Gramps Morgan spreading ‘Positive Vibrations’
Says meditation and yoga helping him get back into performing form
Published:Friday | August 6, 2021 | 12:07 AMStephanie Lyew/Gleaner Writer
There’s plenty to love when it comes to Roy ‘Gramps’ Morgan. The Grammy Award-winning reggae artiste, who is an integral part of Morgan Heritage, has a way with words, knows the power of speaking things into being, and never misses an opportunity to give a little motivation to those who need it. “It comes from learning to appreciate the simple things in life; I have learnt so much throughout my career, especially that there is power in simplicity. As a musician, I can speak for many that we realise we can live with less, but the sad thing is, as human beings, we work so hard to impress others,” Gramps told The Gleaner.
He added, “The past year and a half, it’s been one song at a time. I wanted to become a better songwriter, to improve on my skills, and also to bring back the smile to Jamaican music and eventually, I met up with Johnny Reid during what was one of the most difficult times, recorded People Like You, and it changed me forever.”
Gramps said that the single was a tribute to his late uncle David Morgan and veteran producer Bobby Digital, following their passing last year. “It was the same morning while attending uncle David’s funeral virtually that Bobby Digital passed away. Johnny saw that I was down and said, let’s sing a song, and it helped … it’s like a prayer, and it has not only helped me, but many other persons that have lost loved ones,” he shared.
Gramps and his wife, cell and developmental biologist Dr Annabelle Morgan, are raising their children in ‘Music City’, that is Nashville, Tennessee, and Reid, who is a multi-platinum country music recording artiste and producer, originally from Scotland, had just completed an over US$2-million renovation on Soultrain Sound Studios in the city.
The two met accidentally at a Nashville sporting event, but neither envisioned where their partnership might lead. Nevertheless, their discovery of a shared love for songwriting and willingness to take risks has blossomed into a friendship, out of which comes Gramp’s latest album, Positive Vibrations. The album was recorded over the past year, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant lots of solo sessions amid virtual meetings and family time.
“It didn’t start off as building an album,” he said. “We had almost two years to write songs, and it transformed into a feel-good soundtrack. It was destiny for me to meet Johnny.”
APPRECIATION FOR YOGA
It is a country-inspired reggae-infused audio cocktail full of uplifting tracks like Paradise, a collaboration with long-time friend India.Arie; Float Ya Boat with Shaggy; Runaway Bay and Secret to Life, featuring his 25-year-old son Jemere; and the Morgan patriarch and reggae pioneer, Denroy Morgan. Writing and recording new music isn’t the only activity that has helped raise Gramps’ positive vibrations. The musician revealed that he has a new-found appreciation for yoga, which at first he thought “was the most foolish thing anyone could do”.
“I first tried it in California. Many Jamaican musicians tour the world; musicians overall are fortunate to see the world, to experience the different cultures in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and our neighbouring Caribbean islands, and so you are blessed to learn about other practices and see how persons all over adopt them. If you go to Japan, or the gyms in Miami and New York and in Jamaica, too, you see people doing yoga,” Gramps said.
“Finally, attempting the ‘warrior one’ pose and having an instructor telling me to hold it, ah when it ketch up with me, and I had to breathe … I felt it work,” he continued.
Though nowhere near expert level, Gramps says that he does yoga as much as he can to help with maintaining good breathing and form, and urges others, “Doh knock it before you try it.”
“I fell in love with it (yoga) and found that it’s a great way to do exercise and meditate. I am not very good at some of the yoga poses because I am a big-boned man, but I think is people like me that need it the most. I need it more than ever now because we been sitting so long. The other day me and my brothers had a show in Miami, only for an hour, but it was incredible to feel how winded I was. I was like, I have to get back into proper performing form — to be able to jump up and down and sing and not go off-key,” Gramps explained.