With the recent release of their new single “Loud Love,” The Morrison Brothers Band has found not only it’s footing in Music City, but a truly unique sonic fingerprint that has been years in the making. “It’s easy to get lost in all the noise, even if you play as loud as we do,” laughs Kevin Nolan, the preeminent guitarist behind the band’s latest statement. “We all feel that we’ve really found our sound and a big part of that is the groove.”
The centerpiece of this new sound, which offers a respectful nod to the country/rock group’s funk and dance music influences, is Loud Love, the soon-to-be-released single. “The goal was definitely to see if we couldn’t be a bit funkier than we have in the past.” Loud Love will mark the band’s second release since moving to Nashville in early 2015. Teaming up once again with long-time friend, producer, and co-conspirator Maggie Rose, The Morrison Brothers Band has broken out the big guns and written a new direction in country music. “The response to our Self-Titled EP was great, but our goal has always been to keep pushing toward a sound unlike anything else,” says singer Willie Morrison. “Who couldn’t use a little loud love every once in a while?”
Bridging an elusive gap between mainstream pop/country and old school rock and roll, Willie (vocals) and Truman (guitar) Morrison, Matt (drums) and Kevin (guitar) Nolan, and honorary brother Derrick Royer (bass) have collectively assumed the age-old, yet increasingly scrutinized, mantle of a tried and true band. “We write our material with all the amps on, we play on our own records, and then we all get in the van and play that music for people. It’s really that simple,” echoes Matt Nolan. And after playing live for nine full years together amid the obvious checks and balances of a group with two sets of brothers, the band has syphoned an undeniable chemistry from it’s humble garage band roots in Washington, DC. “We grew up in this band. We can finish each others sentences on and off stage.” The Morrison Brothers Band was ultimately discovered kicking around local clubs by acclaimed Nashville recording artist and fellow DC native, Maggie Rose.
Aided and abetted by the diverse DC music culture in which they first cut their teeth, The Morrison Brothers Band members visibly champion the notion that just about everything is worth a listen, and that “the scene” is everything.
“You might catch a couple of us in the audience at the Ryman or a rock club the same night you could find Matt and Kevin checking out a jazz show somewhere across town,’ adds Derrick, himself an Indianapolis transplant. “Each of us has lived all over the place- L.A., DC, Indi, New Orleans. Now everyone’s in Nashville where there’s a ton of great music, but we all bring those other cities with us.” As it happens, the origin of the band stems from an impromptu meeting of the Morrison and Nolan brothers at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival many years ago.
The Morrison Brothers Band discography includes the 2016 EP Self-Titled, their first Nashville-based effort produced by Rose, and State of The Union (2013), their homegrown introduction album featuring the award-winning debut single “Little Miss Whiskey.” The group has performed on some of the nation’s largest stages, opening for the likes of Merle Haggard, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Leon Russell, Old Dominion, and many more.