Growing up, Buddy Morsello spent a lot of time in Northern Michigan, but on February 11th of 2022, a normal day to most became one that changed the course of his life forever.
“The biopsy came back February 11th, 2022. And that was, it revealed stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma Follicular,” said Morsello.
But a diagnosis this extreme actually gave Buddy inspiration and motivation for his next steps in life.
“I always had a guitar, I play guitar, I write my own songs. That’s always been something I’ve done. but never like, really, really pursued it because most people have a lot of voices surrounding them, telling them that’s not a real thing. After that diagnosis, I was just like, you know what? I got one shot at this thing I don’t have; I can’t go back. What I thought I gave up on came back full force like a flood and I was like, you need to go to California. You need to find the right people. Who are you who are just surrounded by the fire of the music business and go record something to the best of your ability. And so that’s what I did,” he said.
While in California, Buddy crossed paths with Robert Eibach, an American Multi-Grammy and Latin award nominated producer and musician who’s worked with big names like Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez and Taylor Swift.
“I tell him, you know, I write songs. They’re primarily acoustic. And he’s like, well, you know, if you want to make an impact, I think electronic dance music would be the best way. he really believed that the combination of the lyrics and then coming from a place of a pain and putting him to dance it really, it really shows that bittersweet of life, because it’s both like there’s a quote and I’m sure many people think it’s cheesy, but it says learn to dance in the rain. It’s true. It’s completely true because it’s going to come. The rain will continue to come if you don’t learn how to find that joy in it. You’re going to struggle your whole life,” Buddy said.
Buddy’s song ‘Call My Name’ was released on June 15th, 2024. An ode to everything he’s gone through since his diagnosis.
“Here in California, I got acquainted with certain things that I never was acquainted with before, like the Santa Ana winds, the Santa Ana winds are something that comes through, these mountain corridors. And in dry seasons, they can be the impetus for extreme fires. Like, there’s lots of fires here. And I was like, wow, that’s how the diagnosis felt because it just it came through like a blazing fire. and so that’s, you know, the lyrics of the song, it came like the Santa Ana’s with flames in the valley setting my yesterday ablaze. Because that’s exactly what happened,” Morsello said.
A reminder that even through some of life’s worst storms, you can always find the sunshine.
“It’s just so important for me to say, hey, listen, cancer doesn’t just destroy, it can wake up people. It can give them hope, and it can help push them into being what they’ve always wanted to be. It’s not just one way,” he said.
You can stream Morsello’s song ‘Call My Name’ on Spotify and Apple Music.