| Morgan Finlay | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Morgan Pendleton |
| Origin | North Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Genres | Folk, folk rock, indie rock |
| Occupations | Singer/songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 2002 – present |
| Labels | Brisco Bodai |
| Website | www.morganfinlay.com |
Morgan Finlay is a Canadian singer-songwriter from North Vancouver, British Columbia, and based for much of his career in Toronto.[1] He has four solo releases in Europe and Canada, including 2002's Uppercut EP, his 2005 Splice EP, and the albums Everything Will Work Out Right (2005) and Shifting Through the Breakers (2007).[2] Finlay's first-ever single "zensong" reached #2 on the Australian Independent Radio Charts in 2004,[2][3] and he is slated to release a new album in summer of 2011.[2]
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Morgan Finlay (born Morgan Pendleton) is a native to North Vancouver, British Columbia, and claims he began performing musically at the age of five.[2] From 1984 to 1987 he competed in the Kiwanis Music Festivals in Vancouver. In 1986 he sang in both the Vancouver Opera's performance of The Magic Flute and the Canadian premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem. The following year he sang in the Vancouver Opera's The Cunning Little Vixen. In 1992 his acapella group "The End" won the Canadian Youth Talent Search, and represented Canada at the international finals in Memphis, Tennessee, where they tied for 7th place. With Finlay in "The End" was Trevor Guthrie, future member of soulDecision. The competition is widely known for having crowned Michael Bublé the winner the following year.
At the beginning of his professional musical career, Finlay moved from Vancouver to Montreal, hoping to pursue a life as a solo musician. He soon recognized that "Toronto is where it all starts," and moved again to network around 2002. While in Toronto he met and played acoustically for Canadian producer Matt DeMatteo, who subsequently decided to work on his debut EP. DeMatteo, who had previously produced for Edwin, Big Wreck, and Ashley MacIsaac, introduced him at the time to Peter Murray, who was to become his regular bassist.[1]
Finlay released his first solo EP, Uppercut, in 2002. The six-track EP was released on his own record label, Brisco Bodai Productions, and covered a variety of styles including rock, acoustic, and funk.[4] The EP's single "zensong" achieved airplay on the CBC and on various college and internet radio stations during 2003 and 2004, and in 2004 it achieved the #2 spot on the Australian Independent Radio Charts.[2][3] "zensong" also peaked at #22 in the CFBX Kelowna Top 30.[5]
The EP signaled his break in the local Toronto Indie scene,[1] and in January 2003 he began heavily touring the Ontario college campus circuit.[6] In his first tours he played at approximately twenty different campuses through Toronto, Ottawa, London, Waterloo, Windsor, and Montreal. He also opened for Tom Cochrane and Sass Jordan at Windsor's Freedom Festival on Canada Day on July 1, 2003.[1]
Finlay's followup EP, Splice, was more in an acoustic guitar style than his previous EP, and was released in 2004.[2] At that point Finlay was well-emmeshed in the scene in Toronto.[1] He was included on Daryl Hurs' Gen Sub records compilation in April 2004.
In 2005, while based in both Toronto and Aschaffenburg, Germany, Finlay released his first full-length record, Everything Will Work Out Right.[7] The album was released internationally on both the Brisco Bodai and Sound of Liberation labels.[6][7][8]
His supporting tour of the album saw him travel through Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Slovenia, Croatia and Scotland, and under German management and with the help of promoters around Europe he performed three different European tours. During his second tour of Germany he opened for Roger Hodgson in Heilbronn, Germany in December 2005. The record also received airplay in Canada, Australia, and Germany, and charted on several Canadian college radio stations.[6][9]
His second full album release, 2007's Shifting Through the Breakers, returned from the acoustic style of Everything Will Work Out Right to a contemporary rock sound.[2] It was recorded at SmartArts Studio in Moosburg, Germany by Christopher Czarnetzki, Thomas Scharl, and Roman Liebl; Peter Murray produced the album, and once again played bass.[10] It included fan favorites "(in)Security" and "Blessing and Burning," as well as his first foreign-language singles, "Bei Dir Sein" and "Mourir d'envie'."[6][9] Riding on the strength of the album and the electricity with which he performed his own versions of popular cover songs, by the end of his fifth European tour in January 2009, Finlay had performed almost 400 shows in Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Switzerland,[11][12] Slovenia, Croatia and the Netherlands. He also lived and wrote for some time in Berlin and Bern.[2]
Much of Finlay's music is in a singer-songwriter style, with occasional overtones of indie, alternative rock, grunge, and folk. Among his musical influences he has cited Dave Matthews, Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, Faith No More, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden,[1] Bruce Cockburn, Coldplay, Daniel Lanois, and Dean Drouillard.[2]
Morgan Finlay is endorsed by Seagull Guitars and Dayton Boots, and uses D'Addario Strings.[2][11]
Finlay returned to East Vancouver in 2009, where he is recording and producing his fifth album, slated to be released in summer 2011. He has stated he is a supporter of the David Suzuki Foundation and the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition.[2]