Originally a gritty, stripped down North Mississippi Hill Country Blues tune recorded by R.L. Burnside in 1965.  Cary Morin was attracted to the origins of acoustic blues and was drawn to Burnside's sound and driving guitar riffs.

Upon hearing Luther Dickinson's guitar take on the song, Cary imagined its transition from acoustic guitar to a larger electric band version of the song that incorporated some world groove, Reggae, and African sounds.

Goin' Down South

On a recent US tour, I visited my songwriter friend DL Duncan in Nashville, TN. DL Duncan is a well-known Nashville songwriter and has lived in the Music City for decades. During our visit he asked me what I was working on. I explained the process for my CMR project and invited him to write a song with me. This happens often in Nashville so it seemed like the thing to do. I showed him some paintings and wrote a short description of my life at my grandfather’s house in Lodge Grass, MT. It wasn’t long before we were tossing lines back and forth. This is the very last song to be recorded for this project. I’m happy to collaborate with my friend Dave and pleased that this song occupies a spot on this album that I could never have done alone. Thank you, Dave!

Associated Paintings:
The Round Up 

Musicians: 
Cary Morin –acoustic guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel, vocals
Celeste Di Iorio - harmony vocals
Luke Hunter - bass

Innocent Allies

Montana Sky

MONTANA SKY

This song was inspired by the letters of Charlie written later in his life. 

My life in Great Falls was mostly uninterrupted, except on the occasion that we traveled out of town. Family trips to Billings to see relatives or Missoula for a ball game were about it. Charlie’s observations on the future of Great Falls were of interest to me. 

Charlie was not completely a fan of “progress,” though his career depended on it.  He thought at the time, that Great Falls had the potential to grow to a big city like Chicago, completely further destroying the frontier.

His musings on life in Montana with old friends create their own images in my mind. His mural Lewis and Clark Meeting the Flatheads at the State Capitol building in Helena, is something I hope to see someday. He would give the news of where in the world he was and share memories of the ‘old’ days when life was good and the land was still unmolested by settlers. He lived with Natives at one time and grew to love and defend the people he considered to be his closest friends. He also had a soft spot for his friends among the early cattlemen that sometimes, had rough outfits in the early days of ranching in Montana. 

Charlie’s letters always had illustrations that made his correspondence come to life. His studio is located at the Charles M. Russel Museum in Great Falls, Montana. It’s a worthy visit! Many of his great painting are housed there as well along with other great Western artists.  Charlie spoke fondly of Great Falls and was loved and admired by Montanans, an admiration that still exists to this day. I’m grateful to be surrounded by his work and inspired by his vision. I only wish I could have sat down and played some songs with him. Maybe someday…

Musicians: 
Cary Morin – guitar, vocals
Celeste Di Iorio – harmony vocals

Where The Trails Cross The Big Divide

WHERE THE TRAILS CROSS THE BIG DIVIDE

This song is a fictional account and contrast of two female characters in Charlie’s paintings. Keeoma is a fictionalized image of a Native woman that appears in several of his paintings. She is thought to be of Northern Montana or Canada, and is often depicted in seductive poses. Charlie was criticized for his sexualizing the image of this woman. As Charlie is not here to defend himself, I  take it one step further by writing this song that juxtaposes the lives and cultures of these two very different women. Wally is thought to be inspired by an earlier relationship he had before he finally met and wed Nancy Russell.

In the song, Wally is an anglo woman who lives in a modern world.  She goes off to college and that is the end of their relationship.  The imaginary Keeoma on the other hand, is a Native woman living the traditional life of a Plains Indian.  They are both the subjects of a then modern day magazine, and this is where they both coexist, lives as different as the world has ever seen.

Associated Paintings: 
Keeoma 
She Turned Her Back On Me And Went On Imperturbably On With Her Sketching 
Cowgirl Bucking Horse 

Musicians: 
Cary Morin - author, composer, guitars, vocals

Wally And Keeoma

WALLY And KEEOMA

This song is a solo guitar melody inspired by Charlie’s Lake McDonald paintings in the area of Glacier National Park, where he had his summer home called Bullhead Lodge. Here, he hosted artist friends to paint and sketch landscapes and scenery of the park. Many of his paintings here convey scenes of traveling to the lodge by train, wagon train, and boat. 

