“John Morse is one of those old school rockers who have been around forever and is still kicking ass. Although criticized by many, Johnny makes no bones about who he is, and what he does. I first heard about John on the radio sometime back when Pat Travers was playing in Albany, and Pat called into Mrozek talking about this crazy drunk guy named John Morse who just gets hammered and runs onstage to rip on his guitar. Needless to say, I had to learn more about this guy. So I checked out Johnny’s website (which greets you with an image of a sodium chloride drip filled with Jagermeister) and loved everything I saw and heard. His originals are pure booze fueled blues rock, the way it should be. It immediately struck me that John Morse is a guy who plays with all he’s got, and doesn’t give a fuck what other people think. I liked that. At this point I had many questions about this guy, and I thought, what better way to answer them than to get it straight from the Jager – Camels mouth!”

“ KM: How long have you been playing? JM: I have been playing clubs around here since I was 13 Years old. I got my first guitar around 10 years old. And to all the haters the answer is NO I don’t practice all that much so start bashing now hahaha!!! The John Morse Band has had a total of about 2 practices in over 20 years (I know it shows right!).”

“KM: Do you have any old school groupie stories from back in the day? Or any crazy story that you wouldn’t mind sharing (like about broads)? JM: Well as far as groupies go I take my craft very seriously and don’t get involved in those sorts of shenanigans (hahaha). I have been doing this a very long time and can’t even remember all the stories. I’m saving them for my tell-all book (hahaha)!”

“KM: How do you know Pat Travers? JM: I met Pat Travers a while back doing a show with him. I first played a gig with him at Tigers around 1990. Since then I have booked his band in the Albany area many times and opened up for him about 10-12 times. Just to get to watch someone of his caliber is always a treat, especially when it’s someone you grew up admiring. I also had the good fortune to share the stage with many of my childhood idols, Pat being one of my faves. Also the Robin Trower show back in the day was surreal. The Blue Oyster Cult were cool guys, as a matter of fact I just did a show with U.F.O at The Chance and they kicked ass! I do remember opening for Bad English in 89’. The band was basically half of Journey and Half of the Babies. Funny story about that one. I came off the stage and a guy says “hey man pretty good up there!” I look up and find myself face to face with Neal Schon. I then proceeded to spill a beer on his $500 shoes! Nice guy though.”

“John Morse plays acoustic guitar like Jerry Lee Lewis plays piano. His energy defies the very definition of the instrument, overriding its physical limitations by shear will alone. I caught up with Morse last Saturday night at Kielty’s in Waterford on a solo gig. The 43-year-old rocker’s ubiquitous presence on the Troy music scene has defined the Trojan sound (if there is such a thing) for 25 years. In front of perhaps 20 casual Saturday night patrons whose requests ranged from Jimmy Buffet to Pink Floyd, Morse slapped, slid, and pummeled his instrument, plugging the unplugged to electrify his audience and command their attention.”

“There is a sense of resignation in Morse’s voice. On one level, he’s done what few from the area have accomplished and that is make a living playing classic rock four nights a week within a 20-mile radius for a quarter century. He’s outlasted two owners at The Tugboat Tavern with an unusually pliant attitude. “I guess I just work with (club) owners, you know? If they’re having a terrible night, it’s not worth it for me to sit there and play all night and expect full pay. If it’s not worth it to them, it’s not worth is to me. So, it’s kind of like Let’s Make a Deal at the end of the night.””

“Last Saturday night, Morse sang a Tom Waits song about Jersey girls that he said Bruce Springsteen covered, commenting how good the song had to be for Springsteen to want to do it. Like Springsteen, Morse is so in the now, as if this moment, this song, this lyric, this plea is his last shot at defining his musical emotion before the end of the world. By the same token, he tells his audience that Starstruck on April 4th is opening for Bret Michaels, Poison’s lead singer and star of the VH1 reality series Rock of Love at Northern Lights. “He tours around with two buses full of (naughty ladies) that try to be his girlfriend,” says Morse. “I might be jumping on one of those buses.””

