LAMB OF GOD Guitarist's Parents Are 'Extremely Proud' of Son's Accomplishments

Malcolm Venable of The Virginian-Pilot reports:

Raymond and Marianne Morton's son Mark Morton is a guitarist in the Richmond-based heavy-metal group LAMB OF GOD, which is one of five nominees for Best Metal Performance [in this Sunday's Grammy music awards].

The Mortons live in Williamsburg but may watch the broadcast Sunday from Mark's home in Henrico County, where they sometimes housesit and take care of his dog and cat.

And even though their son's category isn't on the schedule for the Grammy broadcast, they're thrilled.

"Just to look at him from where he started a few years ago, practicing at our house and doing the Battle of the Bands in Hampton Roads, he has come a long way," Raymond Morton said. "I don't even know if we realized how big they are. Maybe because we've watched him eat and sleep with his guitar since he was 6 or 7, and now to see him in all the magazines and realize he's one of the top guitarists in the heavy-metal field, it's quite an accomplishment.

"It's not particularly our type of music" — Raymond favors country and music from the '60s and '70s — "but we're extremely proud."

The Mortons are close-knit, Marianne said. She's from Germany, and her family there will tune in, too.

Mark's brother Allan is a firefighter at the James City County Fire Department. "It's a pretty big deal," Allan said, guessing that his firefighter friends are "tired of hearing about it."

He's not going — he just found out about the nomination recently, and the tickets are steep. B ut he's rooting for his brother, who at 34 is eight years younger than Allan.

"I don't view him as a rock star," Allan said. "He's still my little brother. When we get together, we do the same things we always did — help my dad on his house, go fishing or watch NASCAR. But it'll be a big gathering when he gets home. I'm very proud."

Read the entire article at The Virginian-Pilot.