I have never had the privilege to visit Bull Head Lodge. I have been to Glacier National Park as a child and visited the area from time to time. My only connection is from vintage photos of Charlie at his cabin and his paintings of the area. The song was a product of my sitting in front of a microphone in my little studio, improvising guitar ideas while a slideshow of Charlie’s related painting drifted by on my computer. I hope this song serves as a soundtrack for your viewing of these fine landscapes of one of Charlie’s favorite places. 

Glacier National Park remains one of the most beautiful and untouched parts of Montana, and the U.S.

Associated Paintings: 
Lake McDonald 
Deer At Lake McDonald 
Indian Camp 
Storm On Lake McDonald 

Musicians: 
Cary Morin - guitar

Bullhead Lodge

BULLHEAD LODGE

I was drawn to Charlie’s paintings of Natives on horseback. It reminds me of stories of Crow men on hunting rides, eating white clay to curb their hunger so as not have to eat for days. I had an uncle who knew Indian sign language very well and it was something I was always interested in. Indians would stop talking around the pioneers and only use sign language and observe. 

 At about that time, Crow Chief Plenty Coup spoke of a vision he had where he saw white people and their cattle, which he referred to as spotted Buffalo, and his advice to the Crow people was to learn as much about them and their culture as possible because he knew they were never going to go away.

The song is based on Crow Indians as they encounter the first contact with settlers and consider these strange new people.  One of the first things they saw was the steamboat on the river. They didn’t necessarily want to harm anyone, but these new pioneers were easy to raid. The take would be horses and funny looking clothing. This song drifts between my imagination of viewing Charlie’s painting Fire Boat and the words and stories from my mother Anita Yellowtail, my Uncle Tom Yellowtail, and stories I’ve heard over the years of Native life on the plains before contact with settlers. 

Associated Paintings: 
The Fire Boat 
Watching For Wagons 

Musicians: 
Cary Morin - author, composer, guitars, piano, vocals

Fire Boat

FIRE BOAT

As a child I would thumb through my fathers’ Charlie Russel books. He had them all! Charlie’s painting The Hold Up always got my attention. Perhaps my childish brain was curious to know why these settlers and wealthy anglo folks of note were being robbed by other white folks? I later found out that individuals that have the inclination to steal and rob aren’t driven by the ethnicity of their prey. This painting is the recreation of an actual event that took place outside of Deadwood, South Dakota around the same time that the teenaged Charlie arrived in Montana from St. Louis. George Parrot was as bad at crime as he was at attempting to have a legit profession. “George Parrott (1834-1881) also known as Big Nose George, Big Beak Parrott, George Manuse, and George Warden, was a cattle rustler and highway robber in the American Wild West in the late 19th century. His skin was made into a pair of shoes after his lynching and part of his skull was used as an ashtray.”  

This song may be pure schadenfreude but rest assured the events depicted in this song and Charlie’s painting didn’t actually take place in Montana, thankfully.

Associated Painting: 
The Hold Up 

Musicians: 
Cary Morin - author, composer, guitars, vocals 
John Magnie: piano 
Nic Clark: harmonica 
AJ Fullerton: slide guitar

Big Nose George's Outlaw Blues

BIG NOSE GEORGE'S OUTLAW BLUES

This album started with an idea and an armful of CMR art books inherited from my folks. When I finally decided to sit down and write words, I was seated on a bluff overlooking the Colorado River at Rancho Del Rio outside of Bond, Colorado. Reviewing the paintings and hearing the water rushing by, I wrote this first song. 

My father’s house was located between Ulm and Great Falls, MT, near the site of The Ulm Pishkun Buffalo Jump. The Missouri River was a half mile walk from there. I could see where our house was built in many of the CMR paintings. It was located just North of the river as I faced Square Butte.

Associated Paintings: 
When The Land Belonged To God 
Salute To The Robe Trade 
Piegans 
In The Enemies Country 
Buffalo Hunt 

Musicians: 
Cary Morin - acoustic guitar, pedal steel guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals
Eric Adcock - piano
Celeste Di Iorio - background vocals

Big Sky Sun Goes Down

BIG SKY SUN GOES DOWN

The Charlie painting, Waiting And Mad, gets the point across without much explanation. This song however, is written from the viewpoint of the object of Keeoma’s anger who is a man. The other paintings listed here are of men out doing what they do, possibly while Keeoma is waiting for her man’s return…  

Keeoma as a subject matter in this painting is the only one that seems to have some negative reviews, as it suggests the sexualization of Native women.  The one thing that Charlie knew really well about Native culture, is humor.  If one were to look at depictions of Keeoma with that in mind, maybe some of the reviews would be different.  In Charlie’s letters to his friends, aside from delivering the news of the day, most of the letters are interjected with the humor that came so easily to him.  To look at the image along with the lyrics of the song one can see the humor… The husband is in big trouble upon his delayed return.   

