Having moved to Nashville just over six months ago, long-haired former rocker, Craig Morrison, son of Australian '60s music icon, Leslie Morrison (better known as Lucky Starr), has not wasted any time in making the most of everything this exciting city, the state capital of Tennessee and the home of country music, has to offer.
With two singles off his soon-to-be-released second album doing the rounds on YouTube and a successful musical background from which to draw ideas and inspiration, the Sydney native has pulled out all the stops in his attempt to make the transition from fairly unknown rock act to internationally-renowned country star.
Craig Morrison: The Next Big Thing?
"Obviously, if I aspired to be anything less, I would be silly," replies Craig, speaking to me from his home in Nashville, when asked if he could be the next Keith Urban. "Where I get to, I don’t know, but of course I’d like to be as popular as I possibly can be.
"At the end of the day, I love performing and I enjoy being up on stage and just getting feedback from the audience, so I’m just really looking forward to getting the album out and becoming popular enough to be able to get out there and tour here in the United States."
Suite101: What kind of reaction have you had so far?
"Well, we haven’t released anything here in Nashville at this stage, but Hot Kind of Love, which was the first single off my album to be released in Australia did - just through the internet - receive a fair bit of attention here.
"We had a number of write-ups in American music magazines and the video clip... I think the one with the 'making of' video clip got about 28,000 views! So overall, there’s a little bit of a groundswell - you know, people talking about it - but my official launch here isn’t until March."
Craig Morrison: Living and Working in Nashville
Craig Morrison joins a growing band of Aussie expats attempting to make a living on Music Row. Sherrie Austin, Jedd Hughes, The McClymonts and the aforementioned Keith Urban, to name but four, have all enjoyed varying levels of recognition stateside.
But what has the former frontman of the now-defunct pop/rock band, DeMont - who regularly supported the likes of Motley Crue and Skid Row on their Australian tours in the late '80s/early '90s - been up to since his arrival?
"Basically, I moved here on the first of June this year to live and straight away, I started on my second album. My first album I wrote and recorded and everything in Australia, but this one I’ve teamed up with a gentleman here by the name of Mark Moffatt, a producer who’s based here in Nashville.
"We’ve been working pretty much the last six months on songs and finding songs written by other people, compiling them and putting the album together. We’ve just about finished and in fact, I’m doing the last little touch-up of a vocal today at one o’clock, so it’s very exciting and I’m very proud of it - it’s an amazing album as far as I’m concerned."
Suite101: Why did you decide to move to the US?
"For a number of reasons... I’ve been coming to Nashville now for a number of years and I love Nashville – I love America, but also my wife is American and we were married three and a half years ago.
"My wife lived in Australia for about 12 years prior and it was sort of her turn to be on home soil and I wasn’t going to argue. I just got to pick the state because she’s originally from Seattle, so I said if we go over I’d really like to live in Nashville and try and further my career, so here we are."
Craig Morrison: Contemporary Country
Although Craig has yet to release any material in the States, the aforementioned first single off the forthcoming LP, Hot Kind of Love, has been a huge hit back home (entering the CMC Top 30) and winning the Australian Songwriter’s Association's Australian Songwriting Contest in November.
The second single, the excellent Fences (written by established Nashville songwriters, Danny Simpson and John Edwards, and with a memorable video shot in Sydney) was also very well-received, going in at number 28 and 30 respectively on the CMC charts and the Australian Country Tracks Top 30.
"Yeah, I don’t know about modern," muses Craig, when asked if he would describe his exciting sound as 'modern country', "but I like to think that it’s contemporary because I’m not trying to write old-school country music. I’m just writing my music and collaborating with other writers and I’m even using other writers’ songs.
"If I get pitched a song and to me it really says something, then I’m gonna run with it and that’s happened… I’ve got six songs on the album that I didn’t write at all, but they’re beautiful songs. I mean these guys make a living out of it here in Nashville - they’re doing it eight hours a day, five days a week, so it’s amazing what they come up with."
Craig Morrison: A New Level of Maturity
As stated earlier, Craig's upcoming album is his second effort, following 2009's Heaven Knows (released under the name, "Craig Morrison Little Cowboys"), that was written, recorded and produced entirely in Australia.
Suite101: How would you describe your first album?
"I’d describe my first album as 'Gung-ho!' I really didn’t have much idea at all, but I really wanted to put something out there and do it my way, which was good – there’s nothing wrong with that at all – but I think since then, I’ve matured a little in regards to what I need or want to hear out of me when I’m singing.
"Coming from a predominantly rock background, a lot of my old old antics came through, I guess, in regards to the way I sang and everything else, which there was nothing wrong with, but I think I’ve slowed down a bit. This new album is very poppy and fun and energetic and I think I’m just putting all my energy in the right spots now."
Craig Morrison: The Sky's the Limit
Suite101: You've done well in a relatively short space of time. What are some main ambitions that you still have left to fulfill?
"Well there’s always plenty to fulfill. I mean, I think with my bucket list, that as I tick ‘em off through life, I like to chuck a few more in there to keep things exciting. I’m always striving to better myself and be a better person, be it in the entertainment industry or as a father - that’s where I’m at mentally, I guess.
"I’m loving music, I’m loving living in Nashville and I’m loving being a dad and hoping that everything continues to prosper, so I can continue to do it and hopefully make people happy, which would be good. That’s what we try to do."
Adrian Peel - Adrian is an English freelance writer and journalist currently living in Mexico. Over the past eight years, he has had articles, features ...
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