Among Top Artists and Top Albums on the Folk Radio Charts for July 2008...and Top Folk Albums of 2011...Jackie Morris has built a reputation for story songs that are funny, witty, poignant and touching. But her fascination with “stories” goes back to her childhood.
Born in an attached row house on a busy street in Queens, New York, her early world of brick and concrete was obscured by her parents’ vivid tales from their youth -- stories of European castles, western rodeos and adventure-filled camping trips. And always, there was music: her father on harmonica, accordion or piano; her mother singing the songs of her younger days. It obviously made an impression.
By the time she was 13, Jackie started writing her own songs; parodies at first, then real songs at around 17. Her childhood ukulele was replaced with a guitar; and by the time she got to college in upstate New York, she landed a weekend gig in a local bar. While she always loved the songs of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, Lead Belly and Odetta, she seemed to find herself, most often, writing her own material.
She continued strumming her way through a Masters in English at NYU in the heart of Greenwich Village. But in the years that followed, her energies turned towards a writing career, raising a family, and the emotional demands of marriage. She went to work as a copywriter - first writing book jackets in New York; then, writing advertising in Los Angeles.
When she finally struck out on her own in 2000, moving to a small town near Santa Barbara, California, it was as if a floodgate had opened. The songs started pouring out again almost with a will of their own. Jackie first included her favorites in “Where the Legends Grow Like Weeds,” then “Money to Burn” and most recently, “Tell Me a Story.”
Many of these songs – in all three albums – were grown from the seeds of real stories (“Louise” is, in fact, about her mother; while Online Dating reflects her own escapades in cyberspace; “Apache” is based on a true story about a friend and her horse; and “Our Town Said No” recounts her small town’s victory over Big Oil in June 2010.
But while they are all rooted in a folk tradition, they reflect a patchwork of styles: bluegrass, blues, and ballads; early rock, be-bop, and country western; old-time shuffles and contemporary acoustic music. “Despite the different stylings,” Jackie says, “each song shares a common ground -- my heart.” As listeners often point out, “You can hear the smile in these songs.”