Norris Hot Springs Music booker Joanne Gardner interviews upcoming performers every month. This month, she speaks to Michael Morris about his upcoming performance with Sarah Krueger on June 22nd at Norris.

JG: Tell me where you are right this minute and what you’re doing.

MM: Right this minute, I’m in Northfield, Minnesota. I split my time between Seattle and Northfield, which is a little college town. I grew up in Minnesota, and Northfield is a wonderful town, it’s a typical small town but having a couple of colleges here give it the vibe that there’s a lot going on culturally. There are a lot of interesting and talented folks around, but it’s sort of removed from everything.   That’s helpful for me to get recording, in particular done. It helps to be away from Seattle and people. I have a recording space set up here.

JG: Are you recording something currently?

MM: We’re in the middle of working on a record for a Seattle based band called Valley Fair, that I’m one of several songwriters in. It’s a debut record. People have been making trips to Minnesota to record it and we’re really close to being done.

JG: I grew up in the Midwest myself. There’s something very authentic and sensible about that whole area. And college towns — there’s always something going on in a college town. Were you musical from an early age, Michael?
MM: Kind of. There was always music around. My family is Scandinavian/Lutheran Midwestern — people that listen to A Prairie Home Companion may know that joke about when you sing someone “Happy Birthday” you do it in four part harmony. So there was music around, it was encouraged but my wanting to be in rock bands wasn’t super encouraged. It took a long time for me to earn the money to buy my first guitar. It was an ever present desire. I sang in the church choir and took piano lessons, played in the school band, etc. In a weird way, I didn’t play a ton of music growing up but when people asked what I wanted to do with my life there was always this answer that I wanted to be a musician but I felt silly saying it, cause I didn’t write songs even. At some point I started doing it and it made the world make a whole lot more sense.

JG: Did you always write songs or did that come after you honed your skills as a player?

MM: After. Now it feels like it’s all I do. When people ask what instruments do you play I say, “I mostly just write songs.” For a long time I learned songs I really liked — Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and people would ask why I didn’t write my own. I didn’t feel the need to do it, I guess. But that switched at some point and it was just like overwhelming. I have a head full of songs that I’ve already written and am always writing.

JG: I understand. It’s like you HAVE to write those songs. I know several songwriters — and I think when you start writing your own songs it makes you a more interesting person.

MM: I hope so. (laughing). It’s a thing that once you get into it, it takes precedence over lots of other parts of life. It doesn’t always make sense to people who don’t do it. It feels more like a thing you need to do. Most of my songwriting comes from a place — I don’t know if it’s inspiration or desperation – but if I have a feeling or situation that I can’t make sense of, I write to get my head around whatever is going on.

JG: People around here may be familiar with your work in Dewi Sant in Seattle. But you have some other bands you work with.

MM: Dewi Sant was the name of a Welsh saint. Kind of a character and he stood for almost everything I hold dear. That’s a band that as long as I’m there, it’s Dewi Sant. Up to this point, there have been some other rotating people, but not a solo thing. That’s my primary thing. That’s where most of the songs go. It’s emotionally autobiographical music. The next project is Valley Fair. It’s the best attempt so far at having a band with my friends. I have lived a lot of my adult life in Seattle. A lot of the draw is the music there. It’s hard to give up the lifestyle of Minnesota but the music scene really draws me in. I’ve made so many friends there but Valley Fair is the first time me and a handful of friends all bring songs to the table. It’s a good time — sort of in the spirit of The Band – different vocalists, different people on instruments. My songs for this band are different that for Dewi Sant, they’re all from a point of view of empathy.

JG: How many people in Valley Fair?

MM: There are (counting) eight. So far we’ve stayed pretty close to home playing and we’ll see if we can venture. We’re hoping to make it to Bozeman.

JG: Come on out. Have you played here much?

MM: I’ve played a handful of times at MSU and the Filler. All really good experiences.

JG: And it’s kinda pretty here.

MM: (laughing) It’s kinda pretty.

JG: But you haven’t been to Norris yet. Pretty unique spot.

MM: No, not yet. We’re really looking forward to it. Can’t wait.

JG: Tell us a little about Sarah Krueger.

MM: Sarah is from Duluth, MN. It’s one of the greatest places — the music from there has been well received around Bozeman, I hear -   Charlie Parr, Trampled by Turtles. Sarah is from that scene — it’s the coolest scene.   They have this amazing festival there called Homegrown and all the bands come back for it. Sarah loves Duluth. She talks about it. She is a singer songwriter with the most beautiful voice. If you record with her and she does backing vocals you just know it will be beautiful. There is no shortage of rootsy singer songwriters but I think Sarah truly stands out. It’s not just her amazing voice but she writes really solid songs. A lot of singers with amazing voices don’t’ even really worry about having great songs — like they figure the voice is the thing. Not with Sarah — hers are really good, solid songs. She has something to say — they stand out as much as the vocals.

JG: Do you do a song swap? How will this work on June 22nd?

MM: We haven’t done this yet — we’re not sure how it’s going to work. We have a band mate in common and we decided to have her come out to Seattle and put this little tour together. This is our first time performing together live. We’ll have a few people with us — a common band. We’ll both be doing stuff with each other — better work on figuring that out.

JG: You will not soon forget the bubble. Hey, nice talking to you. People shouldn’t miss this.

MM: I really hope people make it out. See you out there!

Joanne Gardner is the music booker at Norris Hot Springs. She writes a monthly piece for Bozeman Magazine on interesting musicians coming up. For more information on Norris, please go to www.norrishotsprings.com