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Michael Morrison in front Morrison Hotel in Seattle (no relation)
Pegge Keller, circa 1990
I am Michael Clay Morrison, an aspiring singer-songwriter. I reside in Seattle, WA.
If you have received my first promotional calendar in the mail, it is because I picked you. There are so many thousands of new musicians releasing songs every single day, and so much social media, it is beyond mind-boggling. Up to a few years ago, I had so many jobs that I tried to love, but never really did. I am finally happy now that I am no longer doing those jobs. It is exciting to be a tiny part of the music world. Me, you, and a couple of billion established and unestablished musicians.
Thank you for your encouragement and support and honesty. Please visit the ContactMe page if you wish to send me a message. Would love to hear from you. I am also looking for collaborators for covers as well as new songs.
Tribute to Pegge Keller
Who is Pegge Keller? Her real name is “Margaret Alice Jean (Pegge) Morrison Keller. She is my mother. Born in Indiana in 1935, Pegge learned piano from age four, and ended up in a band as a singer at age sixteen. She quit the band at eighteen when she got married and eventually had three children. Pegge, then in her late 20’s, ditched her secretary job with an insurance company, and started playing the piano and singing in the lounge at the “Orange Bowl” in Rialto, California. She would practice during the day and work at night. Her son, Michael Clay Morrison grew up in Rialto. “To this day, I remember the music and lyrics to most of the songs Pegge played when I was a kid, which was pretty much everything from the standards to 60’s pop and adult contemporary.
Pegge learned what a “tip jar” was, and the rest is history! “She loved those tips, and we traveled the world with the money.” From there, Pegge went on to work at “The Gourmet” and “The Uptowner” in San Bernardino, CA. Then in her own establishment “The Piano Bar”, in Rockdale Texas. From there she moved to San Diego and was a lounge pianist and singer for six years at the “The Westgate”, in San Diego, CA. Finally, she entertained for several years at the Ahwanee Hotel Lounge at Yosemite, until she retired in the late nineties.
A true lounge singer of her caliber is a dying breed, although Ms. Keller is very much alive, and resides in Fresno, California. “She could play everything by ear. In Rockdale, she had a small dance floor. It was really the only place to go in that small town. People would dance up a storm, some coming every night.
As for me, I have released two of my favorite covers: “The Glory of Love” and “It Had to be You”. I hope you like them. Even if they’re not for you, I would still love to hear from you. Tell me what you really think: Contactme.
Thank you!
Sincerely, Michael Clay Morrison