Kevin Robert Morby is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He has released five studio albums: Harlem River, Still Life, Singing Saw, City Music, and Oh My God. During live performances, Morby is accompanied by his backing band consisting ofMeg Duffy on guitar, Cyrus Gengras on bass, and Nick Kinsey on drums.
Kevin Morby was born in Lubbock, Texas on April 2, 1988; his family relocated around the U.S. due to his father's employment with General Motors before settling in Kansas City, Missouri. Morby learned to play guitar when he was 10. In his teens he formed the band Creepy Aliens. 17-year-old Morby dropped out of Blue Valley Northwest High School, got his GED, and moved from his native Kansas City to Brooklyn in the mid-2000s, supporting himself by working bike delivery and café jobs. Morby has stated he had "loved New York from the movies" he'd seen, "I just wanted to experience it". He later joined the noise-folk group Woods on bass. While living in Brooklyn, he became close friends and roommates with Cassie Ramone of the punk trio Vivian Girls, and the two formed a side project together called The Babies, who released albums in 2011 and 2012.
''Harlem River'', ''Still Life'', and ''Singing Saw'' (2013-2016)
Following his move to Los Angeles, Morby recorded a collection of songs with Babies producer Rob Barbato that were intended to be an homage to New York City. Released in 2013 by Woodsist Records, the eight-song collection was called Harlem River and became Morby's debut as a solo artist. The album also features drummer Justin Sullivan as well as contributions from Will Canzoneri, Tim Presley, Dan Iead, and Cate Le Bon. While on tour, Morby wrote songs that were later featured on his second album, Still Life. The album was once again produced by Barbato and released on October 14, 2014. Morby worked with Sam Cohen on his third album, titled Singing Saw, which was released on April 15, 2016.
''City Music'' (2017-2018)
Morby's fourth studio album was recorded with his live band, with guitarist Meg Duffy noting: "We all worked on the next record together, pretty collaboratively in terms of arranging and playing. We spent a week in a beautiful studio, up near Stinson Beach." The album, City Music, was released in June 2017. Apart from City Music he also released in 2017 a cover version of “After Hours,” from the Velvet Underground’s 1969 self-titled album, in duo with Waxahatchee. As a tribute to Jason Molina, the duo covered in January 2018 two Jason Molina tracks for MusiCares, an American charity supporting musicians’ health. The digital single, also available as 7” vinyl through Dead Oceans, contained the two songs, “Farewell Transmission” and “The Dark Don’t Hide It”. The longtime private and musical relationship later led to touring and shows together, among others SXSW shows and a successful Australia tour in November 2018.
''Oh My God'' (2019-present)
Morby's fifth studio album, Oh My God, was announced on February 27, 2019. The first single off the album, "No Halo" was released on the same day. The album was released April 26, 2019 via Dead Oceans and was met with wide critical acclaim. It was featured in the April 24, 2019 The Wall Street Journal print edition headlined “Devine Intervention” and called Morby’s best. The album reached number 2 on Billboard charts Heatseekers albums. In September 2019, Morby reunited with Woods for a special performance at their Woodsist festival.
Mare Records
Morby officially launched his new label imprint, Mare Records, in June 2017 with the signing of Shannon Lay and announcement of her new LP, Living Water. Mare will operate as an imprint of the Woodsist label, which also released Morby's first two solo albums. Anna St Louis' debut album, If Only There Was a River, was scheduled to be released in December 2018 on Woodsist / Mare.
