Passion becomes lifestyle

All the greats began singing at a young age.  Michael Jackson started at the age of five. Mariah Carey started at three. A name that is destined to be mentioned in that same light years from now is Morgan Gusby. Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, Gusby was casted into the world of music at the tender age of four. His mother, Kim Gusby, says when she was younger she too was involved in a church singing group with her brothers and sister and this inspired her to do the same with her three children. 

Kim says his first audience may have been about 500 people. “My mom made me realize it a while back. She had us form a little group for our church by the name of G3.  I feel like she made my voice the way it is today-deep. Because I was the only boy, she made me bass. We sang as a group until I was about 13 or 14. That was around the time my voice started to change and I didn’t like my voice anymore so I stopped singing until recently.”  Along with his change in voice came his shyness. His mother doesn’t remember him as a shy little boy; however, she does agree that after his voice changed he shied away from singing in the spotlight for a bit. “Morgan can be very competitive; if you have an A he needs an A+,” Kim said. This may have been what kept him on the back-burner only for so long. He picked back up with his talent when he stepped up to sing for his great grandmother in front of his family. Kim remembers a time after he stepped back out. “He surprised the family again around Christmas time at our church program for jazz music day. By the end of it, the pastor came up and said, ‘“Man I didn’t know Morgan could sing; he was great!”  That was a memorable day.”

Fellow Hampton University classmate, Karyn Gibson, says she’s known Morgan for two years and didn’t find out about his hidden talent until later on. “He’s the type of person to keep his talent hidden until the right time. I didn’t find out about his voice until he said he was doing a tribute for his grandmother and he sang for me before his first choir audition here at HU.”

Being accepted into the Hampton University’s choir is what got Morgan back into his passion for singing. Since then, he has been hard at work practicing and striving to perfect his craft in any way. This includes long hours of singing to the tune of his playing the piano in the practice rooms; but he doesn’t mind.  It reintroduced the meaning back into his talent. He feels all the hard work and practice is worth it in the end. To Morgan, singing is more than just something to do, it’s a way of life. It adds so much more to his daily life and has opened up a doorway to a possible career option.  He expressed that he may even want to go into music production. “The way you can express yourself I guess [musically]. It helps you convey your feelings and emotions. If you’re in a sad or depressing mood you can sing a happy song to express what you’re feeling.” That’s what makes it so enjoyable for him.