Craig Morrison Fences Interview

Craig Morrison Fences Interview

After the first single from Craig Morrison's highly anticipated forthcoming album seared its way up the country charts, the Nashville-based singer songwriter returns with another sure-fire hit 'Fences'.

Returning home to Australia after moving to Nashville earlier in the year, Craig has showcased his new material at a handful of east coast shows, and celebrating the release of his new single, which is already making an impact on the country music scene. 'Fences', the follow-on single from 'Hot Kinda Love', is an apt representation of the diversity of this performer and his ability to seamlessly transition from rockin' country riffs to heartfelt ballads.

'Hot Kinda Love', from the new album, smashed up the country charts, making it into the Top 30 on CMC and garnering airplay around Australia. The now second single 'Fences', debuted at #36 on CMC and shows a different side of Craig, demonstrating that this versatile artist can make any style of music his own and showcases a maturity that only comes from years of honing your craft. Penned to reveal that even failings in life should be embraced, the track eludes that to grow, we all need to overcome obstacles and that this is what life itself is all about. These are experiences that Craig himself has dealt with first hand across his career, and you can tell he feels an empathy with the story he is telling. "Fences are there for a reason," he says. "Fences are not there to keep us out, the Fences are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something."

The single essentially tells the story of Craig's life in music. Harking from music royalty, Craig has been treading the boards of the Australian music industry since he was a youngster. His father, Lucky Starr, who is dubbed as a founding member of Australian pop and recognised as the first artist to record 'I've Been Everywhere' and make it a #1 hit on the Aussie charts. Lucky often took his son on stage, bringing him up on a solid diet of performing. It was a natural progression for Craig to move into music as he became an adult, but initially he pushed himself in another genre direction entirely, forming pop-rock band DeMont in the 1980s and releasing hits such as 'Strange World' and 'I Want Your Body'. This took Craig and his band mates from pub stages to stadiums, seeing them tour alongside the likes of Mötley Crüe and securing a record deal with the legendary Alberts.

Yet country music was always in Craig's blood. He felt a resonance with the genre, from a perspective of writing and performing, and post-DeMont success, he found himself dabbling in writing country songs. His country album release 'Heaven Knows' under the guise of Craig Morrison Little Cowboys was well-received by the industry and this only further cemented Craig's determination to carve a niche for himself in the genre.

Moving to Nashville seemed like the next natural step, and so earlier this year Craig packed up his life and moved to the country music capital of the world. "Country music has always been part of my childhood," he explains about the connection he feels to the genre. "The first song I ever learnt was a country song. The emotion and the energy that fills the stories in country songs are what inspires me. I love music that describes your life, makes you think, makes you smile…"

Craig is currently recording his self-titled album in Nashville with Grammy award winning producer Mark Moffatt and it is due for worldwide release in early 2012. It not only features tracks written by Craig both while in Nashville and Australia, but also features some of the best songwriters from the international country music scene. The tracks have been hand-picked to ensure that this album makes one hell of an impact, both in Australia and overseas. "Every track is a hit," Craig says. "It is an incredible album from start to finish. I couldn't be more proud, it's like waiting for Christmas."

Interview with Craig Morrison

Question: What inspired Fences?

Craig Morrison: To be honest Fences was presented to me when I first went to Nashville and I related to Fences and the story behind the song straight away. It was easy to fall in love with Fences which is why it is the second single from the album.


Question: What should fans expect from the highly anticipated forthcoming album?

Craig Morrison: Some amazing songs. I spent six months collating and writing songs for the album - it sounds amazing. I have a demo which I am driving around listening too, I am like a kid in a candy store - I can't wait for people to be able to hear the album.


Question: How would you describe your music?

Craig Morrison: The majority of the album is up, even Fences as much as it is a ballad, it is all about winning. There are a couple of nice songs on the album for girls such as Somebody's Girl and a song called Love You More. It is a nice album with balance and it was a lot of fun, I'm really happy with it.


Question: Can you talk about the experience of moving to Nashville?

Craig Morrison: I moved to Nashville to live, I began preproduction on the album whilst I was still in Australia and the timing for the album worked with our move to Nashville. My wife and I bought a house in Nashville over three years ago; the move to Nashville was always going to happen, it was just a matter of when. I think we fit into Nashville just fine, for now, the whole experience has been wonderful.


Question: When you write your own songs? What's your inspiration?

Craig Morrison: When I am writing songs I pretty much write about real life situations, I am not one to come up with a situation, I have enough of my own real life situations to last me a little while (laughing)! I normally sit down and I'll either be reflecting on something that has happened in my life or something I've seen happen in somebody else's life that I can relate to or identify with and that is normally how it starts.


Question: What music/artists do you listen to when you are not playing your own?

Craig Morrison: I listen to a bunch of different people, it really ranges from Kenny Rogers and Garth Brooks to Freddie Mercury from QUEEN and David Lee Roth from Van Halen; I even listen to my Dad, Lucky Starr. I have a very broad genre that I like to listen to; I draw different things from different people.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Craig Morrison: I love them both. Performing live is the pay off, the adrenalin is going so you have your drug and you're on stage - as long as you're doing a good job people will enjoy the show and that is the reward.


Question: What/who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Craig Morrison: My father is an entertainer, he is Lucky Starr and he recorded a song titled I've Been Everywhere back in 1962 and it was a huge hit in Australia and when I was born I thought everybody's dad was a famous entertainer and I grew up in it.


Question: What's a typical day like?

Craig Morrison: Manic! It is pretty full on. I am back in Australia at the moment and I do get to travel back regularly for the release of singles or to do shows and festivals - when I am in Australia I make the most of my time whether I am performing or visiting family. There is always an incredibly big list of things I have to get on with but I enjoy that lifestyle, I'll sleep when I'm dead.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Craig Morrison: I'd like to write with Allan Jackson and other people who have been around for a while and really have tread the boards. I'd love to sit back and write with them, for a while.


Question: Do you have a website fans can visit?

name: For more information, please visit www.craigmorrisonmusic.com


Interview by Brooke Hunter