In July of last year, The Reaganomics singer/guitarist Terry Morrow began writing a musical as he found himself in need of an artistic outlet during the pandemic. After revisiting a short story called “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, Morrow started pairing various musical concepts with themes from the story. In regards to his motivations for doing so, Morrow explained “The current state of ‘things’ in our country got me thinking about rituals, and how we as a society do a lot of swallowing of ritual, rarely questioning or considering why we do the things we do. We do a lot of things because ‘that’s just the way it is.’ Ritual is engrained in all of us and I’m fascinated by it. People are born and grow up in a culture that is capable of harvesting growth and beauty, but also ignorance and evil. The 2020 election, George Floyd, quarantine…it all left me feeling a lot of anxiety and unrest, and I wanted to channel it into something creative and expressive.”
After outlining the project and making several demos on his computer, Morrow’s next step was to collaborate with other musicians. It was at this point that the musical really began to take shape. “In the beginning, it felt like a typical demo that very well could never see the light of day. Then Erica Marfo was kind enough to sing ‘Nowheretown.’ She emailed her track to me since we were both in quarantine and stuck at home,” Morrow said. He continued, “Hearing a talent like Erica take my song and elevate it the way she did really gave it life and inspired me to keep pushing. It also felt validating to hear a melody I wrote being performed by someone else. I actually felt like I was listening to a musical, which was previously uncharted territory for me as a songwriter.”
Upon completion of the musical, Morrow selected “Nowheretown” as the first song to be released. In terms of his reasoning for choosing it, he said “From the first hits of the song, you feel the anticipation and the energy, and by the time the choir welcomes Erica’s lead vocal, you’re on the train and it doesn’t stop. It’s definitely one of the happier and rocking songs in a show that otherwise gets very deep and very dark. Also, it lets the listener know that the main character, Tessie, as played by Erica, has a hankering to get out of town and pursue a more fulfilling life.”
Check out “Nowheretown” below and be sure to grab tickets for the debut of Ritual in early 2022. It’s scheduled to take place on February 18th and 19th at Reggie’s Bananna’s Comedy Shack and tickets can be purchased here and here.
