Our guest today is singer/songwriter Morgan James, who I have to tell you, I saw her last UK tour and it was the best concert I have ever seen live. So you can imagine I was so excited to meet and chat to her.
This episode is candid. It’s incredibly beautiful to listen to her talk so openly about her fears, challenges and desires, but also uplifting as we discover how she has navigated the music industry, championed women artists and is ultimately striving to become the best version of herself she can be.
“I admire people who want to learn and want to become better people, even if it’s small, small incremental changes and growth”
Podcast Episode Highlights:
01.30 - What is Morgan James’ worst ever job?
02.53 - Was Morgan aiming for where she is now?
03.30 - How did Morgan start her career as a solo artist after a career in Musical Theatre
04.30 - Has Morgan always sung the way she has and does she feel authentic in her sound?
05.17 - Morgan James talks about her training at Juilliard and embracing her classical voice
06.11 - The importance of growing your skills but being selective with them
07.43 - What does Morgan think makes a great singer?
08.28 - What are the similarities/differences in the range of genres Morgan James sings in?
09.25 - Has Morgan been down the path of imitation?
11.34 - Why does Morgan James continue to train classically? Would she return to performing Opera?
13.09 - Why is Morgan an independent artist and what are the differences to being with a label?
16.06 - Quickfire Round
17.00 - Fun Fact
17.54 - What has been Morgan’s greatest career challenge?
19.48 - How to handle rejection
20.09 - What is success and does Morgan feel successful?
22.23 - Does Morgan James doubt her ability?
23.07 - How much or Morgan’s journey does she think is talent and how much is hard work?
24.04 - Beth Roars asks Morgan James about ‘She is Risen’
26.11 - Morgan speaks about the importance of diversity across the music industry
28.42 - What quality would Morgan James take tomorrow, what would it be?
29.24 - Advice for entering the music industry
30.40 - How influential has the internet been in Morgan’s career?
31.45 - If Morgan could do one thing in the future, what would it be?
32.53 - Who or what inspires Morgan James?
Key Points:
Hone your skills but don’t throw them all in at once. Be subtle and selective
Surround yourself with the right people, your work and social support networks are important
Rejection is just as important as ‘success’. Allow it to be part of your journey and don’t give up in the face of it
Quotes:
“I wasn’t aiming for where I am now, that’s for sure. I always had the idea that I was going to get out of it and rise above it. That’s what gave me the motivation to keep going every day”
Morgan James
“Serving rich people when you’re the height of poverty, it changes the way you look at anybody in the service industry”
Morgan James
“I turned to other genres as a way to find a community I would thrive in”
Morgan James
“At the beginning imitation is so common and so natural so of course, I would imitate people I admired at first. Then there came a time where I had to really break through and start to have an authentic voice of my own.”
Morgan James
“I don’t think you can teach soulfulness”
Morgan James
“When I first started singing with a band, I was all over the place, I was singing every genre under the sun and I was just loud and every ingredient was in the pot of soup. I had to start taking ingredients out and honing in on what I really wanted the dish to be”
Morgan James
“I really, really love when someone has the confidence and the wisdom to sing a pure melody, with beautiful tone and shaping the lyric. I think it doesn’t get much more perfect than that, no matter what genre you’re in”
Morgan James
“For me a lot of people who have soul within their singing are people who are really comfortable in their own vocal skin, no matter what that is. They’re not trying to be anything”
Beth Roars
“I think it’s the very, very rare person that just automatically sounded like they were. Even the greats went through periods of imitation”
Morgan James
“I don’t want to sound like somebody else. When someone says you remind me of somebody great I think it’s a huge compliment but I would never want to have someone say ‘she just sounds like a facsimile of so and so,’ that would be a knife to the heart”
Morgan James
“A woman’s voice really matures gets really velvety and juicy when she’s into her thirties and forties”
Morgan James
“Before you expand on the theme, it’s making sure the original is still intact”
Morgan James
“The younger self really sneaks in and says ‘you can’t do that, you weren’t accepted in that world’ so you know, walking out of that and saying ‘I can do that’; it felt really good”
Morgan James
“I was dropped. I mean, I was scared to be dropped and thought it would be the worst thing that could ever happen, then it happened and I did not know what to do next. The last few years have been figuring that out”
Morgan James
“I felt a lot of stress at the label when people were trying to control me, I don’t really love that feeling”
Morgan James
“Rejection has been a huge part of my path and definitely more important and more prevalent than success... that is the theme of my life, finding another door, finding another way in, finding another way to do the thing. It’s been one of the most powerful parts of me learning how to be an artist and a person”
Morgan James
“People always ask me ‘how do you handle all the rejection?’ You don’t handle it. It’s like, are you going to be the last one standing? It’s going to be you and rejection up until the last day. Are you going to say ‘I’m still here’? Not just handle it, but are you going to find a way to triumph in the face of it?”
Morgan James
“Nothing I do feels like I thought it would and that’s life. So I am constantly redefining what is success and maybe that’s what drives me to keep going”
Morgan James
“I want to be better at being a person”
Morgan James
“There are things other people do better, but nobody is me”
Morgan James
“I think there are a lot of people that we never heard of because they didn’t put in the work. And I think there are a lot of people that work really hard and hustle and aren’t as talented as other people. I’m beginning to think the hard work part is definitely more important”
Morgan James
“I think in general women really love to lift other women up, and if we force them... the way society is laid out has created these creative subtexts and a creative way of being because we know that there’s only going to be one or two slots for us”
Morgan James
“The more we can put women in leadership roles and ease the tension of having to be a trailblazer and instead, just allow them to do the jobs they want to do”
Morgan James
“If you find your authentic voice, chances are, simultaneously you will also find an audience”
Morgan James
“It’s good to remember that nothing has to be the one perfect thing that’s going to define you for the rest of your life because our society doesn’t consume art like that anymore”
Morgan James
“I’m inspired by people that continue to get better because that’s what I aim to be”
Morgan James
“I admire people who want to learn and want to become better people, even if it’s small, small incremental changes and growth”
Morgan James
Resources Mentioned:
Beth Roars: Website YouTube Instagram Twitter Facebook Patreon
Morgan James: Website YouTube Instagram Twitter Facebook StageIt
Singers mentioned: James Taylor, Paul Simon, Nancy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Ethel Merman, Barbara Cook, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Joni Mitchell, Sarah Vaughan, Willie Nelson
She is Risen Volume One, Jesus Christ Superstar, Shoshana Bean, Cynthia Erivo
Postmodern Jukebox (PMJ), Scott Bradlee, Morgan James’ Dream On
Doug Wamble (Guitarist and Morgan’s Husband)
