This week’s local artist spotlight goes out to the talented young multi-instrumentalist Mia Morris. Based in Nashville since 2017, the drum prodigy originally from Indianapolis is featured as an artist in residence at 3rd & Lindsley every Tuesday in January and was Jayson’s DJ Pick last week. From a home studio in her basement, Morris writes, plays, sings, and produces all of her own music. Drawing on influences from the Beatles to Gwen Stefani, her love of rock and roll is obvious in the over 30 original tracks out under her name.
Morris is only a sophomore in high school, but don’t let her age fool you. She has backed over 120 artists as a percussionist, as well as co-written and recorded projects with a variety of big name acts. Prolific in many respects, her popular Youtube channel features over a hundred videos of her releasing original music, covering her favorite songs, and vlogging her life as an artist in Music City.
Her most recent single, “Gone My Way,” was co-written with Larry Florman (aka Brother Love), Smith Curry, and Alex Haddad of East Nashville-based Them Vibes. An ode to individualism and self-determination, the track is fitting for Morris, who is unsigned to a label and happy to retain complete authority over her entire creative process. “I find such joy in being able to create all the parts exactly how I want. I can change them and not have to tell a musician how to do it,” she explained in an interview with Bethany Bowman. Her capabilities as a writer and multi-instrumentalist are on full display in the “Gone My Way” music video, which features three different Mia’s playing three different instruments alongside each other.
We’ll be playing “Gone My Way” through the week as we feature Mia Morris as our Local Artist of the Week. Catch it live on-air at 100.1FM on your dial or streaming live at lightning100.com.
