Playing 'A Cool Town'

The Jackson Sun - Jackson, TN

By Ashley Edwards Walker Lifestyle / Jackson Sun - November 18, 2010

Many know his hit song "Wind Beneath My Wings," but Gary Morris has also done everything from country music to Broadway to hymns. This year he is showcasing his talents in the "Backroads to Broadway to Bethlehem" Christmas tour.

Morris and his band will play at 7:30pm Dec 9 at the Ned McWherter West Tennessee Cultural Arts Center, 314 E Main St., in Jackson. Fans who want to purchase copies of his albums and to meet him can get reserved seating tickets for $50 per person, which includes admission to a cider and wine reception. Doors to the reception open at 6:45pm General admission tickets are $25 per person; $20 for students and seniors.

Morris said this tour is somewhat autobiographical as it represents his musical range. He said he would play a little bit of everything from "Wind Beneath My Wings" and "The Love She Found in Me" to Christmas music to songs from his stint on Broadway. He will also perform songs off his latest album "Hymns."

"How good the audience is will determine how good we are and how long we play." Morris said. "We have a bunch of Christmas songs to do, and I have a lot of songs that can fill up a pretty long night."

Morris has performed in West Tennessee numerous times, but it has been several years since his last Christmas concert in Jackson, or since his band played along with him.

"This is the first time that I've come with this configuration that I'm doing." Morris said, adding that he has many friends in the area, "and it seems like I have a lot of fans in the area too."

Morris said he has a full slate of shows, "but Jackson is on the road to everywhere."

He said he goes through Jackson all the time and "almost always" stops to have lunch or breakfast with someone he knows. "It's just a cool town for me," he added.

Because Morris is a fan of Ned McWherter, the entertainer said playing at The Ned is a "cool thing" and he hopes to meet some new and old fans at the concert.

"Having any future at all is based not on just having a past, but bringing some new people in," Morris said. "....I've seen three generations of fans and I really like that. So I'm hoping we get some young people."

Based on his enthusiastic reception at South Side High School and Madison Academic Magnet School on Nov 16, it's likely that he will. He visited Jackson to talk with students at both schools ab out the music industry and about his career. And he performed one or two songs for them. He told them he started out playing football, basketbal and baseball. "The only theater and music I had was in high school." He also sang in his church choir. When he tried out for Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables" on Broadway, all the other singers had studied at nationally known music schools and sang perfectly. "I went to junior college and played football." he said. "But I bring honesty and feeling to the music I sing and write."

Students at Madison Academic asked him what helped him to succeed in the music industry. "A great deal of tenacity," he said. "You have to really want it at whatever cost is involved."

He also told them they need to be prepared to be told they aren't wanted or liked when they audition. "Maybe it's your aftershave or you have curly hair for the rold. It doesn't matter what your talent is. That has nothing to do with it," he said, "In pop music, you are the flavor of the day. It's designed to take you to the top of the mountain and to take you down."

He had good fortune come his way. "When I moved to Nashville, I was lucky enough to start making records within three months for Warner Bros. I've now played for every living president and the Queen of England," he said. Also on Broadway, he starred as Rodolfo in "La Boheme" with Linda Ronstadt as Mimi.

Libby Murphy, a longtime friend of Morris, asked him to play the concert in Jackson after hearing feedback following several church performances Morris did in Jackson last summer.

"People just wanted to hear more," Murphy said. "If you've never heard him sing, he has been blessed with a gift from God. He's just awesome."

Murphy said even those who are big country music fans love songs from the Broadway play in which Morris starred, "Les Miserables."

"People just stand in awe, jump up and down and clap," Murphy said. "I've never seen anything like it."

Murphy said the acoustics at The Ned will complement Morris' singing beautifully, and the seating for about 450 people will allow the audience to "feel like you're a part of what's going on stage."

Leah Ashby, owner of The Potter's Garden where tickets are being sold, is another Morris fan who has seen him in concert.

"He's like fine wine," Ashby said. "He just gets better with age."

Gay Gregson, owner of Jenny Craig where tickets are also being sold, said Jackson is "so very fortunate to have somebody of Gary's caliber who has ties to this area and is willing to come and perform for us."

Gregson said she has been especially interested in Morris' Christmas tours after she caught a Christmas concert a few years ago and was "blown away" by how good Morris was.

"When you hear him sing 'O Holy Night' or 'How Great Thou Art,' there aren't words to describe it," Gregson said. "It's just phenomenal. ... It's going to be a true Christmas experience. I can't think of a better way to start the real Christmas season."