Associated Paintings: 
Waiting And Mad 
Crow Sheep Hunter 
Indian On Horseback 
Nobleman Of The Plains 

Musicians: 
Cary Morin - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar
Eric Adcock - piano
Graham Rea - fiddle

Waiting And Mad

WAITING AND MAD

My grandfather was Robert Yellowtail, a prominent tribal member of the Crow Tribe and a life-long rancher. I often wonder if he was an acquaintance of Charlie’s. As the location of my father’s house was picturesque, my grandfather’s house on the Little Big Horn River was a place to behold. We often traveled between Great Falls and Lodge Grass, passing through Judith Basin. CMR’s Waiting For A Chinook was always on my mind when we drove a section of Hwy 191 that went for miles without a single turn in the road. Our stop for a milkshake at Judith Gap was always a treat! 

In this song, I imagine the arrival of a teenage Charlie Russell from St. Louis to a very wild Montana. When Charlie left St. Louis to work on a friend of his father’s sheep ranch, he arrived in Judith Basin. He eventually found work on cattle ranches on the night watch. Waiting for a Chinook was his response to the owner of one of those ranches when asked how things were looking.

Associated Painting: 
Waiting For A Chinook 

Musicians: 
Cary Morin- acoustic guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, bass guitar
John Magnie - electric piano
Nic Ramirez - harmonica
Celeste Di Iorio - backing vocals

Waiting For A Chinook

WAITING FOR A CHINOOK

Old Timers Poem (Good Medicine: the Illustrated Letters of Charles M. Russell) is my favorite example of Charlie’s letters. My father loved his letters and would tell stories to his friends from Charlie’s writing. The words are those of Charlie’s exactly as he wrote them.  Charlie wrote in his own vernacular, using terminology of the times. A lot of his writing of personal letters is readily available.  He wrote in the same manner that he spoke.

I composed the music for this song.  The poem is a reminiscing of times gone by as he wrote to “Bob.” My mother’s family was a ranching family. Her brother Jigs Yellowtail had a horse ranch and also ran cattle with his dad Robby Yellowtail. My memories of Uncle Jigs’ place is that of branding, riding, hunting, and cherished time with my Crow relatives. This song reminds of those old days, old trucks, and sights and smells of the ranch in the mountains of the Crow Reservation in the late 1960s. 

Associated Paintings: 
Old Timer’s Poem 
The Trail Boss 
The Wagon Boss 

Musicians: 
Cary Morin – composer, guitars, vocals 
Celeste Di Iorio – harmony vocals 
Nic Ramirez – harmonica 
John Magnie - piano

Old Timers Poem

OLD TIMERS POEM

Charlie’s letters to friends are featured in the book Good Medicine: The Illustrated Letters of Charles M. Russell (1929), in which Charlie reminisces in his writings and letters to his friends, about his life in and regrets for Montana. 

His letters often had a few common elements. He often apologized for taking so long to reply to letters received. He would give the news of where in the world he was and share memories of the ‘old’ days when life was good and the land was still unmolested by settlers. He never considered himself part of the invasion having taken the time to learn about Montana and the people of the land. He lived with natives at one time and grew to love and defend the people he considered to be his closest friends. He also had a soft spot for his friends among the early cattlemen, some of whom had rough outfits in the early days of ranching in Montana. Charlie’s letters always had illustrations that made the correspondences come to life.

This recording was written at home in Fort Collins, CO. By the time I penned this one, the project was close to being done. I can usually hear the songs in my head and have a good idea of what the song needs to support the subject, and who I may call on to help out with the instruments that I don’t know how to play. I also asked musician friends to listen to all the songs in rough mix form and see if there was something that spoke to them. Turns out this song is just my wife Celeste and me, making it even a more personal moment of my memories of youth in Montana, represented in a single musical thought. 

Associated Paintings:
Innocent Allies

Musicians: 
Cary Morin – guitar, vocals
Celeste Di Iorio - harmony vocals

Good Medicine

GOOD MEDICINE

As a child I played a variety of styles. I played guitar for a time with a small high school band with friends from around the area. Some of us grew up listening to the bands around town whose members were not only accomplished musicians but singers as well. Singing harmony was always a pursuit that we shared and loved. I first heard this song around 1979 on a Rowland Salley album, if memory serves the album was called Woodstock Mountains: Music From Mud Acres. I can’t seem to find that album these days but remember loving the melody and the great harmonies. The song always painted such a vivid image for me.

