What is the secret to writing a great song?
“I know every writer’s different, but I always remember a Leonard Cohen interview I heard once,” says Callum Morgan, a founding member of Norfolk-based country/rock band Morganway.
“He said: ‘You go to this place and I wish I knew how to get there because I would visit more often’. And he’s the most prolific songwriter I can think of. It’s a mystery to him, it’s a mystery to a lot of us.”
It’s a question that Callum and two fellow musicians will be pondering during the first of a new series of Songwriters’ Round events at Voodoo Daddy’s Showroom in Norwich, on Thursday (September 1).
He’ll be joined by Missouri-born, Nashville-based singer/songwriter Kenny Foster, and Lucy Grubb, a rising local artist making waves in the UK Americana and folk scene.
And while they might not find the definitive answer, it promises to be an inspiring and insightful night for music fans.
As Callum explains, songwriters’ rounds offer an intimate look at an artist and their work.
Each performer presents a song, before delving deeper into its background, story and influences, and opening up the discussion to the other acts and the audience.
He took part in a songwriters’ round with singers Katy Hurt and Lady Nade when Morganway played the 7 Hills Americana Fest in Bath earlier this year.
“We shared some songs, they shared some songs, it was a really nice thing to do and it made me think it would be cool to do something like it in Norwich,” he says.
And he says that, as a songwriter himself, it's interesting to reflect on your own work.
“Sometimes, when you’re writing a song, you’re not necessarily aware of what you’re doing. It’s sometimes afterwards you look back and go, oh okay, maybe this was about this.”
Morganway, which won the British Country Music Association’s prestigious Group Of The Year award in 2021, was formed by Callum and his guitarist twin brother Kieran and features SJ Mortimer on lead vocals, Nicole Terry on fiddle, Matthew Brocklehurst on keys and Edward 'Steady Eddy' Bullinger on drums.
Kenny Foster and Lucy Grubb are two artists Callum has performed with on numerous occasions with Morganway, and the name of the night - Intercontinental Friendships - was inspired by the song Continental Breakfast by singer-songwriters Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett.
At the end of last year Callum and his wife Becky welcomed their first baby, Seth, who is nearly nine months old.
Kenny also recently became a father. With two baby sons and busy touring lives, the similarities are something they will likely touch upon at the Voodoo Daddy’s show.
“It’s often said that musicians can’t be a parent and tour,” says Callum. “Before I became a dad that idea used to haunt me, but then I met so many musicians on the road who were parents making it work.
“It’s hard being away, especially because so much happens in those early months. When there is any break within the tour schedule that we have I am 100 per cent there. And also, there have been some opportunities where Becky and Seth have been able to travel with us.”
Earlier this year Morganway toured Scotland with rising country star Kezia Gill. Becky and Seth joined them on the road – and this summer Cornbury was their first festival as a family of three.
Kenny rarely travels without his wife, Sara, who is also his tour manager. They are currently touring the UK with Townes, their baby son.
“It’s amazing to be going through something so similar together and at pretty much the exact same time,” says Callum.
“I first met Kenny at a Whispering Bob Harris Showcase we did in Harrogate. Him and I were talking backstage about songs and influences and I we just really got on, I think we’re quite likeminded in a lot of ways. And we just kept bumping in to each other through gigs.”
Both Morganway and Kenny have performed at C2C in London and Millport Country Music Festival in Scotland. Both acts returned to Millport in 2022, performing on the main stage.
“Kenny is a very good performer, he’s very good at talking to a crowd and as a fan I’d love to see him in a songwriter round because I think that sort of intimate setting would really connect with people,” says Callum
They’ll be joined by local artist Lucy Grubb, who has appeared at C2C, Black Deer and has also performed at the popular Suffolk festival Red Rooster this year.
In October she’ll be a showcase artist at the Manchester Folk Festival.
“Lucy supported Morganway, and I remember being struck by how good a writer she was. Her voice cuts through in such an honest way and her songs do too, poetic to the core. She has a really individual sound,” he says, adding that he hopes it will be the first in a series of songwriters’ round events.
Morganway has deep roots in Norfolk. Callum and Kieran grew up in north Norfolk and were in bands during their time at Aylsham High School.
“Our dad, Tim, plays in bands, and seeing him performing was our first introduction to live music,” he says.
Another big influence was his dad’s friend, musician Dave Morrison, who taught Callum to play bass and Kieran to play guitar.
The brothers had a broad musical education. Callum says that during high school he and his brother were “obsessed” with Red Hot Chili Peppers and he was also into The Libertines.
Britpop was another influence – as he’s speaking to the EDP from Alex James’s Big Feastival, he is keen to point out that includes Blur as well as Oasis – as was west coast Americana such as Eagles and Blue Oyster Cult thanks to his mum.
“Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac are huge influences of mine personally,” he says.
“I used to want to be a writer and I’ve always been fascinated by words, so Leonard Cohen is another big influence and more recently Craig Finn, who plays in The Hold Steady.”
The band’s name is a tribute to their late grandfather who died suddenly the year after they were born.
“There’s a road in Hevingham that is called Morgan’s Way, which is named after our grandfather, who was a local vicar,” says Callum
Morganway evolved from other bands that they were in – the current line-up came together in 2017, they started gigging in 2018 and they released their self-titled debut album in 2019.
“We never set out to be a country band, we were just making the music that we want to make –we’ve got lots of different influences and it just so happened that the country music scene in the UK has really got behind us,” says Callum.
Supporters of the band include influential DJ “Whispering” Bob Harris, who invited them to play a couple of his Under the Apple Tree sessions at his home.
The band had just returned from a headline national tour in 2020 when the country went into the first coronavirus lockdown.
“The band was still relatively new before Covid happened. We used the time to re-group and reflect and write – we did a lot of writing separately during the pandemic, so it was quite a creative time,” says Callum.
Last year they were thrilled to be named Band of the Year at the British Country Music Association Awards
They’ve been back on the road playing festivals during the summer – as well as the last-ever Cornbury and the Big Feastival, they’ve been at Holt Festival and The Long Road Festival in Leicestershire.
The band has got some more live dates lined up for October and they’ve also got some studio time booked in Wales in the early autumn thanks to a grant from the PRS Foundation.
“Now we’re back playing live I guess we appreciate it more than ever, just like audiences," says Callum. "I think people are always going to be hungry for the community spirit of being together and sharing an experience as a group.”
Intercontinental Friendships: A Songwriters’ Round with Kenny Foster, Callum Morgan and Lucy Grubb is being held on Thursday, September 1, at Voodoo Daddy’s Showroom in Timber Hill, Norwich. Tickets cost £8 in advance and doors open at 7pm. For more information and tickets visit voodoodaddysshowroom.co.uk
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