Sometimes fate knocks on your door, and other times it parks down the street. A while back, Morgan Sloan’s neighbor four doors down in Huntsville’s Five Points area had a former Limestone County school bus for sale. Sloan, who works at a downtown restaurant and is a local musician, bought the bus. He converted it into a mobile recording studio.

Inside, there’s a desk with a laptop running Ableton recording software, microphones and mic stand, speakers and digital camera. A cloud-print tapestry hangs on the back wall. He’s dubbed the vehicle Tune Bus. It’s personalized license plate reads as such.

On the bus Sloan records music, inspired by artists like Radiohead and the Rolling Stones, including his song “Rat Race Catwalk.” He’s also recorded tracks by friends, including Gus Hergert. Sloan has long admired Hergert’s organic songcraft. “Gus is a huge part of why I’m playing music now,” Sloan says. Kam Jones, a talented musician formerly of alt-rockers Hunnivega and now a country artist, has recorded on Tune Bus too.

“I’ve been talking to all my musician friends about doing this podcast thing,” Sloan says. “Where I bring them on the bus, do a short interview, record a song, go on location to different places that are like Huntsville iconic places. Ditto [Landing], Monte Sano [State Park], Big Spring Park.” Other local musicians slated for the podcast project include alt-rock singer/songwriter Clayton Albrecht. Sloan honed his recording chops working at local studio Sound Cell.

Sloan also uses Tune Bus as a mobile performance stage. He drives his bus, equipped with a power generator, to local spots including the downtown square and near Big Spring Park. He turned the bus’s wheelchair lift into a diving board sized stage. He performs solo acoustic sets from there.

From playing in the corner of local bars like Moody Mondays, Sloan says with a smile, “I’m no stranger to a small stage.” He’d like to do Tune Bus performances for local pop-up events too. (More info at morgansloanmusic.com.) Sloan also still plays shows at brick and mortars, including a 3-6 p.m. July 6 gig at Green Bus Brewing.

Sloan built a bed inside the Tune Bus. There’s a couple couches too. The ceiling’s about six feet high and the interior’s roomier than you might think. It’s about the size of a small studio apartment. Seated inside Tune Bus on a recent afternoon Sloan says, “Most everything in here is either thrifted, repurposed from something, or a hand me down.”

Sloan hopes to take the bus on the road. “Book a tour where every six hours or so of driving, I’m stopping at a new place and playing a night. Then resting up and on to the next place. The traveling element of this is central to the concept.”

Before Sloan bought the bus, it had been for sale in front of his neighbor’s house for a couple of years. No takers. Sloan previously helped another neighbor restore another bus and enjoyed that process.

Sloan owned a pop-up camper and grew up camping with his dad. “But he’s gotten to be more of a snorer,” Sloan says, “so I can’t camp in the same shared lodging with him anymore.” To keep their camping trips going, Sloan looked for a second vehicle to convert into an RV for his dad. “So I’d have my pop-up, and he would have his own thing,” Sloan says.

When the neighbor dropped the price on the bus again, Sloan went over with his dad with intentions of buying it for him. “But it has 265,000 miles on it,” Sloan recalls. “My dad’s old school and he’s like, over 200,000 miles I’m not touching it, you know.” Even though his dad wasn’t into it, Sloan still was. The bus, a 26-foot 2000 Blue Bird TC 1000, had a Cummins Turbo Diesel engine, known for durability. “You can put a million miles on it,” Sloan says.

The lower price on the bus was still a bit out of his range though. Sloan told the neighbor the price he could pay. To sweeten the offer, Sloan told his neighbor, who’d started playing guitar, he’d give him guitar lessons too. That sealed the deal. He’s since taught his neighbor songs by the likes of bluegrass phenom turned jam-band star Billy Strings. Sloan sold his pop-up trailer to offset purchasing the bus.

As you might guess, Sloan is handy. He got that from his dad and grandad. “My granddad,” Sloan says, “grew up with the [Great] Depression era mindset of save everything, fix everything yourself. He instilled that hardcore into my dad, which in turn was passed on to me.”

Sloan grew up listening to his grandad play songs on an acoustic guitar. After he died a few months ago, Sloan’s grandad left him all his guitars, including Harmony, Taylor and Gibson acoustics. Now, Sloan uses those instruments to record and perform on Tune Bus. “My grandad,” he says, “is such a huge influence on my life all around.”