SmartStop Self Storage, the retail brand for Strategic Storage Trust Inc., is sponsoring a CD of songs by Brent Morgan, the music teacher who won the $5,000 grand prize in the companys Sing It Smart video-jingle contest on Facebook two years ago. Morgan, 25, is a youth music leader and teacher at Good Shepard United Methodist Church in Madison, Ala. After his jingle Goodbye Clutter, Hello Floor won the SmartStop contest, Morgan said he became "kind of addicted to jingle writing and writing altogether."
He subsequently has won several more jingle contests for other companies. One contest in which he was a finalist landed him on NBCs Today show. In that instance, Morgan was chosen from more than 1,000 entries to perform live on national television.
The experience inspired him to record a five-song CD, but he lacked the necessary resources. He reached out to SmartStop, which ultimately funded the purchase of equipment and the hiring of studio musicians and an engineer.
"After the Today show, I decided I would love to actually record the songs that I love writing and performing," Morgan said. "When I figured out how much it would be to record in a real studio, I realized that I couldn't do it on my own. I have a lot of the equipment needed, and some friends in New York are going to help me out with distributing costs. But I needed help to afford the equipment, studio musicians and mastering of the EP, and I remembered how great it was to work with SmartStop during the jingle contest. Amazingly enough, SmartStop agreed to help out, and here I am now about to make this EP of my favorite songs. I can't wait to share this with everyone!"
"SmartStop has always sponsored athletes such as cycling teams and World Extreme Fighters," said H. Michael Schwartz, chairman and CEO. "We're excited about this opportunity to support a musician we admire so much. We're certain that Brent will be a huge success, and his songs will make many people happy."
Strategic Storage Trust is a publicly registered, non-traded real estate investment trust. The companys self-storage portfolio includes 111 facilities in 17 states and Canada that are branded as SmartStop Self Storage. The portfolio includes approximately 70,000 self-storage units and 9.3 million square feet of rentable storage space.
