Not many people consider Canada exotic—but Adam Morris is one who does. At least that’s what he said in an interview Aug. 13.
Speaking from the side of the highway on his way to his band’s next gig, the frontman of the Murder Mouse Blues Band said he loves playing here because Canadians are so receptive to music—something he hasn’t experienced back in his native Australia—so it feels very different playing in the Great White North.
A writer and PhD candidate, Morris taught himself to play music in his 20s, using it to create a new vessel for his artistic expression.
“[Music is] just another art form,” he said. “So whether you’re painting, or whether you’re writing a novel, or whether you’re writing poetry or writing music you have that thing inside you that you need to get out. And I’ve been getting it out in all kinds of forms probably since I was 16. Now I am just getting it out with music.”
His partner in that endeavour is Jon Edwards, a multi-instrumentalist Morris first met at a brewery in Perth. Morris had been teaming up with a variety of different musicians for years, but when he and Edwards started jamming together they realized they had the perfect musical chemistry.
The two started playing gigs in pubs and wineries in Australia. Before long they added drummer Warren Hall to the lineup, and the Murder Mouse Blues Band was born.
“It wasn’t really planned out, it just kind of happened. Now I’m standing on the side of the highway talking to you,” Morris said with a laugh.
And as he travels the world with his band, that fact is what sticks with the Aussie the most.
He recalled a few days earlier stopping to take in Niagara Falls, and realizing that he was getting to see it—in fact he has gotten to see places all over the world—simply because he plays music.
“It’s such a privilege to be able to travel and play music,” he said. “It’s mind blowing that I can do it.”
Trevor Nichols
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