Kevin Morby was the most normal, well-adjusted, and happy artist I worked for (Ex-Artists: 023)

Don't underestimate Midwest American sun

‘Don’t meet your heroes’ is bullshit. I worked for a handful of heroes, and regret nothing. Maybe I’m a good hero picker.

I need you to know that Morby wants to sell more records, wants to play bigger rooms, wants adoring reviews—all those things—but he does not complain. Surely he’s competitive, but I never saw him pull out a yard stick. I assume Morby’s got a private list of grievances but the dude keeps them to himself, and he’s the most grateful of artists I know.

Many of our conversations stick with me, but one I think about often is when we were routing a tour and I told him he should play the Bowery Ballroom again. He’d played there before, it might have been his third time through the room as a headliner, and I was tempted to be apologetic about not bumping up yet. I thought he’d be disappointed, see it as a retread, but Kevin didn’t miss a beat. “Why would I complain about playing the Bowery? That place kicks ass.”

In retrospect, I’m stunned, damn near confused, by how HAPPY he is. Not that I worked for a bunch of bummers, but when the sample group is artists, the ratio’s not great. I don’t think I’m giving up secrets with that.

Morby is Midwestern, and the work ethic is on fine display. Today he released his eighth proper full-length album, and like the seven before it, the record rips. I love the game where you try to name artists that have X number of great albums. The list with 3 or more is slim, it gets really tough at 6 (my list has The Cure, Fugazi, Damien Jurado, Spoon, and Modest Mouse if I’m generous on their last one). I can’t poke a hole in any of Morbs’ octet of LPs. Who beats that? I can only come up with Dylan at the moment.