via Sam Morrow
There are certain artists you discover, and you can’t help but wonder why they haven’t exploded into the public consciousness. Sam Morrow — who we welcome back for the most recent episode of The Load Out Music Podcast — is indeed one of those artists.
Since we last spoke with Morrow some five year ago, much has changed. In fact, during the past two years, his life has turned upside down: He moved to Nashville, got married, entirely changed out his backing band and continued turning out terrific music that grows with each record. Hell, he even has a new haircut.
“I think there is so much to all the change,” Morrow told us. “Change is great…I was in a rut in virtually every aspect of my life. I had also become complacent in every aspect of my life. It took kind of a kick in the ass to do that.”
Since leaving New York 12 years ago in a haze of drugs and alcohol, Morrow had called Los Angeles home. And it was a productive place for him as he got sober, built a sound, and found a group of musicians he loved making music with, such as drummer Matt Tecu. But the time had come. He needed to move in a new direction.
“I was trying to get out,” Morrow recalled. “Kinda done my time, and it just took me awhile to get out of there.”
Certainly, Morrow had built a sturdy home base of players, producers and friends in LA. And ironically—despite people telling him for years that his sound belonged in Nashville—he resisted.
“I didn’t want to move there because I don’t like doing what people tell me to do,” Morrow said with a chuckle. “But I am very glad that I moved there because it’s a great city.
So he picked up stakes two years ago, bound for Tennessee, and found it made his life easier on many levels.
“We will do 100 shows this year and it’s so much easier than LA to tour out of. The songwriting community has been better, to me…I can so much more easily make money doing what I like to do living in Nashville. The cost of living is less. I can leave Thursday through Sunday and come home. In California, if you’re going to tour, you have to leave for three weeks.”
His now-wife also told him that if he wanted to get serious, he needed to be in Nashville. And while one might think it was hard to leave his pal Tecu and the LA music family behind—it apparently was not.
“No, I think I was ready for it,” he said. “It’s very important to be present and learn what you can from anybody that’s currently in your presence. I learned a s***-ton from Matt. I learned a s***-ton from Eric Korn, our producer. But there’s so many great musicians.”
Morrow points to the experience recording his new album, which should be out in Spring 2026, and was produced with Austin-based producer Jonathan Tyler.
“It was a great experience,” Morrow said, noting that he had Austin-based studio musicians backing him on the album. “Being present, fostering an atmosphere where everyone can participate. I’m more interested in making music with my band, making music with some random guys in Austin. Yeah, there’s going to be people who are more useful than others.”
More than anything, he just wants to keep growing.
“I’m a searcher,” said Morrow. “You just got to keep learning and see where you want your sound to go.”
Morrow has searched for his sound from Houston to Austin to New York, LA and now to Nashville. Along the way, he’s picked up people, experiences and elements that have rounded out what is truly one of the great southern rock sounds going today. And although Morrow’s been sober for 14 years now, don’t go thinking he’s set aside having a good time.
“I’m still a crazy motherf***er,” he said with a good laugh.
Enjoy a great conversation with an artist you need to know—Sam Morrow—on the latest episode of The Load Out music podcast.