"Emotional sincerity that goes straight to the heart."

MARIE CLAIRE

There is an angst and energy, a hybrid of rock, funk, attitude, integrity, that comes out in everything Ness does. She's a free spirit with "rock star attitude" that is far from being "rock star attitude" and more "Ness being Ness".

There are very few artists that, in connecting with their own creativity are able to communicate it with the musicians around them. (Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder,Cat Stevens, Dave Matthews, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, etc.). Nessa also has the makings to be up there with these artists...”

CAMARA KAMBON, Composer & Producer, “Family Affair” Mary J Blige
Eminem, Dr. Dre.

It takes one to know one. When US soul star Alicia Keys toured Australia in October 2004, Alicia, her band, crew and management were in the wings watching Nessa Morgan tear up the support slot every night. They liked what they saw - a raw soul singer with real songs and a real band - and they all demanded a signed copy of Nessa's critically acclaimed debut album, Sex & Poverty, to take home to the States.

"At first they thought I was American. Alicia didn't even know what a Maori was," says 27-year-old Nessa, a New Zealand-born singer-songwriter. "So I gave her a DVD of [the Academy Award-nominated] Whale Rider. Half an hour later, Alicia was watching it in her dressing room."

Nessa Morgan has been making an impression on a lot of people lately. Michael Franti & Spearhead's drummer, Dave Shul, so loved her show when he saw her at the 2005 Melbourne International Music Festival, he offered to be her guitarist for the East Coast Blues & Roots Festival at Byron Bay this year.

She was also the first Australian act to be invited to play the prestigious Bluesfest sideshow at Byron's famous Beach Hotel. She packed the place. "It was such a great festival. George Clinton was standing side of stage shouting 'Go Off Girl!'," recalls Nessa. "I saw Bo Diddley and John Lee Hooker Jr ... Man, they are naughty old dudes! I am learning from the best!"

Nessa Morgan began writing songs at 24 years old, sometimes writing as many as one song a day. Influenced by Lauren Hill, Anita Baker, Al Green, Bob Marley and Nina Simone, she developed a cool, soulful story-telling style. "I believe in songs about every day life and struggles," she says. "And I believe you have to sing them with heart and breathe the words out. If you don't believe what I'm singing then I may as well pack my bags."

NESSA MORGAN was born into a Maori family in New Zealand's capital city of Wellington, the daughter of funk musicians, Hira and Rose Morgan. Her father, Hira Morgan appeared with his band "Shriek Machine" in the Battle of the Bands in New Zealand in the early seventies and from there. Hira uprooted his family and went over to Australia with his wife and four children to follow his dream. Nessa was just three years old and she says "Midnight Train to Georgia" could have been written about her dad. In Australia, the band changed names to Collision and managed to land a record deal with Festival.

Although Nessa grew up in Australia, her Maori roots are written all over her face and she holds strong to her Maori traditions. Her father, Hira is from Tainui and her mother, Rose from Rotorua. Hira's river is WAIKOTO, the mountain is TAUPIRI, Marae (meeting ground) is TURANGA WAI WAI and his WHARE (home) is MAHINARANGI. The motto for Tainui is He Piko He Taniwha (there's a challenge waiting on every corner). He met the challenges of a struggling musician family life in Australia. First stop was Sydney's Kings Cross, where her musician father gigged with his funk band. The family then followed the work to Bondi before eventually settling in Newcastle where Nessa and her two sisters and brother went to school.

"We were like gypsies," Nessa says. "My father's funk band was way ahead of its time so it was hard for them. We just went wherever the work was."

The muso lifestyle sometimes forced the family to go without food. Nessa and her siblings even resorted to spearfishing for crabs on the Newcastle beaches for dinner. They moved house when they couldn't pay the rent. "We even got kicked out of a caravan park, you can't get much lower than that," she remembers. "We had nothing. We had the clothes on our back and Dad had a saxophone. But as kids, we didn't know any different."

At 14, Nessa's careers teacher took one look at her Mohawk hairstyle and predicted a bleak future for her. "She told me I was going to be nothing," says Nessa. "So I asked Dad to teach me to be a singer. He said it would be really hard and he was right."

Soon the 15-year-old was practising her vocals every day and performing in her parents' trio, Arkestra, seven-nights-a-week on a cruise liner. "Mum did backing vocals and I shared lead vocals with my Dad. He told me to sing with my emotions. I was trying to sing like a woman. People said I sounded like I had my heart broken but I was only 15."

