Following his SNL cherry-popping featuring instant holiday classic “Dick in a Box,” Justin Timberlake was feeling cocky. Pun intended. In the middle of dinner at a Middle Eastern joint in NYC, JT shared plans to launch his own label with longtime pal Matt Morris. That’s not all. JT wanted Morris’s Hancock on a record contract. Morris didn’t need to be courted.
Why Morris?
Morris and Timberlake entertained rug rats as Mousketeers. While JT was busy getting his boy band on (not to mention spearing Britney), Morris was attempting to lead a semi-normal adolescence here in Denver. Summers were a different story. Some were spent on the road with his old man, country crooner Gary Morris, and one in particular was spent in Paraguay preaching the gospel of hygiene and chipping in with sanitation. Morris has since joined forces with Flobots’ FightWithTools.org, a non-profit committed to supporting communities in need.
When Everything Breaks Open, Morris’ debut for Timberlake’s Tennman Records, drops this Tuesday, January 12. In the producer’s seat, JT played musical chairs with Austin guitar legend Charlie Sexton. Morris penned the majority of the material, utilizing chops he honed writing with Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson and Timberlake himself. There’s no telling yet how Morris’s tunes will resonate with listeners, but there’s zero question he’s in possession of an incredible instrument. Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright fans will not be disappointed.
Tune into Morris’s Letterman debut this Friday, January 15.