BaM Morgan. Rachel Horne Bam Morgan is an up-and-coming singer songwriter destined for greatness. He can be found playing open mic nights across Doncaster. We decided to catch up with him to get to know his story and what his hopes are for the future. How did you get started on this crazy journey? When I was 15-16, I was living on the streets for a while - run away type situation - and I found myself in Sheffield. I had a bit of money that I’d saved up for a while. I’m not an idiot - not gonna run away without money. I had about £50 left, so I went for some dinner and while I was eating it dawned on me that I now only had £45ish left, so by my calculations, I only had money for another nine meals. Not much. I couldn’t get a job or anything and I’d die before I begged. I saw this guy busking with a box - what I now know to be a cajon - and I thought, “Hah, I can do that,” so I went to Argos, bought the only guitar I could afford, and, leaving me no money left, I practiced and practiced for two days straight, just to learn anything I could play. I guess me being young and at least trying got me some sympathy. The rest is history. It wasn’t very good at the time but I’d do it all again. You used your creativity in a time of adversity. It’s really inspirational. Explain how your style has developed over time. Right, so I started playing... well, nothing - just notes while I was busking - but by the time I was back home I had figured quite a bit out. I had no idea what chords were what, but I could play them from sound. So basically I played whatever I could play. I messed around with the chords I’d figured out till I recognised a song in them then learnt that song. This is when I found out about tabs. Tabs - the holy grail of the beginner wannabe guitarist.
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At about 17 years old I got into electric guitar and got pretty good. In four months I’d learnt every solo to every Guns N’ Roses song. The quality of me playing them is not something I can remember, but my mum was impressed. Then I broke the guitar by dropping it out of my bedroom window and went back to acoustic. I can’t do solos on an acoustic. I don’t get how people do. So I learnt songs by Fallout Boy, Secondhand Serenade, Brand New all those types of bands. Then Jason Mraz came into my life and changed everything. He’s probably saved my life a few times and he will never know. You recently performed for Britain’s Got Talent at the Cask Corner open mic night hosted by Jim Taplin and absolutely smashed it. How were you feeling on the night? We saw you chatting with BGT scouts after you performed. How did that go? Well, it’s not the first time I’ve auditioned, and I didn’t really play as an audition. I’ve applied and performed four times on BGT and three times for X Factor. This time I just treated it like any other Cask Corner open mic. The entire concept of the programme baffles me. There are so many amazing people that go to audition and get turned away, while people that clearly only go through for comedy reasons are made stars. It’s ridiculous. I get that they have to make it entertaining, but that doesn’t explain why a great performer gets turned down and a middle-of-theroad singer gets put through. You’ve got a lot of fans in Doncaster. There was a lot of love in the room for you at Cask on the night. As soon as you make the effort to play, you seem to just be taken in by everyone there. People ask you to come back, they want to see you again, and Julie, everyone’s second mother - she must have a