Cary Morin

Cary Morin
Born
Cary Lewis Morin

Billings, Montana, U.S.
EducationCharles M. Russell High School
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Years active1978–present
SpouseCeleste Di Iorio[1]
Children3
Relatives
Musical career
Genres
Formerly of
Websitecarymorin.com

Cary Lewis Morin is an American singer, songwriter, and musician based in Fort Collins, Colorado.[3] His album Dockside Saints, released in 2021, peaked at #7 on the Roots Music Report's Top 50 Colorado Album Chart.[4] His accolades include an Independent Music Award[5] and two Indigenous Music Awards[6][7] for Best Blues Album. Morin's songs were featured in Resident Alien and Earl Biss - The Spirit Who Walks Among His People.[8] He has performed at the Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and Paris Jazz Festival, and he has toured the US and internationally.[2]

Early life

Cary Lewis Morin was born in Billings, Montana[2] and grew up in Great Falls, Montana before moving to Northern Colorado.[9] His father, Leslie Morin, was an Air Force officer[9] and his mother, Anita (née Yellowtail) Morin, was an artist.[10] A grandson of Robert Yellowtail,[11] Morin is an enrolled member of the Crow tribe and is also Assiniboine[6] with Black ancestry.[2]

Morin took piano lessons as a child and began playing guitar at age 10. He played in local country, rock, and bluegrass bands as a teenager.[2] He taught pottery workshops as a senior studio student at CMR High School,[12] and graduated from high school in 1981. In 1989, he formed a three-piece dance band, The Atoll,[9] who were featured on Denver's KMGH-TV as the "Best of Colorado."[13]

Career

Morin is known for his acoustic picking style.[14][15][2][9] His musical style has been characterized as "acoustic Native Americana" with elements of bluegrass, blues, jazz, reggae, and dance.[9] Morin performs both as a solo artist and as a member of the Young Ancients,[9] the Cary Morin Duo, and the band Cary Morin & Ghost Dog;[16][17] his wife, Celeste Di Iorio, also performs in the latter two groups.[18] He is a former member of the Pura Fé Trio[19] and The Atoll.[9] His musical influences include Neil Young, Bob Marley, and Jimi Hendrix.[20]

Morin received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fort Collins Music Association[21] and has received fellowship awards from First Peoples Fund[22] and the National Artist Fellowship.[6] NPR Music named his live performance of "Jug In The Water" as one of its best live sessions of 2020.[23]

He has toured the US, France, Denmark, Japan, Belgium, Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.[9] He has performed at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Paris Jazz Festival,[9] Folk Alliance International, and the Kerrville Folk Festival.[24][25] On stage, Morin performed in Tribe at the Celebrity Theater and as a guest performer with Kodō. He co-authored Turtle Island, a 50-member stage production that played two consecutive years to sold-out audiences in Northern Colorado.[26][9]

Awards

Morin has been nominated for Aboriginal Entertainer of the Year and Best Blues CD in the Aboriginal Peoples' Choice Music Awards.[9]

Year Award Category Nominee Result Ref.
2013 Colorado Blues Challenge Solo Championship Cary Morin Won [9]
2014 Won
Colorado Blues Society Best Solo/Duo Won [27]
Fort Collins Music Association Peer Awards Lifetime Achievement Award Won [6][28]
2015 Best Blues/Jazz Won [28]
Colorado Blues Society Favorite Blues Singer Male Won [29]
Favorite Songwriter Won
Favorite Acoustic Act Won
2016 Favorite Songwriter Won [30]
Fort Collins Music Association Peer Awards Best Blues/Jazz Won [28]
2017 Indigenous Music Awards Best Blues CD Cradle to the Grave Won [6]
2018 Fort Collins Music Association Peer Awards Best Blues Cary Morin Won [28]
Independent Music Awards Best Blues Album Cradle to the Grave Won [5]
2019 Fort Collins Music Association Peer Awards Best Blues Cary Morin Won [28]
Indigenous Music Awards Best Blues Album When I Rise Won [7]
The Telly Awards General-Music Bronze Winner Won [31]
Telluride Blues & Brews Festival Telluride Blues Challenge Cary Morin Won [32]
2023 Fort Collins Music Association Peer Awards Best Established Band/Artist Won [28]