In this case it applies to Charlie and Nancy’s early days together. It was many years till I discovered that the song was actually written by Rowland Salley and made popular by John Prine, another songwriter that helped mold my young notions of playing guitar and writing a song. Over the years I would hear another artist’s version of this song and instantly be reminded of my youthful days in Great Falls, Montana, trying to learn what would eventually become a life-long pursuit of a song, THE song. 

I paired this song with the painting, She Turned Her Back On Me And Went On Imperturbably On With Her Sketching, which depicts Charlie’s relationship with his wife.

Associated Painting: 
She Turned Her Back On Me And Went On Imperturbably On With Her Sketching 

Musicians: 
Cary Morin – arrangement, guitar, vocals 
Celeste Di Iorio- harmony vocals 
John Magnie- piano 
Nic Clark- harmonica
Jordan Pasquin - drums

Killing the Blues

KILLING THE BLUES

This song was written for Folk Alliance International in collaboration with Friends of The Kaw River for the 2023 Artist In Residency Program at Folk Alliance International Conference

Love Me Forever

SANTA IT’S TRUE – CARY MORIN (BMI)

MY LITTLE GIRL
MY ONLY CHILD
TRIES ALL YEAR LONG TO QUALIFY

BECAUSE SANTA TRAVELS 
THE WORLD THROUGH AND THROUGH
BUT ONLY IF YOU BELIEVE THIS TO BE TRUE

JUST THE BEST CHILDREN
ESPECIALLY YOU
CAN HEAR THIS SONG GIVE
SANTA HIS DUE

THE TREATS ARE ALL READY
AND LEFT OUT FOR YOU
THE PUDDING AND THE PIE
AND THE BLACK AND TAN TOO

SANTA IT’S TRUE
I’M THE BEST I CAN BE
SANTA IT’S TRUE
I’M WAITING FOR YOU
SANTA IT’S TRUE

DADDY DON’T BUILD A FIRE TONIGHT
OR SANTA MIGHT PASS US BY
DO REINDEER NEED HAY
OR REINDEER FEED
THEY’VE COME SUCH A LONG WAY
ONLY TO LEAVE

IF I SHOULD I MISS HIM
OH WHAT WOULD I DO
SANTA PLEASE DON’T BE TOO LATE

THE TREATS ARE ALL READY
AND LEFT OUT FOR YOU
THE PUDDING AND THE PIE
AND THE BLACK AND TAN TOO

SANTA IT’S TRUE
I’M THE BEST I CAN BE
SANTA IT’S TRUE
I’M WAITING FOR YOU

MY LITTLE GIRL
MY ONLY CHILD
BORN ON CHRISTMAS EVE
I BELIEVE TOO
SANTA IT’S TRUE

Santa It's True

Auld Lang Syne

This tune features harmonica player, Jean Jacques Milteau, from Paris, France

Wrong Side Of The Law

Cary's latest soon to be released solo CD.  Release date - January 15, 2017

Please do not share these files without express written permission by Cary Morin or Maple Street Music Agency.

CRADLE TO THE GRAVE

GHOST DOG

LAID BACK

CRADLE THE GRAVE

Cary Morin's 2018 release, When I Rise.  

"Described as “one of the best acoustic pickers on the scene today,” Cary Morin brings together great musical traditions of America and beyond like no other. With deft fingerstyle guitar, vocals that alternately convey melodic elation and gritty world-weariness, Morin crafts an inimitable style characterized as Full Throttle Native Americana."

Release date is October 26th 2018.  Please do not share these files without express written permission of Cary L. Morin, Maple Street Music Agency, or Mark Pucci Media.

Let Me Hear the Music

When I Rise

12 tracks recorded at Dockside Studio in Maurice, LA.  April 2019.
Produced and engineered by multi-Grammy winning producer/engineer, Tony Daigle.  Mastered by Jim Demain at Yes Master in Nashville, TN.

This recording project came about in 2018, at the urging of a friend of mine from Lafayette, LA.  He thought that my Piedmont blues style of songwriting and guitar playing was a good fit for the rhythms and sounds of Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco music.  He took me out to tour the infamous Dockside Studios in Maurice, LA, and encouraged Dockside’s founding engineer/producer, Tony Daigle, to attend my show in Lafayette that evening.  Tony did come to my show that night, and upon leaving, told me that if I were to want to come to Maurice to record, he was my man.  With the help of Tony Daigle and local drummer, Dave Nezat, we began to assemble an all-star cast of Lafayette area musical heroes and make a plan.

