ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) – A Rockford man who lived a life of rock ‘n’ roll stardom for more than a decade is still creating art.
Only now, he’s traded his microphone for a computer and graphic design software.
“We got to a place where we could play music for a living doing it, and it was very rewarding,” said Garret Rapp, lead singer of the Rockford-based rock band, The Color Morale. “I feel like I’ve visited every city in America numerous times. So, I have a really cool and unique perspective on different places.”
The Color Morale broke out of Rockford in 2007 and was eventually signed to two record labels. They recorded six studio albums, one that reached No. 1 on U.S. Heat Billboard chart , and played mass audiences in the United States in overseas.
“It was crazy,” Rapp, 43, said. “I had never traveled out of the country before music. Music was kind of the thing that took me all over—Australia, Europe. We had an exclusive release in Japan that had bonus material. The whole booklet was written in Japanese.”