Discography

  • 1993 - Circle of Friends[33]
  • 1999 - Acoustic Turtle Island
  • 2012 - Sing it Louder[34]
  • 2013 - Streamline
  • 2014 - Tiny Town
  • 2016 - Together[9]
  • 2017 - Cradle to the Grave
  • 2018 - When I Rise[35]
  • 2020 - Dockside Saints[36]
  • 2024 - Innocent Allies

with The Atoll

  • 1993 - Dream Marquee: Live at Lindens

with The Young Ancients

  • 2015 - Fishstory[37]

References

  1. ^ "Track Premiere: Cary Morin "Come the Rain" by Jonathan Aird". Americana UK. August 5, 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Cary Morin". Music Maker Foundation. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  3. ^ In The NoCo; O'Toole, Erin; Vincent, Robyn (20 February 2024). "Fort Collins singer-songwriter Cary Morin's new album brings the Old West to life". In The NoCo. KUNC. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
  4. ^ "The Roots Music Report's Top 50 Colorado Album Chart for the Week of June 12, 2021". Roots Music Report. June 12, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "The 16th Independent Music Awards Winners Announced". Independent Music Awards. 3 April 2018. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Cary Morin". 2018 National Artist Fellowship. Native Arts + Cultures Foundation. 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  7. ^ a b Slingerland, Calum (20 May 2019). "Here Are the Winners of the 2019 Indigenous Music Awards". Exclaim!. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  8. ^ "Music". Earl Biss Movie. Goldenwind Productions LLC. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Cary Morin". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  10. ^ "Anita Yellowtail Morin Obituary". Bohlender Funeral Chapel. 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  11. ^ "Artist Brings Indian Instrument". The Billings Gazette. August 10, 1990. p. 54.
  12. ^ "Sharing Art". Great Falls Tribune. April 13, 1981. p. 9.
  13. ^ Swanson, Pete (January 20, 1994). "Reggae Band Makes Waves in Colorado". Great Falls Tribune. p. 26.
  14. ^ "Live Sessions: Cary Morin". NPR Music. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  15. ^ "Cary Morin". Riff. May 30, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  16. ^ Colburn, Sarah (28 April 2022). "Guitarist Cary Morin Returning to St. Cloud for Concert". St. Cloud Times. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  17. ^ "Cary Morin & Ghost Dog". First Avenue. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  18. ^ "Cary Morin". Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  19. ^ "Pura Fé Trio: A Blues Night In North Carolina". Pure Fé. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  20. ^ "Nightlife". Missoula Independent. October 8, 1998. p. 16.
  21. ^ "Catching Up With Award-Winning Musician, Cary Morin". North Forty News. September 11, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  22. ^ "Cary Morin". First Peoples Fund. May 21, 2019. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  23. ^ "NPR Music's Best Live Sessions of 2020". Best Music of 2020. NPR Music. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  24. ^ "Untitled". Fort Collins Coloradoan. June 14, 2012. p. 28.
  25. ^ Lush, Brian (March 5, 2021). "Rockwired Notes: Cary Morin and Ghost Dog". Rockwired. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  26. ^ "Cary Morin (USA)". Time Machine Music. April 26, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  27. ^ "Colorado Blues Society 2014 Winners". Colorado Blues Society. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  28. ^ a b c d e f "FoCoMA Peer Awards". Fort Collins Musicians Association. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  29. ^ "Colorado Blues Society 2015 Winners". Colorado Blues Society. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  30. ^ "Colorado Blues Society 2016 Winners". Colorado Blues Society. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  31. ^ "The Telly Awards: Bronze Winner, General-Music". The Telly Awards. 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  32. ^ "2019 Telluride Blues Challenge Winner: Cary Morin". Telluride Blues & Brews Festival. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  33. ^ Gombert, Greg (1997). Native American Music Directory. Summertown, TN: Book Publishing Company. p. 133. ISBN 9781570670435. OCLC 37115957.
  34. ^ Englar, Charlie (March 30, 2012). "Cary Morin – Sing It Louder". North Forty News. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  35. ^ "Premiere: Cary Morin's message: When I Rise". Elmore Magazine. December 27, 2018. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018.
  36. ^ Wheatley, Chris (July 27, 2020). "Review: 'Dockside Saints' by Cary Morin". Rock and Blues Muse. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  37. ^ Johnson, Brian F. (July 1, 2015). "Young Ancients 'fishstory'". Marquee Magazine. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015.
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