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[0:14] Robert Bannon: Well, welcome to the round table, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to us on Broadway World over here on the Broadway Podcast Network, iHeart Media. I don't know. We're taking over the world. That's what we're doing. And our next guest has already taken over. You know, our next guest is a Broadway baby. Like, like I really loved Godspell. I love the revival of Godspell. And I love Adam's Family. And I love Postmodern Jukebox. And her videos are like 300 million views. And she's got albums of original material and like Christmas material. And then she takes like a full album and does like a sit down and I'm gonna sing the Beatles and I'm gonna and she puts them out and you listen to them. And then she did an R&B album and now she has a rock album. I'm kind of obsessed with this one. And there's a chance she's in Detroit yesterday. Which I live in Detroit. So why didn't I know? Where are Morgan? I would have bought you a Coney hot dog.

[1:06] Morgan James: Oh my god, I just got to Lansing. I was in Detroit last night.

[1:12] Robert Bannon: Why didn't we plan? We failed. Morgan, I would have brought you some leftover dinner. I would have let you, you know, crash on my couch.

[1:20] Morgan James: Oh my gosh. We should have been hanging out. See, I'm in Lansing. Would you want to make the drive over and come hang out?

[1:25] Robert Bannon: Uh sh I mean I love Lansing. I've never been there. I moved here from New York 10 months ago. I don't know anything about Detroit. My husband is a Detroiter.

[1:35] Morgan James: Oh yeah, husband. Um we are we played uh you move for a man. Um we are playing Lansing tomorrow night. We're playing outside, full band, horns the whole thing. So if you if you feel like coming up, yeah.

[1:49] Robert Bannon: I'm gonna talk to I'm gonna talk to talk to the man. You know, yes, you move for a man. You know, I'm the typical, what a basic answer. Morgan, I'm so excited to hear your album. And I got a sneak, I heard a sneak peek. I don't think you already people. This is thank you. This is bananas. Soul Remains the Same, August 8th, streaming wherever music is going to be available. Tell me what how did you pick these songs?

[2:15] Morgan James: So um first I want to start by saying, wow, yesterday Ozzy Osbourne died, R.I.P. Um, and talk about one of the big inspirations for this album. It's so interesting because he's been on my mind with his you know farewell concert, and he went out on top. Uh we were listening, there's an incredible soul cover of one of his songs called Changes, and it it's um it it kind of brought to mind the the fact that so many of these heavy tunes, whether it's metal or heavy rock or grunge tunes, have these beautiful melodies, and if you hear them in a different lens through a different lens, you know, um, with horns and background vocals, and the melody is still the king, right? So um that's how this project came to be.

And um narrowing it down became the real challenge. Like you said, how did we pick these songs? Because there are so many incredible songs. Sometimes the melody is hidden with the some of the production, you know, and and it so once we stripped away that production and added in the soulful production um and the soulful you know, vocals. I think that so many of these songs really like came to life even more. And um, yeah, I just had so much fun. I've never done something quite like this with this kind of material and these writers, and I love a challenge, and I love finding the soulful center of everything that I do.

[3:41] Robert Bannon: Well, when I tell you, like you are never people have had this kind of like you could be Paul Anka and you could take these songs and try to make them swing, but it I don't I'm not trying to be shady to Paul Anka, but it comes across very nostalgic. You've made these sounds so contemporary and so original and so singer-songwriter, like your voice and the vocals and the melody come first. And it's so nice to hear the beautiful writing with your beautiful voice. It's stunning.

[4:08] Morgan James: Thank you so much. Thank you. That you know, that's my hope. That's my goal, you know. And I don't want, you know, my publicist Ashley was like, should we be afraid of any of the diehard fans? And I said, I don't think we should be afraid of anybody because I think that at the heart of this, I really wanted the song to be front and center and to be the to the star. And I didn't want to, I'm not trying to do anything clever or gimmicky. I really just want to show people how great these songs are.

[4:36] Robert Bannon: Well, if you love ACDC, if you love the the the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne himself, if you love Pearl Jam, Better Man, that Better Man it just I want to live in that little melody on your voice there, Morgan.

