Mark Morton

Twenty-five years into a music career that has seen five Grammy nominations, two RIAA certified Gold records and, most recently, the publication of ‘Desolation: A Heavy Metal Memoir’, an honest reflection on his life in music and beyond, Mark Morton’s creative energy is at an all-time high.

Over the course of two decades spent building a worldwide audience as guitarist and songwriter for <a href="spotify:artist:3JFsVIxOn7STeilPICkkB2" data-name="Lamb of God">Lamb of God</a>, Morton’s musical ambitions were steadily evolving.

There were still elements of his songwriting that weren’t finding their way to the surface – the result being, first, 2019’s ‘<a href="spotify:album:6L6uIRjZySB3J96kZ974NR" data-name="Anesthetic">Anesthetic</a>’, and now ‘Without The Pain’, his second solo outing and a paean to his longstanding love of southern rock…

As a young child in the ’70s and ’80s, southern rock music was a mainstay of Morton’s small town Virginia upbringing. The sounds of <a href="spotify:artist:4MVyzYMgTwdP7Z49wAZHx0" data-name="Lynyrd Skynyrd">Lynyrd Skynyrd</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4wQ3PyMz3WwJGI5uEqHUVR" data-name="Allman Brothers Band">Allman Brothers Band</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4ZqBwBVB3dsYWL3d5Spi10" data-name="Molly Hatchet">Molly Hatchet</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:10rzK0sLCXsUlDhl8ed0MV" data-name="Blackfoot">Blackfoot</a> and more helped to shape the fledgling musician’s understanding of what would eventually become his lifelong passion for rock guitar.

‘Without The Pain’ wasn’t a project Morton took on alone. The album features a world class list of contributors, including some of Americana, rock and country’s biggest names… <a href="spotify:artist:2v7wIbCkIzxOfT3GnqCexD" data-name="Cody Jinks">Cody Jinks</a>, Charlie Starr (<a href="spotify:artist:5P1oS9DUTPEqcrmXDmX4p8" data-name="Blackberry Smoke">Blackberry Smoke</a>) &amp; <a href="spotify:artist:3Q8wgwyVVv0z4UEh1HB0KY" data-name="Jason Isbell">Jason Isbell</a>, Jaren Johnston (<a href="spotify:artist:1nivFfWu6oXBFDNyVfFU5x" data-name="The Cadillac Three">The Cadillac Three</a>), <a href="spotify:artist:6CegFHnUqJcOBipgphZ2CJ" data-name="Travis Denning">Travis Denning</a>, Troy Sanders (<a href="spotify:artist:1Dvfqq39HxvCJ3GvfeIFuT" data-name="Mastodon">Mastodon</a>), <a href="spotify:artist:3Ig1cmnFAUxpTEYVjTRkLo" data-name="Tyler Bryant &amp; the Shakedown">Tyler Bryant &amp; the Shakedown</a> Neil Fallon (<a href="spotify:artist:161AC1AVRkIGIMxyj5djFQ" data-name="Clutch">Clutch</a>), Matt James (<a href="spotify:artist:74YaL1CwdKlao06KrJyuX2" data-name="Blacktop Mojo">Blacktop Mojo</a>), plus <a href="spotify:artist:3JX7toZYBPbth2CCq78kBx" data-name="Grace Bowers &amp; The Hodge Podge">Grace Bowers &amp; The Hodge Podge</a> &amp; <a href="spotify:artist:2l7Z2HP9bqMaMFSdPP012g" data-name="Jared James Nichols">Jared James Nichols</a>.