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James Morrison has the kind of boyish good looks which doubtless have him smouldering out of posters on thousands of young girls’ bedroom walls.
But he also has the kind of talent, ability and unique style that earns him the appreciation of serious music lovers.
So the audience, when he appears at Escot Park in July, is bound to be a good mix of young fans and the slightly less young.
His appearance is quite a coup for Escot, which is just off the A30 near Ottery St Mary, as James has been spending most of his time this year so far in the studio.
He says he is really keen on the Escot concept, particularly as the organisers have now secured the licences needed for it to be a picnic event in the grounds of the Georgian stately home which has 250 acres of rolling, unspoilt parkland.
The singer songwriter sold more than two million copies of his first album Undiscovered and his distinctive husky voice is instantly recognisable.
He was the biggest selling British male solo artist of 2006 and won a Brit Award for Best Male in 2007. And his No 1 second album, Songs For You, Truths For Me is still in the charts more than a year after its release.
James has strong West Country connections, living in Cornwall for about five years.
“I used to go busking in Truro or Newquay and Padstow. I think I’ve been to Torquay, but only for a day,” he says during his quick stopover in the sunshine at Escot.
“I have played some gigs here, but not as much as I would have liked to.
“I am coming here purely because it is an interesting gig location and hopefully it will be a beautiful day out.
“I am trying to put on an interesting set, not just for me but for the people coming as it is not just a normal gig which you can go and see anywhere. The setting is beautiful as well.”
He likes the live sound and is planning that his next album will be a live one, or at least have that feel.
“I am taking my time with it because I just want it to be so that if I died after I made it, it would be something to be proud of.
“I am always going to sing the same way, it’s not going to be different to the point of me sounding completely different, that’s just too unnatural. But I definitely want to break away from the format of songs I have been doing: verse, chorus, bridge and all that.
“I want to put a bit more space in it, get a live feel back into it.
“The second album was too studio for me. In a way I wanted to try it. The first album was recorded live and I wanted to try doing it in the studio. Looking back now I wish I hadn’t, because the effect wasn’t any better than my playing it live.
“At Escot I plan to play all the songs I have released which people know from the radio, try to get some new songs in as well, and some album tracks and covers which I just enjoy playing.”
You can tell from his music that his influences are diverse. He loves the blues, soul, Motown and folk and admires the likes of Van Morrison, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, James Taylor and Carol King.
James was particularly influenced by Stevie Wonder.
“The first time I heard his voice it made me fill up — it had so much emotion in it. When you hear the right song at the right time sung by the right person it can bring you to tears, give you goosebumps. Those are the sort of artists which do that to me. Traditional classic singer songwriters, I just love it.
“I would also like to do a traditional blues album some day when the time is right. But it has got to be right.
“I consider myself a traditional singer songwriter,” he said.
For that he thanks his parents, particularly his father.
“I listen to everything, but always good quality music. My Mum and Dad had lots of great music. My Dad knows loads of stuff about music and used to test me on it when I was young. He can play guitar, he knows what’s good, though he’s not so much of a performer himself.”
James says he ‘naturally progressed’ towards being a musician.
“Looking back at my childhood I can see how I have got where I am. I think it was just because I was surrounded by good music.
“I remember watching Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk when I was real young, when it opened up and there were the lights and people on stage singing I remember thinking, ‘Wow, I want to do that’.”
Asked what his ambitions are, he reveals his more sensitive side.
“My insecurities stop me from being too ambitious. I would like to write an album solely by myself. I am working towards that. As soon as I can do that and have the confidence to do that I want to make it, produce it, maybe write some songs for other people. Other than that I haven’t looked that far ahead.
“I just think while I am enjoying it I don’t want to worry too much about where it is going.”
He feels his best musical collaboration to date was singing with Nelly Furtado on the single Broken Strings. “She was cool to work with.”
But his most memorable musical moment was meeting and watching Stevie Wonder in America 18 months ago.
“I was in his dressing room for about an hour while he was warming up, he was really nice to me. He was way more inspirational to me when I met him than I could ever imagine. The concert was brilliant. A lot of people were really under-appreciating that it was Stevie Wonder singing but I was loving it, I was so excited to be there.”
He puts his trademark husky voice down to his sister who he says passed on whooping cough as a newborn babe.
“I always had a croaky voice when I was growing up. I don’t know whether it is solely because of that or whether it is because I feel what I am singing, it comes from emotional experiences growing up. If the feeling is there it is instant and really natural, but if I have to force it, it sounds boring.”
By Tina Crowson
