Matt Morris sold out the Bluebird Theater on Thursday on his own merits. Photo by .
I first saw in 2008, when he played . Solo.
On Thursday, Morris sold out the — a much larger Denver venue — and at one point was backed by 12 musical apostles, including two fiddles, a three-man brass section and a couple friends from the .
The first time I saw Morris, he sported a shlumpy shirt, baggy pants, a wide bandana wrapped around longish curls. Last night, Morris rocked tight jeans, a leather jacket, his hair and beard closely cropped.
At the Walnut Room, Morris was tethered to his acoustic guitar or seated at a piano. At the Bluebird, for the first part of his long set, Morris handled just a microphone on songs from his first CD, “When Everything Breaks Open,” released in January.
Morris has moves, but more importantly, an authentic ability to connect with his audience. He warbled his way through conversation with the house, which erupted enthusiastically at the beginning, middle and end of his concert. “I love you, Matt!” fans of both gender screamed. They shouted, “Hallelujah” — referring to Morris’s Hope for Haiti Now telethon duet with his pal/producer Justin Timberlake. Their glorious cover went viral, though many listeners/viewers knew not who was harmonizing with Timberlake.
Morris and Timberlake met in Florida in the early ‘90s when both were child co-stars together with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera on the Disney Channel’s All New Mickey Mouse Club. Morris had cut his musical teeth as a kid on tour with his father, the country recording artist Gary Morris. While the other three Mouseketeers entered the star-making machinery, Morris laid low in Colorado. At one point in high school, he volunteered in South America, digging latrines and teaching hygiene.
An accomplished songwriter, a nimble guitarist and pianist, above all, he’s a vocalist with a set of pipes that can only be considered a polished gift. His fluid tenor entertains. Morris demonstrated his versatility with an emotional range swinging from his soulful rendering of “Money” to his mournful and melancholy “Bloodline” to an up-tempo sarcastic tone on “The Un-American.” Whatever the mood, Morris’s lyrics consistently point in the direction of good will, tolerance and social justice. Last night, he served as a prophetic pitchman for several causes, including elementary school teachers: “On a daily basis, they’re changing our future,” Morris said in his shout-out.
With his genuine spirit and his incandescent smile, Morris is a darling of Denver. A rising star about to go supernova, Morris seems comfortable with and excited by his billowing fame. He announced in an impromptu song that Alice 105.9 is adding a single from his new record to its playlist. “It all changes when itap on the radio,” Morris sang, ad-libbing lyrics and melody.
And though his look was decidedly less Denver and more Los Angeles, Morris seems secure in his hometown habitat: “People say to me, ‘So do you have to move to L.A. now?’ I don’t gotta move to L.A. We’ve got good music in this town.”
If I were a betting woman, I’d wager that Matt Morris becomes a bigger Denver-based act than the Fray and DeVotchKa combined.
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Colleen Smith, a longtime contributor to The Denver Post, will publish in 2010. She also keeps a and serves as the .
