A Craig Morgan Exclusive, From Off-Grid Alaska to New Music and Blake Shelton’s Tour

Updated:

March 4, 2025 12:40 pm

An hour before he was supposed to be on stage at Knoxville, Tennessee’s Thompson Boling Arena Friday night, Craig Morgan stood show-ready in his backstage dressing room talking to a couple of men about expensive hammers. One of the guys owns the high-end tool company BOSS Hammers and saw Morgan using one in Alaska.

“They’re $400 titanium hammers,” Morgan said after they left. “It’s the only thing up there that I can drop in the cold or set it down when it’s 20 degrees below zero and pick it back up, and your fingers don’t stick to the metal.”

Morgan spends a good bit of time in Alaska these days. He and his son operate Craig Morgan’s Alaskan Off Grid Experience near Trapper Creek, Alaska. Situated nine miles from the closest road with no electricity or running water, Morgan and his son Kyle Greer teach guests everything from emergency survival skills, such as fire building and shelter building, to full-time off-grid living.

“It’s a very, very high-end experience,” Morgan said, explaining guests go fishing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, snow machining, and more before they return for a five-course meal.

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Craig Morgan’s ‘American Soundtrack’ Is Out Now

The information is fresh. Morgan just returned from Alaska a few days ago. Now, he’s part of Blake Shelton‘s Friends & Heroes Tour and just released his new six-song EP, American Soundtrack, which is full of faith and patriotism. Morgan co-wrote five of the songs.

“This is the best music I’ve ever written,” Morgan declared. “I think I’m singing better than I ever have. It’s just the process of time and experience, and all those things coming together to culminate into this music.”

Morgan called American Soundtrack “a God thing” and likened it to the way “The Father, My Son and the Holy Ghost” came together.

“I can feel this weird thing that God’s doing something here,” Morgan said of the EP. “It is basically the idea that music makes you think about your life, and especially us as Americans, and how music has impacted us.”

Morgan wrote “Who I’m From” with Phil O’Donnell, Chris Wallin, and Ira Dean. It’s one of his favorites, and he said the song is a play on the frequent question, “Where are you from?”

“We ask everyone, ‘Hey, where are you from?’” Morgan explained. “No one ever says, ‘Who are you from?’ And that’s what this song is about. It talks about the people that I come from and our heritage. And I think most people could do the same thing.”

Craig Morgan Leans Into Iconic Song Titles

Morgan wrote the title track with O’Donnell and Dan Couch. The men leaned into iconic songs for lyrical inspiration.

Lyrics include: Talkin’ ’bout that “Sweet Home” from the boys in Alabama| A “Ring Of Fire” from the Man In Black| Keep the lights on, “Hotel California” | And “Free Fallin’” in a pink Cadillac

“It is literally talking about how those songs and those people affected us,” Morgan said. “People always say, ‘That song affected me this way or this time in my life.’ I tell ’em what really happens is they were having a moment, and a song happened to be playing. Because of that, that song will forever be embedded into their mind and affiliated with that moment in their life. That’s a wonderful thing, and it’s a blessing for us because that’s what keeps us going.”

Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins are Craig Morgan’s Best Friends

While his new songs are top-of-mind for Morgan, he didn’t play them Friday night in Knoxville.

Instead, he wowed the crowd with his biggest hits, including “Redneck Yacht Club,” “That’s What I Love About Sunday,” and “International Harvester.” Morgan laughed, and said the fact he was on stage at all was a surprise. Typically, he stops working before Thanksgiving and doesn’t return to music until the end of March. However, Shelton’s tour—which also includes Trace Adkins, Deana Carter, and Emily Ann Roberts—started in February.

“I almost didn’t do it just because of that,” Morgan said. “But, it’s Blake. And honest to God, Blake and Trace, of all the people in this business, those two guys that are my closest friends. When we’re together, it’s as if we just left each other yesterday. If the three of us weren’t in music, if we were construction workers, we would be drinking beer together and having wine together on the weekend.”

Morgan’s American Soundtrack is out now. Shelton’s Friends & Heroes Tour runs through March 22.