- Hello Willie, can you tell us all about yourself before you became a country singer? I grew up in Washington D.C. I went to Occidental College and The University if Miami. And before my solo career as “Willie Morrison”, I was in a band for ten years with my brother called “The Morrison Brothers Band”.
- What made you want a career in country music? It wasn’t so much country as it was music. I just loved playing and writing songs. But having grown up listening to country, I think my style inevitably lent itself well to the genre, and I couldn’t be happier about being a part of the country music community. I remember being inspired by live music from a young age. Thankfully my parents took me to see a lot of live music growing up, and I always wanted to be a part of what I was so taken by on stage.
- Who are some of your musical icons? Delbert McClinton, Merle Haggard, Zac Brown Band, Citizen Cope, Eva Cassidy, Otis Redding, Shemekia Copeland.
- What is the background behind your brand-new single “Car?” “Car” pays tribute to young love, and the difficulty of moving on when it ends. When you fall in love in high school, one of the places you end up spending most of your time together is in the car. For me, my car served as one of the major settings where my high school girlfriend and I hung out. Whether it was our first kiss, listening to music together, driving to the movies, escaping the “no-closed doors” rule of each of our parents — my car was always along for the ride. So, when things didn’t work out, it was difficult to even ride in the car sometimes without imagining her in the passenger seat. And ultimately, the tough decision must be made about keeping the car or not.
- How would you describe your music in 3 to 5 words? Fresh, Friendly and Catchy.
- What are a few of your favorite venues to play at? 9:30 Club in D.C., The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA, The Basement East and Analog in Nashville, TN.
- What is your recording process like when making and recording new music? It varies from time to time. Usually it starts with a demo, which is sometimes done in the writing session or shortly after. From there, I look at what I love about the demo or where it goes astray. I then line up a producer and go over the vision for where we see the song going. We then lineup whoever else we need to play on the song and go from there. It’s a long process. Once you are done “recording”, you then have to send to mixing, and then to mastering.
- What is one of your favorite quotes? “You have to fall in love with the process of becoming great”. I heard this said by Blake Griffin lol, but it really applies to what I do. If you are just in it for the stardom you are doomed. It takes too much work and sacrifice for fame to be your motivating factor. For me, it means loving what you do. Even if you still have room to improve, you have to love the work. You have to love writing, and creating, no matter what the outcome is.
- Is there anything else you would like to share? I’m playing a free full band show March 22 at The Analog in Nashville, TN.
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