Witnessing the pain of war is nothing new for Craig Morgan.
“I’ve served in the Army for 17 years,” the country music hitmaker says. “I’ve served overseas in combat situations. I’ve seen it firsthand. I know the sacrifices that are made…so I can relate.”
Get a guide to the region’s booming music scene
Subscribe to the St. Louis Music newsletter to discover upcoming concerts, local artists to watch, and more across an eclectic playlist of genres.
But there’s one thing he can’t possibly relate to.
“I’ve lost buddies and I’ve had friends that have lost limbs, and I can’t even imagine what that’s like,” the Tennessee native says quietly. “One of my very closest buddies from the Special Forces unit right now is dealing with a lot of pain. I see it, but I can’t feel it.”
But come April 28 at The Factory, Morgan will once again see it, as he serves as the headliner for the Price of Freedom Concert, an evening to benefit the heroes of the Joshua Chamberlain Society (JCS)—severely wounded military service members and the families of killed-in-action service members.
“My job is to try to entertain everybody and, and those individuals as well, and pick up their spirits a little bit, you know?” says Morgan. “I don’t know how grateful we are as a country for the services and the sacrifices that they’ve made.”
While the Grand Ole Opry member—who has built a career on songs such as “Redneck Yacht Club,” “That’s What I Love About Sunday,” and “How You Make a Man”—has plenty of feelings about the chaos of the world today, he says you won’t hear about those feelings from the stage.
“I don’t think a platform should be utilized for anything political,” says Morgan. “I don’t believe that (the stage) is a platform that I should be utilizing to force my opinions on other people. I think your life should tell those stories.”
Morgan’s own story is well-documented. He’s currently working on writing two new books following the success of his gripping memoir, God, Family, Country. But when he’s performing, it’s all about the fans—and in this case, a good cause.
“If you want to hear my opinion, I’m happy to tell you, but up there, that’s not what I’m doing up there,” he says. “I’m there to entertain. But also, I want to use my platform for good…Anytime we can help raise funds for an organization that’s doing good things, I think we should do that.”