[4:48] Morgan James: Thank you. I that might be my favorite, you know. It's like big and lush. Anytime you put something in like a big six eight kind of you just you just allow it to be so lush, right? So for people looking, firstly, we can follow you while we're talking, or you could go to Morgan James on Instagram or on the socials, and you can check it out, or you can find all the information about your crazy career. Your career is cray cray crazy. She sings it all, everything. MorganJamesOnline.com is where you can find this. Where did you where did you come from? Where did you grow up? When did you know you could sing?

[5:20] Morgan James: Oh my god, my career is crazy. It's been such a circuitous path, like completely. I don't know anybody's career that's exactly like mine, which I kind of like you know I I knew I could sing when I was in like you know probably seventh grade um and I had this weird grown woman voice from the time I was very young and it was a little freakish but I I think that you know early on in my career being doing so many things and having such a diverse kind of sound and being able to sing so many different kinds of music was a real detriment I think that people didn't know what to do with me um even when I got signed to my record deal nobody knew what to do with me they knew that they liked my voice but didn't know where to put me right the older I've gotten I think that my versatility has become my strength it's my superpower and I think people are starting to see that and starting to celebrate that and I'm so thankful because um I always knew it was like what's wrong with doing a million things as long as I really really commit to doing them well you know um and becoming an expert in all these things I think uh has been my life's challenge you know.

[5:26] Robert Bannon: Well I see that you're a Juilliard dropout. I'm a dropped out Juilliard fake alum and Morgan stuck it out and and you're dead I survived no I was there and I had an audition for Rent and I bombed the audition and I said I can't do this I'm gonna become a teacher and I was like peace out y'all good god bless you all good luck and you stuck it out five is it five Broadway shows?

[5:26] Morgan James: Five Broadway shows yeah yeah five Broadway like like we were talking about before and the Gods and the M's families and the of the and the Christian Shepwoods. I loved this project. Uh, you know, when you all sang Jesus Christ Superstar, like it's the greatest singers on you know, Cynthia and Ean ever. I mean, that project is uh one of my you know proudest accomplishments. Um, just just merely getting all of those women in the same room. Um, I I don't know how I did it. And and frankly, all of them have like uh skyrocketed since then, so I could never get those people in the same room again.

[7:26] Robert Bannon: Oh, you did it was it was a time and a place, and and I it was that project took so much out of me, but um I'm so proud of it. And those women, um, I'm just so proud to to have been able to work with all those women that they all said yes to me.

[7:42] Morgan James: Well, it's so beautiful and all of the music you've done. Like, I'm not kidding. Like when I was deep diving into the YouTube, the YouTube of it all. And when you see your your full out, I love the full album video. I love the full albums where you take these albums and sing like you are the craziest, most talented person. Like, what a where did these ideas come from?

[8:08] Morgan James: Thank you. That is so sweet. I you know, I I love writing and I love creating original material. Um, and in between that, I I get these crazy ideas, you know. I I wanted to sing um the first one we ever did was Black Messiah, and it was uh by D'Angelo. And we did one month after the release, it was kind of insane. It wasn't even you couldn't even find the lyrics anywhere. Um, and then after that I said, you know, I really like getting inside a whole project and like fig and trying to step inside somebody's shoes. And so we did Johnny Mitchell's Blue for the I think 45th anniversary. We did the Beatles White album for the 50th anniversary. We did Grace um by Jeff Buckley. Um, I did Continuum by John Mayer. Uh yeah, I love these concept album or concept projects because it it allows me to have boundaries and have a fence. And within that boundary, I can be limitlessly creative because I've given myself this um fence. You know what I mean?

[9:09] Robert Bannon: And um I think that that's you know, interpreting songs, I think is the best thing that an original artist can do because you learn from other writers and other singers.

[9:18] Morgan James: But that's what I love about your career is because when I listen to your music wherever music is streaming, like August 8th, when you all stream the brand new album, which you need to check it out, Soul Remains the Same. You could not many people think like I could sing D'Angelo and I could sing The Beatles and I could sing Jeff Buckley and I could sing my own originals, I could sing Postmodern Jukebox, I could sing Broadway. You just your voice just fits in these different it's it's pretty amazing.

