"Though record stores will label it 'rock' Morphew's music is a cohesive mess of noises that calls up many musical genres without limit or hesitation. He takes from Abba as fast as he steals from fellow Arkansan Sleepy LaBeef, and he combines the two in a jointed way that makes you think of Jimmie Rodgers before you think of Beck."
From The Oxford American
Jason Morphew "The Kid" is a twenty-something
Arkansas native, who currently lives in
San Francisco. A
protégé of
Miller Williams, he left Arkansas, to attend
Yale, where he studied
English and wanted to be a
poet. But as he puts it now, "My head was as far up my ass as I could get it."
He brought an acoustic guitar back with him the following semester, and hasn't looked back since.
After graduating from Yale, he cut a demo and landed a development deal with Capitol Records. The deal fell through, but when he was in Los Angeles he worked out a deal with two Sony reps that were fans.
Strangely Sony isn't going to put out any album by Morphew, but rather they pay him a salary to write and record songs - which they push - and take half the royalties.
Last year a small label in New Jersey, Ba Da Bing! Records put out his debut CD Not for the Faint of Heart.
For those interested he kind of sounds like a Dixie version of the Beach Boys. Also he doesn't really stay with one type of song. He alternatively writes brooding acoustic material, then really catchy pop songs, like "Badass with a Heart of Gold".
Sources:
SF Weekly and jasonmorphew.com