When his musical career took off a couple of decades back, Craig Morgan made the difficult decision to leave the military a little before he’d completed 20 years of service. In late July 2023, Morgan was performing at the Grand Ole Opry when he re-enlisted in the Army Reserve, bringing his two worlds together and making a public commitment to see his unfinished business through. “The Grand Ole Opry epitomizes country music, and I’ve been a soldier most of my life. It just made sense to bring these two things together,” Morgan says. “Enlisting again in the Army Reserve was a great opportunity to finish something I started many years ago and get my 20-year letter that says I served my country.”

Having previously served as a Staff Sergeant and Fire Support Specialist with the Army’s 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions, Morgan brings valuable experience to the Reserve for incoming recruits. The obligations are pretty minimal, he says — one weekend out of a month and two weeks in a year — and could mean anything from doing drills to speaking engagements. “If I can do it, anybody can do it,” he says.

Just as the Army has called on Morgan, he has called on some of his talented friends to contribute to his latest project. Appropriately titled "Enlisted" (Broken Bow Records), the six-track release offers new takes on four of the Tennessee native’s biggest hits along with two new tracks and appearances by Trace Adkins, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Gary LeVox, Blake Shelton, and Lainey Wilson. The end result highlights the enduring, evergreen quality of his singles while giving them a fresh update. “Initially, I wasn’t sold on the idea of redoing my old songs,” Morgan says. “But the more I thought about it, I thought it would be fun if I could do it with some of my friends, and also do it in a way that it felt like new music.”

Morgan became aware that a new generation of artists had grown up listening to his music when he saw a clip of Jelly Roll performing his 2002 hit “Almost Home” at the Grand Ole Opry. “He was telling this very moving story about how he’d seen me perform,” Morgan says. “I reached out and we became friends.” Jelly Roll joins Morgan on a powerful new rendition of “Almost Home” for Enlisted, with the two men swapping verses and injecting the song with deep feeling. It’s an example of how even the most unlikely of friends and collaborators can bond over a great song. “We’re living proof that you can come from two completely different backgrounds, have two different perspectives, and get along,” Morgan says. “And not only get along but create and have a positive impact.”

Morgan’s 2007 hit “International Harvester” gets a lively little twist from the presence of Lainey Wilson, who once told Morgan that she used to ride around in her daddy’s tractor listening to that song. “I love everything about what she does and who she is,” Morgan says. “And ‘International Harvester,’ it’s become a viral song with a dance. I love having Lainey bring her own personality to the song and also bring some attention to women working in agriculture.”

When Morgan’s career was first taking off, Blake Shelton and Rascal Flatts had just established themselves as new stars and they became fast friends. Shelton even appeared in the original “Redneck Yacht Club” video, so this time around he gets to add his voice to one of country’s greatest summer anthems. Flatts singer Gary LeVox joins in on a soulful, hymnlike version of “That’s What I Love About Sunday,” the 2004 Number One written by Adam Dorsey and Mark Narmore. “When Blake and I talk, we don’t talk a lot about music — we talk about everything else,” Morgan says. “Same with Gary. We’re friends outside of the music. They know they can call me any hour of the day or night and all they gotta tell me is whether I need to bring a backhoe or a shovel and I’ll be there to help.”

For one of his new songs, Morgan called on superstar Luke Combs, who lives not far from him just west of Nashville. “I love his presence,” Morgan says. “Everything about this guy is country music.” They put a brotherly, working-class energy into “Raise the Bar,” in which two guys with names stitched on their shirts walk into a place looking for a cold beer and ruffle the feathers of the highfalutin clientele. “It’s funny because I’m making fun of me in this song. I’m a wine and cheese guy!” Morgan says. “So I can relate to it. But it is a very blue-collar song. As much as I’m a wine and cheese guy, I’m also a boots and dirty jeans kind of guy.”

The other new song, “That Ain’t Gonna Be Me” with Trace Adkins, is a stately anthem that spells out the importance Morgan places on his convictions. “I’m gonna put my hand up, I’m gonna stand up for what I believe,” he sings. “For me it’s about God and family and country,” he says. “I am so blessed, and I recognize the enormous blessings of the freedoms we celebrate in this nation.”

Morgan is always quick to acknowledge how fortunate he has been and knows not to take any of it for granted. He’s enjoyed massive triumphs and endured devastating tragedy, like the loss of his son Jerry in 2016. He wrote and recorded the 2020 song “The Father, My Son, and the Holy Ghost” as a tribute and it went on to viral success, a fact that surprised him. After all this time, new people still respond to his work. “I try to live with a sense of gratitude for everything that is happening,” he says. “The number of people we impacted with ‘The Father, My Son, and the Holy Ghost’ blew my mind. You think you’ve done all you can do and then something like that happens, and you go ‘Wow, we’re still relevant.’ As long as I’m relevant, as long as I’m having a positive impact in the industry and in general, I’m going to keep doing it. The day that I don’t, the day I can’t, I’m gonna do something else.” If Enlisted is any indication, Morgan’s still got plenty of influential years ahead of him.

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