[9:42] Morgan James: Oh my god, thank you. Well, I think the key to that is not trying to sound like anybody else. I think when you're young, you try you learn by mimicking and you learn by which is natural, which you should do. Um, and there comes a point where no matter who I'm covering, I I the music is the boss, the this the melody is the king, and the original artist is is always in my mind. And I it's not my job to sound like them, it's not my job to sound you know clever or or anything like that. My job is to just really, really find the the authentic center of the of the piece. And I think that no matter what genre, that's why I I take on so many genres and hopefully I always sound like myself.

[10:24] Robert Bannon: Well, how many you have a bunch of albums out there? You could stream them now, or you can go to the website, you could buy them, you can buy that, you know. Like you have a do you have original albums, you have Christmas albums. What what is your body of work?

[10:35] Morgan James: So um, I have five studio albums. Um I have two live albums. One is my first album, it's all the music of Nina Simone, and one is a live album we released last year after uh months and months of touring. Uh I have a Christmas album and I have you can you can stream and buy the white album, Johnny Michael Blue. Um I've got a couple Christmas EPs, I've got YouTube sessions, and then I have, you know, during the pandemic, I released a hundred songs, you know, ever a hundred days of songs in the in the you know quarantine. And so we had the fans vote on those and we released I think 10 or 20 of those. So we have an album of those. Um we like to release, you know, music every single year. And I think that I just I'm a I'm kind of like one of those St.

[11:24] Morgan James: Bernard's in the mountains, you know, with like I I'm just there to do a job, like I pour the brandy or whatever. I really need to have a job and making music is something that I am just supposed to be doing, you know. It's not about waiting years and years and years for the perfect project, it's about continuing to be creative and constantly making things. I think that that's what I'm supposed to do with my life. I think it's really inspiring for all of us, especially for people who want to do art, even if it's not music, if it's anything, like we can it doesn't have I think we wait for the perfect moment. I have enough money, I have enough time, I have the right product. Let's just let's just make art.

Let's just do it. Just create, you know, and just throw it against the wall. It doesn't, and it's um, you know, of course there are parameters. It's like it is expensive. And does anybody is anybody listening? And all these questions that we have when we're creating things that you do have to answer those questions. However, I think that it's, you know, people sometimes say, why do you make so many albums or why do you tour so much? And I just think it's what I've I've been put on this earth to do is to perform live and to create things that hopefully people will find. And I can't, I'm not the boss of when someone will find it or who will be inspired, but I hope that someone along the way finds what I make and they're inspired by it.

[12:40] Robert Bannon: So tell me, you're on tour right now. I mean, we you're in Michigan. You're down to I'm insulted. And you're okay. You didn't come over for dinner. No, you're you're and you're on the road and you're going to be in Ohio and North Carolina and Colorado and back to New York and to Reno and all over hungry. You're going to to Hungry.

[13:00] Morgan James: Yeah. What are you what is a uh a day in a life of you on the on the road? What what are you touring with?

[13:06] Morgan James: Oh my god. So my life is these days, it's about a third of the time I'm with my band. So I travel with piano based drums guitar and I've two three dogs, a couple of them are here, um, and full gear and it's it's chaotic. And then a third of the time I'm doing my new Nina Simone with big band show. So I go to a city and I pick and I sit in with a 20-piece big band. And then a third of the time I'm doing Symphony Pops. So I fly into a city, just me, um, and I do a whole show with Symphony Orchestra. So the days are so varied. Um, you know, at the at eight o'clock mark every night, I'm I'm I'm at a microphone. That much is that much is consistent. And you know, you know, you've seen my my the way I dress on my shows.

So the the wardrobe is a big issue because I I like to dress for the music. You know, if I'm singing music from the 70s, I dress from the 70s and I love gowns and I love that the costuming part of what I do is like so fun. But you know, it's uh it's an exhausting schedule because I'm on a plane four or five or six times a week. Um I'm in a bus, I'm in cars and vans and everything in between. Um it's an exhausting schedule for sure. Uh but it's just the the amount of variety that I get to entertain you know people with and and the amount of variety in my the types of audiences the types of venues it's just it's so you can never get bored.