In 2002, Nessa started writing her own songs. "I was 24 and I thought I was too old to be an artist so I'll be a writer instead," she says. "And I thought no one wants to see a Maori chick singing. Everyone wants little blonde 14-year-old girls as artists. That's what I honestly thought."

In her pursuit to establish herself as a songwriter, Nessa started her own trio, gigged three nights a week and worked in a patisserie by day to earn enough money to demo her songs. She found a manager who encouraged her to write more (over 100 songs) and convinced her to be the performer as well as the songwriter and started taking her demos around to the record companies. "People were saying Australians can't do R&B as well as the Americans. They were saying we can't sell it to them. I say 'Bullshit! We can!"

Signed to BMG, Nessa flew to L.A. to record four songs with the legendary producer Don Was.

One of the most prolific and sought-after producers in the music industry, Was has worked with Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Paula Abdul, Willie Nelson, Carly Simon, Elton John, k.d. lang, the B-52s ("Love Shack") and Roy Orbison. He's collected four Grammys, including Album Of The Year for his work on Bonnie Raitt's Nick Of Time. Nessa Morgan is the first Australian artist to have worked with him. "I didn't know who he was!" recalls Nessa of her first meeting with Was in LA. "But then I saw him with dreads, cargo pants and a cowboy hat and thought, 'this man is funky!'"

The critical response to Sex & Poverty was immediate and unanimous: "Sydney's Nessa Morgan is poised to become Australia's first bona fide neo-soul diva," said the Melbourne Herald Sun. The Sydney's Telegraph thought it "stunning", going on to say that "emerging soul diva Nessa Morgan is a breath of fresh air with her candour and boundless enthusiasm."

Nessa Morgan's blistering live shows have taken the album to the people. "With the live show, we try to dirty it up," says Nessa. "It's like I'm telling my story. There's no fancy lights, no flashy dance moves, no flashy outfits. Just three guys behind me and me singing my guts out. I work hard to try and move the audience."

Nessa Morgan is the real deal. "I want people to know they're not the only ones going through hard times. But life can get better if you pick yourself up. I came off stage once and this lady came up to me in tears," Nessa says of a woman who had been a victim of domestic violence. "She goes to me, 'I've listened to your songs and you've made me believe in me and feel that I was worth something'".

More recently, Nessa and her manager , Lorda Omeissah of GoSet Music set up a new indie label, Probono Records with a vision to building a roots/soul/r&b label, initially with Nessa as it’s flagship but with the intent to sign other acts in the future that fit this vision.

Under ProBono, Nessa recently spent six months in the U.S. writing and recording her second album, “All Beautiful” due out later this year.

While writing Nessa showcased in Atlanta, performing live at such hotspots as the Apache Café and the Hard Rock Café Velvet Underground. Performing live on morning TV in Atlanta, the producers decided to abandon the cross the landing of the Space Shuttle after hearing Nessa warming up and crossed live to her at the Loft instead, performing “Woman’s Work”.

In September 2005, Nessa headlined the Homecoming Concert at the Australia Festival in Nashville, a week long festival committed to showcasing all things from Australia and NZ and the largest expose of Australia NZ in the northern hemisphere.

Working in L.A., Nashville and Atlanta with the likes of Shannon Sanders and Blue Miller (India Arie), Gary Nicholson and J.Fred Knobloch (Etta James) , Macy Gray’s producers and Camara Kambon (Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Dr Dre), Nessa has produced an album that combines a crunk and rock sound that she calls ‘CRONK’. The album still has songs that dip the hat to the trad soul sounds she grew up with but there’s also a fresh energy on tracks like “Animal” and “Not Now”.

Back home now and with plenty of life left in her first album, Nessa is releasing “Woman’s Work” in April to coincide with Mothers Day. “Woman’s Work” is her favourite track from her debut album, “Sex & Poverty”.

Look out for Nessa and her new band as she road tests songs from her new album “All Beautiful”, due out later this year.

For further information please contact:

Lorda Omeissah, ProBono Records. 02 9642 0619 or 0413 044 332 lorda@gosetmusic.com
www.nessamorgan.com
NESSA MORGAN's debut album SEX & POVERTY out now.

Watch for her forthcoming album “All Beautiful” on ProBono Records, out later this year.