Cindy Morgan / Word

Biography

A Reason To Live

Cindy Morgan's debut album may have been called Real Life, but the story of her career reads more like a fairy tale. For starters, Cindy's first-ever radio single, "Let It Be Love" exploded onto the airwaves, quickly reaching the #1 spot on the CCM charts with a first-time-ever perfect rating score of 100 points. Unbelievably, that happened two more times with the subsequent singles; Cindy's fourth #1 single was her duet with Carman, "Somewhere Within The Heart," and other singles reached top ten status as well.

With a spectacular introduction like that, it's no wonder that Cindy was the first debut artist invited to be a part of the all-star lineup on the hugely successful Young Messiah Tour. Cindy also opened for 40 dates on Steven Curtis Chapman's Great Adventure tour, where she impressed crowds with her energetic pop sound, soaring vocal strength and warm-hearted rapport with each audience.

No surprise, then, that Cindy Morgan racked up five 1993 Gospel Music Association Dove Award nominations her first year out, and walked away with the Dove for New Artist of the Year. Not bad for a young lady who just a year or so before was working in an East Tennessee clothing store, and singing on sound-alike demos at a Knoxville recording studio. One of six children, Cindy Morgan grew up in a rural area near Knoxville, where she learned to play piano by ear at the age of 11 and was encouraged in her love of music by "very creatively talented" parents. "Mom sang and traveled a lot when we were young, and Dad gave up what might have been a promising career in Nashville - turned around and never looked back, because he had a family at home to support."

With that in mind, Cindy used her inherited gift for songwriting to pen a song on her new album, "Someone Believes In You," inspired by the sacrifices made by her parents on her family's behalf. "They're my biggest supporters - Mom, Dad, and my brothers and sisters." The Morgans instilled more than a love for music in Cindy - her childhood faith was nurtured to maturity by the family's deeply rooted commitment to the church. That solid foundation keeps Cindy on track when her new-found celebrity begins to threaten "normal" life. "I love to get up in the morning and sit on the porch and read. That's what life is about - not being on stage. It's a daily struggle to keep the balance, but it's been great. The Lord has taught me so much through all this."

When Cindy talks about "all this," she's not just talking about the spotlight and the awards. Through the journey from winning Dollywood's National Mountain Music Festival to being "discovered" by a Word Records executive and then being gospel music's New Artist of the Year has been unusually short, Cindy counts less visible experiences as being of equal, if not greater, importance.

"Professionally, it's been a great year, personally, it was hard . . . looking back in my diary, I can see how God used difficulties in relationships to make me grow. My perspective is so much different because I had to go through hard times emotionally."

It's a project that's even more personal than her stunning debut, owing to the fact that several of the songs on A Reason To Live are Cindy's solo compositions, straight from the heart to the piano and paper. "I draw from a lot of hard times to write songs," Cindy says. Like this, from the title track:

You can make life all it can be But you can't make it something it's not Yesterday is yesterday and tomorrow is still a day away Oh, what do you say There's a reason to live today If that sounds like lines from a journal, it could be. A lover of poetry and classic literature, Cindy writes her own story in a notebook, a story that to some, reads like a fairy tale. But if you ask Cindy, she'll tell you - despite the accolades, real life consists of things like working hard at her craft, maintaining friendships and family relationships. What else keeps her balanced? "My church . . . writing prayers in my journal . . . and accountability. Several good friends, holding my feet to the fire. It's important to me to keep my life open to a few people . . . to make sure I'm not hiding anything."

One thing that's impossible to hide is Cindy Morgan's immense talent - her dynamic voice, skillful songwriting, and the ability to communicate truth with warmth and grace. And even though those talents have brought her to a level of success that's unsurpassed for a debut artist, Cindy Morgan's own "reason to live" goes much deeper than that. "My happiness better not be wrapped up in that, and I can't build my life on it . . . it could be gone tomorrow." Pretty mature thoughts for a 24-year-old at the start of a sensational career. But that's the heart of Cindy Morgan. "All the great things that have happened . . . as I look back on them, they've all been gifts from God, and I'm so thankful. But success has not made me happy - it's made me grateful."

And that's no fairy tale.

By Bernie Sheahan

Discography

 
1993	A Reason To Live (Word Records)

1993	Our Family (Word Records)

1993	The New Young Messiah (Sparrow Records)

1992	Real Life (Word Records)

Videos

 
1993	"I Will Be Free"

1992	"How Can I Ask For More"

Awards and Nominations

1993 Dove Award Winner - New Artist of the Year

1993 Dove Award Nominations:

New Artist of the Year

Female Vocalist of the Year

Contemporary Album of the Year

Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year

Recorded Music Packaging of the Year