[14:36] Robert Bannon: Well you need to you I can't believe that you're ready to go with those three shows like at a moment's notice like you have all those lyrics and music in your head.

[14:44] Morgan James: Well the pop shows I have seven different pop shows so it's that's seven different 90 minute shows that sometimes I'm doing a different one each Saturday and then I have different band shows depending on what material we're working on. My show in New York is a brand new set of music that I've never sung Nina Simone is 90 minutes with just Nina Simone. That is the m probably the hardest part of my job is like I call it the drop box because you know when you have to re-download in the drop like or like it's a we transfer up here. It's like I have to like re-download all of these all of this material because it's a lot it's it's a lot of material a lot of music.

[15:22] Morgan James: A lot a lot of all I've dreamed of Morgan James is is to be famous enough to use a teleprompter like on Barbara Streisand.

[15:30] Morgan James: Oh my god oh my god there's nothing better than a teleprompter I hardly ever get to use one sometimes at the big symphony halls they'll have one for you but it has to be you have to have the big staff to be able to do that but it's pretty fancy. I need that in my I would do a show every night too if I had a teleprompter, but oh I God bless you for seven shows. Just pop, then all the other shows. Just pops.

[15:53] Morgan James: That's just the symphony world, you know. I have so it it's at any given time I'm doing, you know, seven or eight different programs that I'm rotating. Um yeah, it's uh, but you know, it's it keeps me so so creative. I I I think it's so great for for my mind and for my voice to be able to do that much music.

[16:15] Robert Bannon: So are you now do you you're considered yourself a recording artist? Uh you're on tour, the theater world, you're taking a break, you're you're good with that right now. You're you're out here on these streets.

[16:24] Morgan James: Well, I miss doing theater actually. I I went to see a friend at a at a show in at the old globe a couple weeks ago, and I got a little a little like my heart was like kind of pulled to it. The the problem is not that I don't miss theater, I do miss theater. The problem is that I um, you know, I tour full-time, so I don't have the schedule to do both, you know. I mean, theater is a full-time job, as you know, and um I'm not saying that I wouldn't return. Um, I think if the right thing came along, I would I would love to go back and and do a show again.

[16:54] Robert Bannon: So we're gonna everyone's gonna stream the album coming out on the eighth, and it's available. And then are we gonna do are you gonna be doing some shows where you might sing some of the album?

[17:03] Morgan James: Oh, yes, yes, for sure. We're starting to add in our our tour dates for the fall. Um, so they're just starting to go up on and announcing and going on sale. Um, yeah, we we have we're doing the day the album comes out, we're playing Charlotte two shows that night, so we'll definitely be celebrating those those songs then and all through the fall, I'll be singing all this music.

[17:22] Robert Bannon: Tell us about the team that worked on you with this album, because I know that you have to have a killer team that put these arrangements together and jumped in the studio with you.

[17:29] Morgan James: Oh my god. Well, my husband Doug Wamble did all the arrangements, all the horn arrangements. Um, he engineered the record. Um, we did all the vocals at my house. We converted one whole room into a vocal booth, which was the best thing we ever did because I could record day and night anytime I wanted. You know, I had this like complete freedom. Um, we recorded three different drummers, um, one in LA and two in Nashville, um, three incredible virtuostic drummers that really brought out certain things. We had a four horn section in New York City, incredible. Um, Julius Rodriguez plays keys. He's a complete vudricant. Um, and my friend James Sayas, who mixed my very first two records, he mixed the record in LA.

Um, an incredible team of artists that worked on the photos. Um, I got a tattoo artist in Little Rock, Arkansas, to do these incredible renderings of of I wanted kind of old school rock and roll art um to conjure up this music, you know. Um so she worked on some original art for me. The whole, I mean, everything from the arrangements to the fonts to the colors to the merchandise, I it's it's all a part of making the album come to life.

[18:45] Robert Bannon: Well, it's a class act. Like, if you want to see people how to do it, if you want to see how to release music, if you want to see a full project from beginning to end and listen to the whole thing from beginning to end, because it takes you on a wild ride of some of the songs you absolutely grew up loving. And if you don't know the songs, if this is not, if you're not a you know, a rock Nista, you will love you will fall in love with them by the time you listen through this album.

