Upon his return home to Tennessee, he worked various jobs to support his family, including as a construction worker, a security guard and a
Wal-Mart employee. He would later land a job in
Nashville singing
demos for other songwriters and publishing companies. The album was produced by
Buddy Cannon and
Norro Wilson, with co-writing credits from Cannon,
Bill Anderson and
Harley Allen among others. The album's final track, "I Wish I Could See Bakersfield", included a recitation from
Merle Haggard. Jim Patterson of
The Ledger said that lead-off single "Something to Write Home About" was "pedestrian", but that the rest of the album was "an uncommonly assured hard-country effort". Late in the year, Morgan charted a Christmas single entitled "The Kid in Me". Morgan left Atlantic Records in early 2001 when the label closed its Nashville branch, but said that he was not afraid of his musical future because he still had a publishing contract at the time.
2002–2004: I Love It In 2002, Morgan signed with
Broken Bow Records. The label released his second album,
I Love It, in March 2003. Leading off this album was "God, Family and Country", a song dedicated to former Nashville session drummer Randy Hardison, with backing vocals from the group
4 Runner. It peaked at number 49 on the country charts. Following this song was Morgan's second Top 40 hit, "
Almost Home". The song originally fell off the Hot Country Songs charts from a peak position of number 33. However, it experienced an unexpected increase in airplay after falling off the charts, so it was reinstated at the number 25 position three weeks later. After re-entering the charts, the song went on to a new peak position of number six on Hot Country Songs, also reaching number 59 on the
Billboard Hot 100. The album's next two singles, "
Every Friday Afternoon" and "Look at Us", both reached the country top 30. By 2004, the album had sold more than 300,000 copies, and its success was cited by
Billboard as the beginning of a new wave of commercial success among independently signed country music artists. Jeffrey B. Remz of
Country Standard Time commended the album for maintaining a
neotraditionalist country sound, but said that the ballads were "generic".
2005–2006: My Kind of Livin Morgan released his third album, ''
My Kind of Livin''', in 2004. It included eight songs that he co-wrote, and guest vocals from
John Conlee and
Brad Paisley on "Blame Me". "That's What I Love About Sunday" also placed at No. 1 on that year's
Billboard Year-End charts for the country format. The album's next single, "
Redneck Yacht Club", reached No. 2 on the country charts and accounted for his highest peak on the Hot 100, where it went to 45.
My Kind of Livin was certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America for shipping 500,000 copies, and "Redneck Yacht Club" received a gold single certification for 500,000
music downloads.
Country Standard Time reviewer Jeffrey B. Remz was generally favorable in his review, saying that Morgan has "a strong voice" and "a number of quality songs", but his review criticized the album's "big and clean" production.
2006–2008: Little Bit of Life and Greatest Hits His third and final album for Broken Bow,
Little Bit of Life, was issued in 2006. Morgan and O'Donnell co-produced the album with
Keith Stegall, a record producer known for his work with
Alan Jackson, The label shipped more than 200,000 copies of the album in its first week, and made special exclusive releases for retailers such as
Target and
Walmart.
Billboard reviewer Deborah Evans Price gave "Tough" a positive review, praising Morgan's "strong, warm voice" and calling the song "yet another gem" from the album. A
greatest hits package followed in February 2008, shortly before his departure from Broken Bow.
2008–2010: ''That's Why'' On September 18, 2008, Morgan was invited by John Conlee to become a member of the
Grand Ole Opry. Conlee formally inducted him as a member during the October 25, 2008, edition of the Opry. Although it had been first announced that Morgan would sign to
Big Machine Records' sister label Valory Music Group, His first album for the label, ''
That's Why'', was released in October 2008. Its first single, "
Love Remembers", became his sixth top ten hit by early 2009, but follow-up "God Must Really Love Me" peaked at number 26. BNA re-issued the album in May 2009, replacing two of its tracks with the newly recorded "
Bonfire" and "
This Ain't Nothin'". The former was released that month as the album's third single, also reaching top ten. In October 2009, the music video for "God Must Really Love Me" won Video of the Year from the Inspirational Country Music Awards. In early 2010, "This Ain't Nothin'" was released as the album's fourth single. It became a top 20 country hit by year's end.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine criticized the album for having "uninspired" material, but praised Morgan's "cured country croon". In a more favorable review,
Country Standard Time wrote that the songs were "simple but profoundly observant" and compared Morgan's singing voice to
Randy Travis. Morgan's last single for BNA, "Still a Little Chicken Left on That Bone", was released in October 2010. The song peaked at number 37 on the country music charts in January 2011. A month later, he left the label.
2011–2015: This Ole Boy, ''The Journey (Livin' Hits)'' On April 1, 2011, Morgan signed with
Black River Entertainment. Two months later, he sang guest vocals on
Colt Ford's single "She Likes to Ride in Trucks". Morgan's first release for Black River was "
This Ole Boy", a song co-written by
The Peach Pickers (
Rhett Akins,
Dallas Davidson, and
Ben Hayslip) that also appears on
Joe Nichols' 2011 album ''
It's All Good''. The song is the title track to Morgan's first Black River album,
This Ole Boy, which was released on February 28, 2012. The title track was a Top 20 hit for Morgan on the Hot Country Songs chart. After it, "Corn Star" failed to make Top 40, while "
More Trucks Than Cars" reached top 30. In July 2013, Morgan released "
Wake Up Lovin' You", the first single from his second compilation album ''
The Journey (Livin' Hits)''. Morgan canceled several shows in May 2014 due to surgical complications for torn tendons in his shoulders.
2015–present: A Whole Lot More to Me The lead single to Morgan's third album for
Black River Entertainment, "When I'm Gone", was released to digital retailers on September 18, 2015, and to radio on September 21, 2015. The song peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. The album,
A Whole Lot More to Me, was released on June 3, 2016. In 2019, Morgan released a new single called "The Father, My Son, and the Holy Ghost," written about the grief he experiences after his son Jerry's death at the age of 19. Upon hearing the song,
Blake Shelton started a campaign on Twitter to help boost the song's chart position. Following this song's release, Morgan was re-signed to Broken Bow for distribution of the single. ==Personal life==