Singer-songwriter Finlay Morton was born in Aberdeen and taught himself to play his older brother’s Epiphone guitar at the tender age of ten. His influences are varied, ranging from blues players Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, guitarists Bert Jansch and Django Reinhardt, to the classic sounds of Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Little Feat and Tom Petty. At 18, he packed up his guitar and moved to London to play in a band. Whilst playing in various bands, Morton also worked as a sound engineer, including working in Downing Street as official sound engineer. In 2004 Morton had a chance meeting with producer Pip Williams (Moody Blues, Status Quo) which resulted in his first self-penned album Interpret This, released in 2006. Two singles went to radio with resulting airplay on regional radio stations throughout the UK along with a successful acoustic tour with guitarist Greg Bone. In 2008, Finlay began working on his second album Back to Basics at Wendyhouse Studios in West London. In the midst of the mixing, Finlay suffered a heart attack. Thanks to speedy medical attention, Morton was back to work in only a few days. His first single “Scary Monsters” was released later that year with more radio support. Legendary Los Angeles-based producer John Ryan (Santana, Smashing Pumpkins) heard the song and offered to remix the album. Morton jumped at such an opportunity, sending his masters to Ryan and Back to Basics 2009 was made. The first single “The Devil Ain’t Getting My Soul” garnered airplay throughout the U.K. and U.S. Morton continued his musical journey in 2013 with the release of Harvest The Wind. During his first U.S. tour, he visited a radio station in Taos, New Mexico which is 100% powered by solar energy. This greatly intrigued the musician who was already very keen on alternative energy sources, thus, the lyric from the lead track (also the album’s title) to “Hoist up your solar sails” was born in the United States. The first single from Harvest The Wind was “Do You Believe In Ghosts” which featured guitar work from Steve Hackett of Genesis. Other standouts included “Chasing The American Dream”, the countrified “Babe You Can’t Have My Guitar” , and the rocky “Don’t Cry For Corporate America”. Finlay’s 4th album, “Only Half A Live”, released in 2017, was, as the title suggests, made up of half studio tracks, and half live performance, the latter coming from an intimate showcase gig at the BBC Club in London W1, playing songs from previous albums “Harvest The Wind” and “Back To Basics”. The new studio tracks tipped their hats to many genres, from the countrified “Drinking With A Different Hand” and (the single) “Can We Work This Out”, through the raucous “Killing Me”, the haunting “Man With The Empty Eyes” to the bitter/sweet positivity of “Trying Real Hard”. This brings us up to date with the first release in 5 years, a digital-only EP entitled “Bee In A Gasmask”, which features 3 songs. “Seven Wonders” is an intriguing mix of a song and a history lesson about the 7 Wonders of the ancient world! “Raise A Glass” is a poignant song about loss which has particular strength in the aftermath of Covid. The upbeat “Move Mountains” tells of life changes, moving on, and a longing for stability. This EP will be available on 12” vinyl at the end of March, and later this year all previous albums will also be re-released on vinyl. In an interesting side story, Finlay is also a co-founder of London internet radio station Soho Radio, which is now, after 7 years, firmly established and indeed won Mixcloud’s “Best Internet Station in The World” in 2019. Soho Radio has now launched in New York City and continues to grow it’s diverse audience.
Finlay Morton
Singer-songwriter Finlay Morton was born in Aberdeen and taught himself to play his older brother’s Epiphone guitar at the tender age of ten. His influences are varied, ranging from blues players Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, guitarists Bert Jansch and Django Reinhardt, to the classic sounds of Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Little Feat and Tom Petty. At 18, he packed up his guitar and moved to London to play in a band. Whilst playing in various bands, Morton also worked as a sound engineer, including working in Downing Street as official sound engineer. In 2004 Morton had a chance meeting with producer Pip Williams (Moody Blues, Status Quo) which resulted in his first self-penned album Interpret This, released in 2006. Two singles went to radio with resulting airplay on regional radio stations throughout the UK along with a successful acoustic tour with guitarist Greg Bone. In 2008, Finlay began working on his second album Back to Basics at Wendyhouse Studios in West London. In the midst of the mixing, Finlay suffered a heart attack. Thanks to speedy medical attention, Morton was back to work in only a few days. His first single “Scary Monsters” was released later that year with more radio support. Legendary Los Angeles-based producer John Ryan (Santana, Smashing Pumpkins) heard the song and offered to remix the album. Morton jumped at such an opportunity, sending his masters to Ryan and Back to Basics 2009 was made. The first single “The Devil Ain’t Getting My Soul” garnered airplay throughout the U.K. and U.S. Morton continued his musical journey in 2013 with the release of Harvest The Wind. During his first U.S. tour, he visited a radio station in Taos, New Mexico which is 100% powered by solar energy. This greatly intrigued the musician who was already very keen on alternative energy sources, thus, the lyric from the lead track (also the album’s title) to “Hoist up your solar sails” was born in the United States. The first single from Harvest The Wind was “Do You Believe In Ghosts” which featured guitar work from Steve Hackett of Genesis. Other standouts included “Chasing The American Dream”, the countrified “Babe You Can’t Have My Guitar” , and the rocky “Don’t Cry For Corporate America”. Finlay’s 4th album, “Only Half A Live”, released in 2017, was, as the title suggests, made up of half studio tracks, and half live performance, the latter coming from an intimate showcase gig at the BBC Club in London W1, playing songs from previous albums “Harvest The Wind” and “Back To Basics”. The new studio tracks tipped their hats to many genres, from the countrified “Drinking With A Different Hand” and (the single) “Can We Work This Out”, through the raucous “Killing Me”, the haunting “Man With The Empty Eyes” to the bitter/sweet positivity of “Trying Real Hard”. This brings us up to date with the first release in 5 years, a digital-only EP entitled “Bee In A Gasmask”, which features 3 songs. “Seven Wonders” is an intriguing mix of a song and a history lesson about the 7 Wonders of the ancient world! “Raise A Glass” is a poignant song about loss which has particular strength in the aftermath of Covid. The upbeat “Move Mountains” tells of life changes, moving on, and a longing for stability. This EP will be available on 12” vinyl at the end of March, and later this year all previous albums will also be re-released on vinyl. In an interesting side story, Finlay is also a co-founder of London internet radio station Soho Radio, which is now, after 7 years, firmly established and indeed won Mixcloud’s “Best Internet Station in The World” in 2019. Soho Radio has now launched in New York City and continues to grow it’s diverse audience.