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<\/p>\nCarrie Morrison is a Brevard, North Carolina-based singer, songwriter and pianist. She’s also a teacher of exceptional children at Brevard High School. She recently recorded and released her first full-length album, Miles and Miles<\/i>. A 2018 performance at Isis Music Hall in Asheville sold out six weeks before the show.<\/p>\n
You’ve played piano since childhood. You’re classically trained, and skilled at improvisation. But you only began public performance of your own music a few years ago. How did that happen?<\/b><\/p>\n
In 2006 I started going to the Back Room over in Flat Rock [now closed]. It was attached to the Flat Rock Wine Shop, and they had an open mic night every Wednesday. It took me about two months to work up the nerve, but I had three songs. I finally got nudged onstage one night, and it worked well. So Dave Brannock\u2014the owner, who’s since passed away\u2014gave me some gigs. I was like, \u201cWell, playing in a bar is fun! This is great!\u201d So I just started singing and playing.<\/p>\n
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How does your improvisational background inform your songs?<\/b><\/p>\n
It\u2019s all about the chords and the relationship between them. I assign emotional qualities to the chords. The major second leading up to the fifth is the \u201cincredulous\u201d chord that goes to the \u201cresolve\u201d chord, and then back to the one, which is the resolution. The four is sort of a reassuring chord. The minor sixth is a plunge into the black hole, which often gets saved by the four chord. I listened to a ton of Broadway when I was growing up, and so I\u2019m always going for that emotional build, and then an arc and a resolution.<\/p>\n
Do you see a connection between your work as a teacher and making music?<\/b><\/p>\n
I think the connection between teaching and making music is purely one of trying to connect with people. The most rewarding moments of teaching are when you\u2019re able to connect with someone not of your generation, not of your background, not of your daily challenges. And my happiest moments as a musician have always been when somebody comes up to me after I play an original song and says, \u201cOh, I know exactly what you mean,\u201d \u201cThat happened to me, too,\u201d or, \u201cThat makes me think of this.\u201d It\u2019s just about the connecting.<\/p>\n
Chris Rosser produced your latest album, Miles and Miles<\/i>. He’s a multi-instrumentalist who’s skilled on keys as well. How did having a fellow keyboardist affect the character of the album?<\/b><\/p>\n
I wanted to play all my own keys\u2014and I did\u2014but he was a very good coach. I needed some fills on one song, and Chris demonstrated some ideas. I couldn\u2019t really do everything he was doing, but I listened to his different rhythms and triplets and little funky things he was doing, and then applied those ideas to my own solos.<\/p>\n
Isn’t piano somewhat of a cumbersome tool for a singer-songwriter who performs live?<\/b><\/p>\n
Yes! It’s such an awkward instrument! I’m always like, \u201cWhy didn’t I learn how to play guitar?\u201d [laughs]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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