“ “I can do Keith Richards. All I need is to do is get a skull ring and a bottle of whiskey.” John Morse may reside in Cohoes, but best as he can he lives the classic British rock star role. At 42, he admits he’s slowed down a little. Now, he goes to bed at dawn. Twenty years ago he would stay up for three days straight, crash and then do it again. Now he’s trying to convince vocalist Tommy Love to do a Rolling Stones tribute band. After all, Love looks like an overgrown Mick Jagger. He sings most of the Stones repertoire, and when he’s on stage he’s channeling Mick. Together, they’re a red Silverado with a full load on a down hill run”

“ Morse may never convince Tommy Love to fully disappear into his Mick Jagger persona, but I don’t know anyone locally who comes closer to the energy and swagger of the Stones than John Morse and his band. Considering the state of local music, the mere fact that he works five or six nights a week is impressive”

“John Morse, big rocker in small pond, His enthusiasm is as infectious as his music. He hosts two open mics a week, Wednesdays as Kielty’s and Thursdays at The Tugboat Tavern in Cohoes. He’s long had the John Morse Band, and five months ago he formed Starstruck, a new group mining the same field that Dublin’s Thin Lizzy held in the ’70s, garage rock and a punk attitude with savoir faire. Thursday, March 05, 2009”

““I didn’t expect I’d live past 27,” admits the barely contained ball of energy that is Johnny Morse. “So, at 43, I’m ahead of the game.” His eyes looked like cats eye marbles in a pool of motor oil. He’d just come off a three-day bender he admits was spent downing whiskey to a George Jones greatest hits CD in rotation with other country weepers. Morse’s personal life has always been a blur in the background of a bright rock and roll comet streaking across the local music scene. The details of his soap opera are almost irrelevant to his flame in the sky, but you know he’s going to crash eventually. One just hopes that he becomes Keith Richards and not Keith Ledger.”

“Morse got out of the hospital on a Friday, and that Saturday afternoon he opened for classic rocker Rick Derringer whose biggest hit “Hang On Sloopy” topped the charts the year Morse was born, 1965. “Derringer is supposed to be born again, but by the end of the night I made sure he had a beer in his hand. Actually, he was pretty staggered by the time he left the place. So, I don’t think he’ll be doing any gigs with me anytime soon,” says Morse with an obvious sense of bravado and pride.”

“John Morse benefit at the Tugboat Tavern, 159 Bridge Ave. in Cohoes. “Started out it was just going to be me and another band,” says Morse about Saturday’s tribute show. He’s been doing a Thursday night jam at the Tugboat long enough to outlast two owners. “Whenever they sell the business, I come with the building.” The veteran rocker is almost as good at standup comedy as he is full throttle rock and roll. Bands are still calling to get in on Saturday’s marathon which starts at 3 p.m. and Morse figures will go on at least until 4 in the morning”

“Troy rock scene that has been, is today, and hopefully will continue to be simply extraordinarily wonderful. Why is that? Is it in the water? "I wouldn’t know the answer to that," says John Morse whose band opens Saturday’s show at 2 p.m. in Powers Park. "I don’t drink water." The Cohoes native more than a decade ago released an album called “Life on the Bottle.” He lives the rock and roll lifestyle. You don’t call him before four in the afternoon. The more drinks in him the better he plays. "At this point, it’s survival basically," he says. "I don’t know what else to do. I gotta play one night a week just to pay for my cigarette habit."”

“KM: What do you have to say to all of the haters out there of John Morse? JM: Well there certainly are a lot of Johnny haters out there. I would say you have too much time on your hands to sit and bash me on Craigslist. Maybe you should try playing out once in a while, or get drunk, or maybe even find yourself a woman if that’s possible. Really what does that say about you if you have to bash a drunk fuck like me all day? Could you maybe aim a little higher? I guess some people’s lives suck so much they have to bash others. I don’t have the time for that shit. I’m too busy trying to get gigs and have fun! I also just noticed some people bashing your mag on CL, WTF? You’re just trying to have some fun, I don’t get it.KM: Neither do we. Thanks Johnny for answering some questions with us. Keep Rocking! ”