[19:06] Morgan James: Oh my gosh. Does your brain of course does your brain think like, are you ready for the do you already start thinking about the next one? Do you have like a list in your phone of like I'm gonna do a country album and then I'm gonna do a uh disco album, and then I'm gonna do a like are you ready to keep going?

[19:21] Morgan James: Well, I every time I finish an album, I say not again, it's too much work. I say that every time. Um, I do need a break, I think this time, you know. It's like this uh I wouldn't mind taking a little break from recording, but do I have ideas for what I want to do next? Of course, of course. Um, you know, everything I do, no matter what it is. This may be, you know, this album may have rock songs on it, but it's all soul music. I want everything to be through the lens of soul music and soul and RB, and I want everything to have that through line for that I do. So um, I yeah, I need I want to do another Christmas album, I want to do an orchestral album. I I have so many things that I want to do, and if money were no object, we I just need to find me like a billionaire to um just like I just need a blank check. Is that so much to ask?

[20:09] Robert Bannon: No, I feel this I would love that.

[20:11] Morgan James: That would be great. Why can't we have that?

[20:14] Robert Bannon: I just don't understand.

[20:15] Morgan James: Doesn't seem over on my end too.

[20:18] Robert Bannon: You know, break me off a couple bucks.

[20:21] Morgan James: I will, I will.

[20:22] Robert Bannon: Thank you. I'm sitting here looking at you. I'm like, me and Morgan James could be brother and sister here.

[20:27] Morgan James: I I think that's what I was.

[20:31] Robert Bannon: I know. Where are you are you are you Scandinavian?

[20:34] Morgan James: Look at those pretty little baby blues.

[20:36] Robert Bannon: I'm I'm Czechoslovakian. Oh my grandmother was from Prague and my my mom's Italian, so I'm I'm like uh yeah, but I got the the Pragan.

[20:47] Morgan James: What about you?

[20:49] Morgan James: I'm Norwegian.

[20:51] Robert Bannon: Yeah.

[20:51] Morgan James: So all this you're that's we did. Have you been to Prague?

[20:57] Robert Bannon: No.

[20:58] Morgan James: Oh my god, babe, babe. One of the best in Europe. You have to go.

[21:03] Robert Bannon: I hear it's gorge gorgeous.

[21:05] Morgan James: I hear it's gorgeous.

[21:07] Robert Bannon: Gorgeous.

[21:07] Morgan James: Okay. Well, I'm I'm gonna go to Prague. I'm gonna download this album. I'm gonna see you in New York City or somewhere around the country, or when you come back here to Michigan.

[21:18] Robert Bannon: I bounce back to home to Jersey. And okay, yeah. We're fans of the Morgan James experience. If you want to hear someone's she even Shaka Khan get gave a ga when Morgan James got up and sang.

[21:30] Morgan James: It's true.

[21:31] Robert Bannon: It's true. Deep dive. Listen, go to YouTube. It's gonna be your friend to see all the body of work and then stream all of the music. Just go start streaming the albums. They're all available. Follow Morgan on on the Instagram. Go to MorganJamesOnline.com, find when she's gonna be in your neck of the woods and make sure you stream the album. Get the album. Get a signed copy of the album. There's a whole bunch of merch and stuff available on the website. And um, I'm telling you, if you don't, you're gonna fall in love with her.

[21:55] Morgan James: We have CDs, vinyl, t-shirts, all sorts of stuff, all sorts of merch on the website and merch at my shows. So come see me at a show for sure and and and say you saw me here.

[22:05] Robert Bannon: That's right. Yes, please. You make you go see her seven times. She's got seven orchestra shows, she's got an original show. There's a dozen shows. Just right, right. You have no you actually have no excuse.

[22:16] Morgan James: None.

[22:16] Robert Bannon: None. It's such an honor. I'm so excited to have chatted with you. It's it's a real pleasure. You're you are oh some talent, and I I can't wait to to see what's next and see you uh up close and personal one day. Thanks for being here.

[22:27] Morgan James: Thank you so much.

[22:28] Robert Bannon: Oh sure.