The lure of working with such an illustrious & talented group in this multi-award winning Louisiana studio was too good to resist.  I went home from that tour and began to write a collection of songs, specifically for this project.  I returned in April of 2019 to spend one solid week with Tony and the guys, laying down all of the foundational tracks. Over these past several months, we have added various instrumentation and harmony vocals and as of February 2020, completed all aspects of recording, mixing, and mastering.

The ancient Native culture of the South has been an inspiration as it relates to our travels and what has become an annual pilgrimage to the Mississippi Valley. This collection of songs represents our annual migration, just as my ancestors migrated from this region to the Western Plains so many centuries ago; sharing culture through music and more along the way. It is the product of our imagination of what was, and what has become our love of the sounds of the south.

Come The Rain

Cary's Groove

Chosen Road

Valley Of The Chiefs

Jamie Rae

Tonight

Prisoner

One of the first songs that I wrote for this album.  I was sitting at a street café in Italy and was thinking about a music community, like New Orleans for instance.  It was written from a band musician’s point of view, as the character in the song, talking about playing music in the neighborhood and partying with the community, as the player in a local band.  It was written as a fun, light hearted dance tune w/a southern New Orleans style composition in mind.  It was really vivid to me as I was sitting in this ancient town in Italy taking in the area scenes.

As I was thinking about the album and all the different types of songs I wanted for it, I wanted some blues, some dance tunes, some spirituals, and some instrumentals, all with a southern feel.  This one ended up being more of a dance track.

Nobody Gotta Know

Internationally acclaimed as a mesmerizing live performer, Cary Morin’s soul-stirring voice and jaw-dropping fingerstyle guitar playing have captivated audiences for decades.  

Dial into Morin’s career catalog and discover a musical chameleon whose sonic landscapes fuse together the best of American roots music. “Cary is a unique and brilliant player, songwriter and singer. I have huge respect for his style and technique,” says legendary multi-instrumentalist and songwriter David Bromberg. “If you haven’t heard him yet, you should.”  

Morin’s latest project, Innocent Allies, honors his family’s Native American heritage and is inspired by the genius of famous western artist, Charles Marion Russell. “This record is a masterpiece worthy of its place among the great works of art it was created to honor,” says Trina Shoemaker, the Grammy-winning producer who mixed and mastered the album at her Alabama studio. 

Morin’s music has reached millions as he’s traveled the world with prestigious performances at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Paris Jazz Festival, and Folk Alliance International in addition to others. Morin has been featured on international television and radio programs hosted by the BBC and NPR. He has had the honor of sharing stages as a collaborator or supporting act for musical luminaries such as Taj Mahal, Los Lobos, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Joan Osborne, David Bromberg, and Arlo Guthrie, to name a few.

Morin’s musical talents and creative contributions have garnered a multitude of awards and accolades: two-time winner of the Indigenous Music Award for Best Blues CD (2019 and 2017); Independent Music Award for Best Blues CD (2018); Native Arts and Cultures Fellowship (2018); and First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership fellowship (2017). He received an honorable mention in the 2018 International Songwriting Competition.

Morin has also achieved international recognition as a collaborator, dancer and musical theater composer. His song, “Ole Midlife Crisis,” written and performed with the Pura Fé Trio, reached #17 on France’s iTunes blues charts in 2011.  With the Red Willow Dancers, he performed in Japan as a special guest of the world-renowned Kodo Drummers. Back home in Northern Colorado, he co-authored the play, “Turtle Island,” a critically-acclaimed 50-cast-member production that sold out for two consecutive years.  Morin’s musical journey began in the late 1970s and burgeoned in the late 1990s when he founded The Atoll, a rock-reggae-blues band that toured the United States for over 13 years.  

Born in Billings, Montana, he hails from a rich cultural heritage as a Crow tribal member with Assiniboine Sioux and Black ancestry. He spent the formative years of his youth in Great Falls, Montana picking through guitar standards at neighborhood gatherings.
Morin currently maintains a busy performance schedule as a solo artist, as a duo with his partner Celeste, and with his band Cary Morin & Ghost Dog, a high-energy roots rock band. He also collaborates with renowned Indigenous artist, Pura Fé. When not captivating audiences across the US and Europe, he finds solace and inspiration in Northern Colorado, which he proudly calls home.

Cary Morin

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