An Ordinary Man becomes a Fighting Man

Staff Sergeant Graeme Tennick, and rock band Morpheus Rising release their second single in aid of the charities Help For Heroes and the Royal British Poppy Appeal on November 2nd 2009.

Morpheus Rising are actively supporting charities in aid of those injured and affected by current conflicts. Their original music and lyrics are often inspired by the experiences of their singer, Graeme Tennick, a staff sergeant who has actively served in Afghanistan and is due to return in early 2010. Their sense of camaraderie and support for charities is a positive message emerging in darker times.

Tennick’s career in the army began in the late nineties where he first served in Kosovo, and later Bosnia and Iraq. In 2007 Tennick found himself in the middle of the conflict in Afghanistan, an experience which was the inspiration for the lyrics for the band’s latest single "Fighting Man".

Tennick spent his first months in Afghanistan at Kandahar Air Field where he regularly attended Repatriation Parades during which the coffins of soldiers killed in conflict are carried through a parade of hundreds of service personnel of all nations, saluting in silence as it moves towards the C17 aircraft bound for home.

Later serving in Camp Bastion in the Helmand Province, Tennick encountered injured soldiers of all nationalities arriving at the field hospital. The exposure to injury and death, particularly the death of a friend, WO2 Dan Shirley who served at 2 Sig Regt in York inspired Tennick to write the lyrics for Morpheus Rising’s single "Fighting Man", which is due for release on Monday November 2, 2009, the week of remembrance day.

Morpheus Rising current line-up have been together since April 2008, though the project dates back to 2004, and Tennick’s experiences in the forces, often unintentionally, inspire his lyrics. Music serves as an escape from life in the army for Tennick, allowing him to create music he is passionate about with Morpheus Rising.

The band’s desire to support charities in aid of those injured or still serving shows that it is not just Tennick who is effected by his experiences in the army, and brings home the seriousness of conflict to everyone who listens to their music. The band have received success in Germany, featuring in Rock Hard Magazine, they were listed as one of the top 3 metal bands for 2009 on sacredmetal.de and have appeared as featured artists on the Independent Music Download sites in the UK and the US.

"Fighting Man" is the second single the band have released in aid of charities supporting the serving and ex-serving community.

Their first, "An Ordinary Man", released on 28th October, 2008 (the same day as the X Factor single) received a moving response from the general public, raising a large sum for Help For Heroes, and had over 2500 hits on the accompanying youtube video in its first week. A great achievement for an unsigned, independent group. A re-working of "An Ordinary Man" accompanies this year’s single.

Staff Sergeant Tennick is currently preparing to return to Afghanistan with his current unit in 2010.

The single Fighting Man will be released on November 2nd 2009 and can be downloaded from all major online stores including iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody and HMV Online.

Buy Music:

Morpheus Rising on amazon.co.uk

Watch "Fighting Man" video, in aid of HELP for HEROES and the Poppy Appeal:

Morpheus Rising MySpace
Morpheus Rising Official Website