James Morrison washes his own car, runs his own errands and does jobs around his house.
He wears his heart on his sleeve. It's one of the endearing things about him, along with his loyalty. He has a realistic outlook on fame and the celebrity life he has at his fingertips but chooses not to embrace.
"I'd say I'm a semi-professional," he said, his sentence cut short with embarrassed-laced laughter.
"I still don't really feel like I've made it. People know who I am and I can sell out gigs and put on a show and people come, but in terms of artistically I'm still learning all the time. To write with meaning is always an education."
Five years ago, Morrison catapulted to fame after he was moved from a side tent to the main stage at the annual V Festival in the UK. Organisers said at the time the crowd packed the venue with Morrison in mind. He simply dismisses it with, "I think I just got lucky and they were busy."
He admits he's not bright. "If he's to do with politics, I haven't got a clue who it is," he says when I sarcastically suggest his (actually very good) Italian accent could so easily be confused with that of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
But as we talk, I start to wonder if he's a bit more street-smart than he lets on.
"My grounding was important. Definitely man," he said. "For me personally, it keeps everything in perspective really. Even if I've been doing big festivals or whatever, even if I've been doing big gigs and my mind is used to playing in such big places it's good to have memories of small places and where you've come from and what it's all about."
The 27-year-old, born James Morrison Catchpole, tells a story like he's at the bar of Newquay local with mates and claims this has kept him on the straight and narrow. "Keeping yourself on an even platform to feel like you can still be you is still quite important for me. To go back to those memories of where I came from, it's all part of the journey. It's still early on in my mind — I still have a lot to prove."
But hard work has never been something to deter this man. Hard graft due to an unhappy childhood, poverty and illness forced him to take whatever he could to support his mother.
"The best thing is I've got memories of being a kid there and the worst thing is I've got memories of being a kid there."
He's washed vans, delivered letters, been a kitchen porter, washed dishes, fitted carpets, painted and decorated and even been a chamber maid saying "that is so embarrassing but I had to do what I had to do".
After months busking and playing the odd gig on the Cornish streets, Morrison moved north with his girlfriend Gill, a nurse from Derby.
But it was no easier in Derby than it had been in Cornwall.
"I was sick of walking, sometimes from 8am-6pm, being told, ‘No, mate — it's karaoke on Saturday'."
A few days later, after an open-mic night a man told him he might be able to get him a deal. He came back a week later with an A&R man. "I went to the bloke's office and within a week I was with Sony."
Morrison was eventually signed to Polydor, and by the age of 21 he was touring America with his debut album, Undiscovered, which in the UK made him the biggest-selling male artist of 2006.
‘More pressure'
"It all helps — all that experience helps," he said. "There's a lot more pressure now. In pubs you can play for two hours and sort of busk your way through a few songs you don't know. I can't really do that when you're on a platform where everyone's looking at you. Mistakes are mistakes."
Some have compared Morrison's soulful voice to Stevie Wonder — something the lad won't hear of. "Nobody can compare to Stevie".
Others say Otis Redding or Bobby Womack. But according to Morrison his husky croon is thanks (or not) to contracting whooping cough as a child and for that he can thank his older sister.
"I was born prematurely and she came to visit me and I ended up with it," he says, clearly all parties forgiven. "It's a combination of that, me having a husky voice and singin' with heart," he added in his best New York drawl.
"I smoke so that doesn't help to be honest. I just sing. I just get on with it. I was singing before I started writing songs so I dunno really. It's one of those things I've just always done. I've always sang live. I developed my voice before my songs. I had to catch up writing songs."
In 2010, Morrison announced he had been working on his third studio album saying, "I've sung too many love ballads, I want to go a bit deeper than that and find more substance," and in July via his Twitter page he introduced the new album as The Awakening.
The first single is I Won't Let You Go but the track listing also includes a duet with Jessie J on a track called Up.
"This one's coming out next. I'm excited," he said. "I'm always excited to work with other people really. It makes it interesting for me. It was quite a personal song which made it easier to deal with. Knowing someone else was singing the lyrics means it opens it up to interpretation. She was amazing to be honest. Amazing singer. Professional. We get on — so that helps. I never set out to do loads of duets but this one came up and I just went with it."
Up was recently showcased on popular UK reality show Strictly Come Dancing but Morrison says there's no chance of him becoming any kind of twinkle toes anytime soon.
"I couldn't go on X Factor — they probably don't want me on there, some of the things I've said," he said. "There are few television shows which offer such a huge platform for music. Ballroom dancing isn't really my thing. I'm not much of a dancer. It's something I would never want to do in a million years. But to get my music on there is a real bonus."
Morrison will perform in Dubai on the second weekend of the all-new-format of the Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival on February 24, and says the gig is just what he's after.
"It's all about humble beginnings," he said. "I prefer small shows and pack ‘em out. Get more of a vibe. I'm enjoying the more subtle shows. I was quite nervous to go to Dubai because of all the rules," he said. "I feel so privileged to be a part of that. It'll be one for memories."
Go online
The Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival takes place from February 16-24, 2012 at Al Badia Golf Club, Dubai Festival City. An exclusive early bird deal for MasterCard cardholders is now available. All MasterCard cardholders can buy their tickets at dubaijazzfest.com with anything from a 10 per cent discount on all categories until December 31.
