The boy from Cornwall: James Morrison

You can take the boy out of Cornwall, but you can't take Cornwall out of the boy.

Reminiscing with genuine fondness of his days busking in the UK's seaside streets of Newquay, you'd think Brit Award-winner James Morrison fancied a jam on the cobbles outside The Newquay Arms again.

"It was great," he says as he lists his favourite spots where he usually got a welcome audience (it helped that they were generous with the pennies too).

"I was in a band called Peppermint Slug," he laughs. "If I'd known I was going to be the least bit famous and be chatting to a journalist from Dubai I think I might have thought about the name a bit more."

There's a heavy pause. "Ok, so I wouldn't have," he says honestly. "I'm glad it was a bad name. It was cool and it makes all this a lot more magical. We didn't know what to expect. My bassist played a didgeridoo, for heaven's sake. It was fun and it was who we were then. We had such high hopes and yet few expectations."

Morrison adopted this life rule then and continues to live by it, even though the venues have changed a little: Morrisson will headline the final night of the Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival in February.

And in spite of a Brit Award on the mantelpiece, collaborations with Nelly Furtado and Jason Mraz, two No 1 albums and an already extensive touring history, you'd never know he'd even sniffed fame if you met him.

"I just love singing," he says. "It really is as simple as that. I don't really get what's happened to me and I'm not sure I deal with it very well. I've never been great at accepting compliments, just don't know what to do with them. Singing is all I know. It's all I know how to do."

At 18, Morrison migrated north to his girlfriend's hometown, Derby, and vowed to take his music with him. Things don't often work out as you plan.

"I had a van-cleaning job," he says. "It wasn't great and it wasn't easy starting out again. I couldn't get gigs and nobody knew me."

Adopting a broad East Midland accent, he imitates a pub landlord. "Sorry son, we only do karaoke round 'ere, lad." He laughs before continuing his impersonation. "People like to get up and have a go themselves round these parts, lad. Not listen to some skinny tyke who thinks he knows better."

Pausing politely to wait for the laughter to subside he continues: "I got sacked," he says nonchalantly, as if being fired was an everyday occurrence. "Then I went along to an open-mic night and met a guy. Within two weeks I was in a studio recording. It's amazing how things happen."

Developing

As it often is in life, it wasn't all plain sailing with the first offer on the table from Sony Music termed a development deal.

"‘No thanks mate,' I said. ‘I'll come back to you when you're developed enough to accept me as I am and allow me to develop the way I want,'" he says without stopping, the decision to walk away from a potentially life-changing deal clearly still resonating with the singer.

But the bold move paid off, as Morrison — who powered away from this offer with the inspiration to write many of the tracks on his first album, Undiscovered — was signed a year later.

Asked whether it's been the usual rollercoaster ride, he interrupts, exhaling what sounds like his entire lung capacity. "It's been a lightspeed flight on a nitroglycerin rocket," he splurts out.

"I've met people I never thought I'd meet and sang in front of thousands. There were times in my life I wasn't even sure if I'd ever have enough money to go and watch the kind of concerts I'm now playing at."

Morrison was born on a run-down crime and drug-ridden council estate in Rugby, England (as if to prove this, his speech is littered with words not suitable for a family publication). Things hit rock bottom after his alcoholic father walked out and the family, James, his mother and two siblings, were rendered homeless.

Moving frequently, it was only after the family settled in Newquay that he discovered a talent for singing, and began busking. "Cornwall was a great place to be," he says, bringing the chat back to a place he says will always be home.

"We had some great times there and these are the places which really did offer me the chance to become who I am today. They are the places which gave me the confidence to believe in myself."

Embarrassing honour

Last year Morrison collaborated with Mraz on Details in the Fabric and released his second album, Songs for You, Truths for Me, which hit No 3 on the charts and certified platinum for sales. Broken Strings, a duet with Furtado really put Morrison on the music map and became his biggest hit worldwide.

Morrison is often described as a British Stevie Wonder — something he says he'll never understand. "Stevie Wonder is my idol and I'm embarrassed people compare me to him, but honoured too."

Not one to get particularly star struck, Morrison agreed there were always exceptions as he spilled the beans about life as a music celeb. "I toured with Take That and supported Bruce Springsteen and it was a real eye-opener," he says with a laugh.

"The security on the Take That tour was so intense it was hard for me to breathe. I had to convince the guards to let me on stage."

And for anyone who thinks the life of a pop star means brushing shoulders with the stars, think again.

Proving he's no different from the rest of us he adds: "I was so excited I might get to meet Bruce at the gig we were both playing at. His dressing room was in sight and just as I was heading to say hi, I was stopped by a friend and taken to meet Dave Matthews. I don't even like Dave Matthews! Gutted."

But it was his real idol who reduced him to a speechless mess. "Stevie Wonder stood in front of me and I fell to pieces. I didn't know what to say so I told him the first time I heard his music it made me cry. I don't even think my sentence made sense."

Not exactly an amateur himself, the 25-year-old boasts global sales of more than two million for Undiscovered, which became one of the top 10 best selling albums of the year in the UK, classifying Morrison as one of the country's leading pop singers.

Picking up a Brit Award for Best British Male Solo Artist in 2007 further added to the evidence for this case.

So will he ever change? "I don't think so, and I really hope not," he says. "I'm the same person I was, except people now ask to have their picture taken with me. I don't have an ego and I'm not sure I ever will have. Being down to earth really makes the magic of what is happening today so much better."

A new album not on the horizon just yet due to a crazy touring schedule Morrison says his inspiration has always come straight from the heart. "My music is about life and the songs are what they are. It's as simple as that."

Accents clearly his thing, he breaks into a strong New York one. "My album is so amazing man. I mean, it's practically got nuclear bombs on it," he laughs. "I'll never be this person. I've had nothing, so now this is just what it is.

"One promise I'll make to all my fans is that I'll never act like I deserve everything which is happening to me today."

Don't miss it

The Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival, presented by Network International, takes place from February 10-19 next year at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre.

James Morrison will be performing on Friday, February 19, supported by Marion Meadows, Laura Izibor and Brett Dennen.For more information and tickets, visit dubaijazzfest.com or call Chillout Productions on 04-3911196.