‘Catch of the Day’ – Craig Morgan – “I’ll Be Home Soon” [VIDEO]

Today's feature focuses on an artist who has built his own charitable organization, the DCCMF, whose goal is general providing for the well-being of children and in particular, providing housing for temporarily displaced children in his home county of Dickson, TN.

The mission of the Dickson County Craig Morgan Foundation, is stated simply in a quote from Craig Morgan's website from Matthew 18:5, "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name, welcomes me." Having served as a police officer after leaving the military and prior to his success in Nashville, Craig Morgan has seen the effect of a child displaced from their home. He has seen overworked children services offices case workers who are simply overwhelmed and stretched beyond their capabilities. While he grew up in a household with both parents, Morgan knows well the sorrow of broken homes. He hosts an annual two-day event to support the foundation and its current goal, to build "Billy's Place" a shelter where children can go and have a place to stay until permanent foster care can be provided.

But aside from his charitable work, it's Craig Morgan's "day-time job" that gives him the name recognition to do the good work he does in the community. After spending time in the Army as a forward observer, serving in the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions for 9 1/2 years on active duty and another 6 1/2 in the Army reserves, Morgan returned home to work in constriction and in law enforcement while singing demos for Nashville song writers and publishing companies.

After releasing a generally un-noteworthy self-titled debut album with Atlantic Records Nashville in 2000, Morgan signed with Broken Bow Records, releasing his second album, I Love It in 2003. The album featured Morgan's breakthrough single "Almost Home", which peaked at #6 on the Billboard Country singles chart, though it received Song of the Year awards from several organizations, including Broadcast Music Inc. The song is credited by many as being the beginning of "a new wave" of independent artists in country music. The album also included the self reflective "God, Family and Country".

Morgan would release two more albums for Broken Bow, My Kind of Livin' and Little Bit of Life, which featured 6 top-10 hits, including Morgan's only #1 hit to date, "That's What I Love About Sundays". In 2008 he moved to BNA Records for the album That's Why, placing three singles in the top-10, including "This Ain't Nothin'", which peaked at #3.

Prior to the release of his next album, Morgan would once again prove himself to be an understated hero, as he rescued two young children from a burning house in Dickson, and then manned a fire hose to help put out the fire. 2012 would see another move for the singer, this time to Black Water Entertainment for the album This Ole Boy, which featured the top-20 title track.

Morgan frequently visits and preforms at military bases around the world, travelling abroad to perform on USO tours. In 2006 he received the USO Merit Award for his support of US soldiers, and he is also a strong supporter of the Special Operations Warrior foundation, an organization that provides scholarships for children of soldiers injured in the line of duty, as well as family and education counseling.

When Morgan isn't busy helping others, he finds time to make it into the studio, as he as done in the past year. In a title that imitates life, Craig's new album A Whole Lot More To Me is preparing for release on June 3rd, and the lead single from the album is in our spotlight today. Craig Morgan and "I'll Be Home Soon" is today's Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.