Morgan Kasprowicz - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Morgan Kasprowicz

  • Local NewsLocal News

  • Thursday, May 23 2013 8:28 AM EDT2013-05-23 12:28:29 GMT
    Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is offering West Virginia's emergency response resources to Oklahoma officials following this week's deadly tornado. Tomblin said Wednesday he spoke with Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin,
    Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is offering West Virginia's emergency response resources to Oklahoma officials following this week's deadly tornado.

  • Wednesday, May 22 2013 7:16 PM EDT2013-05-22 23:16:09 GMT
    A West Virginia senator who's long pushed parents, coaches and communities to help protect young athletes from concussions is now sponsoring federal legislation to set safety standards for helmets. U.S.
    A West Virginia senator who's long pushed parents, coaches and communities to help protect young athletes from concussions is now sponsoring federal legislation to set safety standards for helmets.

  • Wednesday, May 22 2013 7:09 PM EDT2013-05-22 23:09:00 GMT
    It was a special day Wednesday for children and faculty at the Mercer County Early Learning Centers as they got special visitor. "I've never been down to the southern part of the state that much as a
    It was a special day Wednesday for children and faculty at the Mercer County Early Learning Centers as they got special visitor.
    •   

  • 55 Good Things

  • Every year since 1986, The State Journal has devoted a section of the newspaper to highlight 55 people, places, businesses, traditions and events that make the Mountain State a special place to live.
    It's become a late spring and summer tradition. Every year since 1986, The State Journal has devoted a section of the newspaper to highlight 55 people, places, businesses, traditions and events that make the Mountain State a special place to live.

  • Although Blennerhassett Hotel is steeped in history, it is the center of downtown revitalization in Parkersburg.
    Although Blennerhassett Hotel is steeped in history, it is the center of downtown revitalization in Parkersburg.

  • One of the Mountain State's most beloved and well-attended events features hundreds of people leaping from a bridge 876 feet above the New River.
    One of the Mountain State's most beloved and well-attended events features hundreds of people leaping from a bridge 876 feet above the New River.
    •   

Kingwood native making it as singer-songwriter

By PAM KASEY ∙ pkasey@statejournal.com

KINGWOOD — A West Virginia girl is making a go of it in Nashville.

Kingwood native Morgan Kasprowicz has launched her career as a singer-songwriter with the limited release of a new, extended-play CD, "Two Ways".

Kasprowicz attributes some of her talent and inclination to her mother, Geri Kasprowicz, also a singer.

She started trying out for musicals in middle school. A director gave her some useful advice: Take voice lessons. She studied classical voice while continuing to perform in musicals through her years at Preston High School.

At the same time, she'd written poetry and studied piano as a child and, at the encouragement of her mother, tried her hand at song writing.

Her experience at the Governor's School for the Arts in her sophomore year emboldened her to take it all more seriously. 

"I guess, before that, I didn't realize it was something that was available to me or a viable option," she said. "I think sophomore year was the first time I got a lead in a play and basically between my sophomore and junior years of high school, I decided I'm going to do this — this is what I really want to do."

She began training to audition for Belmont University in Nashville — a school she described as similar to the respected Berklee College of Music in Boston, but one of the few places, she said, to study pop, jazz, or country rather than classical voice.

"I got in and pretty much since then it's been all music, all voice, all the time," she said.

Kasprowicz describes her musical style as a hybrid of folk, jazz and pop, heavily influenced by Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman.  

"Lyrics are a major focus, and I like to find chord progressions that take your ears to unexpected places," she said. 

"Vocally, I steal a lot from Sarah Vaughan;  I love the darkness, the heaviness, the fullness of her voice, and those are vocal qualities that are missing in a lot of current popular female voices," she added.  "I have a dark, heavy voice, and I don't try to hide it.  I love to sing big. I love to sing full.  If it's brash, it's intentional."

Kasprowicz teaches voice in Nashville.

And recently, with friends, she recorded "Two Ways", her first album. She released it in a limited way at a show in Kingwood in April and is making it more broadly available on her website, http://morgankasprowiczmusic.bandcamp.com/.

Asked about her ambitions, Kasprowicz said she wants to keep doing what she's doing.

"I play music because it's something that I like to do. It's something that fulfills me," she said. "I've talked to people who want me to say, ‘I want to be a star!' but really, I don't.  Playing and sharing music is what's in me so I'm going to continue doing it."