansproject.com/buysongs.html .
