Cary Morin


Cary Lewis Morin is an American singer, songwriter, and musician based in Fort Collins, Colorado. His album Dockside Saints, released in 2021, peaked at #7 on the Roots Music Report's Top 50 Colorado Album Chart. His accolades include an Independent Music Award and two Indigenous Music Awards for Best Blues Album. Morin's songs were featured in Resident Alien and Earl Biss - The Spirit Who Walks Among His People. 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.

Early life

Cary Lewis Morin was born in Billings, Montana and grew up in Great Falls, Montana before moving to Northern Colorado. His father, Leslie Morin, was an Air Force officer and his mother, Anita Morin, was an artist. A grandson of Robert Yellowtail, Morin is an enrolled member of the Crow tribe and is also Assiniboine with Black ancestry.
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. He taught pottery workshops as a senior studio student at CMR High School, and graduated from high school in 1981. In 1989, he formed a three-piece dance band, The Atoll, who were featured on Denver's KMGH-TV as the "Best of Colorado."

Career

Morin is known for his acoustic picking style. His musical style has been characterized as "acoustic Native Americana" with elements of bluegrass, blues, jazz, reggae, and dance. Morin performs both as a solo artist and as a member of the Young Ancients, the Cary Morin Duo, and the band Cary Morin & Ghost Dog; his wife, Celeste Di Iorio, also performs in the latter two groups. He is a former member of the Pura Fé Trio and The Atoll. His musical influences include Neil Young, Bob Marley, and Jimi Hendrix.
Morin received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fort Collins Music Association and has received fellowship awards from First Peoples Fund and the National Artist Fellowship. NPR Music named his live performance of "Jug In The Water" as one of its best live sessions of 2020.
He has toured the US, France, Denmark, Japan, Belgium, Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. He has performed at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Paris Jazz Festival, Folk Alliance International, and the Kerrville Folk Festival. 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.

Awards

Morin has been nominated for Aboriginal Entertainer of the Year and Best Blues CD in the Aboriginal Peoples' Choice Music Awards.
YearAwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.
2013Colorado Blues ChallengeSolo ChampionshipCary MorinWon
2014Colorado Blues ChallengeSolo ChampionshipCary MorinWon
2014Colorado Blues SocietyBest Solo/DuoCary MorinWon
2014Fort Collins Music Association Peer AwardsLifetime Achievement AwardCary MorinWon
2015Fort Collins Music Association Peer AwardsBest Blues/JazzCary MorinWon
2015Colorado Blues SocietyFavorite Blues Singer MaleCary MorinWon
2015Colorado Blues SocietyFavorite SongwriterCary MorinWon
2015Colorado Blues SocietyFavorite Acoustic ActCary MorinWon
2016Colorado Blues SocietyFavorite SongwriterCary MorinWon
2016Fort Collins Music Association Peer AwardsBest Blues/JazzCary MorinWon
2017Indigenous Music AwardsBest Blues CDCradle to the GraveWon
2018Fort Collins Music Association Peer AwardsBest BluesCary MorinWon
2018Independent Music AwardsBest Blues AlbumCradle to the GraveWon
2019Fort Collins Music Association Peer AwardsBest BluesCary MorinWon
2019Indigenous Music AwardsBest Blues AlbumWhen I RiseWon
2019The Telly AwardsGeneral-Music Bronze WinnerWhen I RiseWon
2019Telluride Blues & Brews FestivalTelluride Blues ChallengeCary MorinWon
2023Fort Collins Music Association Peer AwardsBest Established Band/ArtistCary MorinWon

Discography

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

    with The Atoll

  • 1993 - ''Dream Marquee: Live at Lindens''

    with The Young Ancients

  • 2015 - ''Fishstory''