Neil Morris (singer)

Neil Morris (born 12 March 1981) is an English singer-songwriter and occasional actor from the West Midlands. He is known for is fast-paced finger picking and self protagonistic and often humorous songs which sometimes refer to The Black Country, where he was raised.

Musical career

Starting as a bass player and vocalist, Morris formed the band Kerz in 1997 with school friends Mike Rowley and Andrew Scattergood. They were later joined by Rowley's sister Clare on vocals as Morris's voice was not developed. The band played regularly until their breakup in 2000 after changing their name to Holdup. Morris went on to play with several Midlands punk and rock n' roll bands through the late 90s and early 2000s.

Move into folk

While still bass player for Rooter Morris began playing some existing songs acoustically and self-released the EP "Fair To Average" in 2003. It was named for a comment a former bandmate made when hearing the demos. The EP consisted of 3 original tracks and one cover of Flogging Molly's "The Sun Never Shines On Closed Doors" although in the original run the latter was mistakenly credited as a traditional folk song. Morris has since stated that his vocals on the EP were "bloody awful".

After the breakup of Rooter Morris began exclusively playing solo acoustic shows and decided against forming any more bands.

In 2008 Morris self-released his first full-length solo album A View from the Cheap Seats. The album was engineered by Mike Rowley and featured Andrew Rathbone on piano; both of whom were members of a primary school band formed with Morris in 1989.

Over the next few years Morris played numerous UK dates including shows alongside Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard, Jim Lockey & The Solemn Sun, and Gabrielle Aplin. All of whom would later go on to gain significant success.

Front Room Records

2011 saw the re-launch of Front Room Records which was previously set up by Morris and bandmate at the time, Ross Evans (later Rex Roulette of Towers of London) in 2001 as a punk label. Now controlled by Morris himself, Front Room Records is the outlet for his own music as well as that of such artists as Ciaran Lenehan, My Name Is Ian, Carlos The Jackal, Adam Bennett, Jackrabbit Parole, and Ducking Punches. In July 2012 Morris released The Distant & Distracted EP through Front Room Records with former HoldUp drummer Mike Rowley and Neil Phillips formerly of The Yo-Yos on bass. The EP, the first full-band effort since going solo, saw more of a mix of traditional folk and country music and received some critical acclaim. Morris completed 3 UK tours to promote the album and appeared at Two Thousand Trees Festival, Wychwood Festival, Barn On The Farm Festival, and FrogFest in 2011. Morris toured with label-mate Jackrabbit Parole (Neil Phillips - The Yo-Yos) in July 2012 to mark the launch of Jackrabbit Parole's debut album.

Dyed In The Wool

In November 2013, during and interview with UK Rocksound, Morris announced the upcoming release of his first full-length album since 2008's A View from the Cheap Seats.

Originally planned for a February release but eventually released in April 2014, Dyed In The Wool saw a return to a simpler production featuring solely guitar and vocals. Recorded at MAS studios in Birmingham the album featured 8 new tracks as well as cover versions of "A Little Polish" written by Phillip McNiven of The Blanks, "Give Me Tuesday" written by Neil Phillips of B*Movie Heroes, and "Santeria" originally by Sublime.

Following its release Morris played a 23 date UK tour, his biggest to date incorporating performances at 2000 Trees Festival and Y-Not Festival.

Discography

Albums

• A View from the Cheap Seats (2008)
• Dyed in the Wool (2014)
• Street Songs - Volume 1 (2014)
• Street Songs - Volume 2 (2014)

EPs

• Fair to Average (2003)
• Distant & Distracted (2011)

External links

• Official site