Maroon 5 keyboardist and solo artist, PJ Morton. Picture: Instagram
Maroon 5 band member and solo singer-songwriter, PJ Morton, will be taking his fans on a “musical experience” during his upcoming “Cape Town to Cairo” tour.
The American Grammy Award-winning muso, whose real name is Paul Morton jr, will be performing live in Cape Town on Friday (September 6), in Durban on Saturday (September 7), and in Johannesburg on Sunday (September 8).
Morton’s return to the country follows his sold-out concerts last October whilst he was recording his album, “Cape Town to Cairo.”
The album, which has been well received both locally and internationally, transports listeners on a journey through Africa.
It was completed during a 30-day journey across the continent and consists of several musical genres such as R&B, soul, gospel, pop and jazz.
“Everybody is connecting to it (the album), especially when they hear about the story of how it was made in Africa in 30 days,” Morton explained.
“People really start to visualise these different places I’m bringing them to on this journey. It’s been nothing but love,” he added.
Morton also shared that he is drawn to South Africa because of the warm relationships that he’s built in just a short time.
“I am a relationship type of person and we have quickly developed so many cool relationships with people here.”
“I just love the people of South Africa. Art just imitates life and so being in South Africa has made me more creative and want to create more ... It’s the people that drives my love for creating in SA,” he shared.
Morton, who started as a solo artist before joining the iconic pop band, Maroon 5, said that being able to have both a solo career and to be in the group is a “good problem to have”.
“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world because I get to be in this huge band with my brothers and I also have this career on my own that’s totally separate from Maroon 5.
“Many people don’t know that my independent career started years before Maroon 5. I was on a tour when I went to go do the audition for Maroon 5. I actually had to postpone my solo dates to go to LA and audition.”
He added that after a few years with the band, he felt that he still needed to have his own voice.
“The guys where always so supportive of me doing my own thing. They use to come to my shows. It just happened so organically that when I wanted to write these songs that wasn’t going to fit Maroon 5 necessarily, it fitted my voice. So I always say that it’s a good problem to have both of these things.”
Despite having it all now, there was a time when Morton’s career was non-existent. He recalled a pivotal moment that changed his life.
“The turning point for me was leaving California and moving back to New Orleans after I was burnt out, down in my career and wanting to quit music.
“I moved back to my hometown and rediscovered myself and that’s when I worked on my 2017 album, ‘Gumbo’. The album changed my life. After releasing ‘Gumbo’ we’ve been on this ride since then and (we are) still going.”
The multi-talented star, who is currently touring the United States before coming to South Africa, has promised that his live concert is going to be one of the “most amazing live experiences you’ve ever had”.
“I’m going to bring the full Afro-Orleans band, full background singers, horns, percussions, it’s going to be an experience of authentic soul music.
“We going to be playing songs from the new album, ‘Cape Town to Cairo’ and also songs that people have grown to love throughout the years. We going to go on a journey, it’s going to be an experience more than just a concert,” he said.
After touring South Africa, Morton will be heading to Ghana, Lagos, Nairobi and other places in Africa before finishing off the year with the West Coast of his North American tour.