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Tulsan Kelly Morrison inspires audiences through her music, which has been featured in two recent films.
Tulsan Kelly Morrison’s songs “Just Believe” and “Heartbeat” are featured in “The Lamp,” a new movie filmed in Tulsa. She also wrote the signature song for the 2006 film “The Ultimate Gift.”
Many Tulsans are familiar with musician Kelly Morrison. The accomplished singer and songwriter has been performing and recording for the past 25 years. She recently added a new dimension to her artistic endeavors — writing music for two motion pictures: “The Ultimate Gift,” starring James Garner, Lee Meriweather and Abigail Breslin, and “The Lamp,” starring Louis Gossett Jr., which was filmed in Tulsa. Morrison also composed the music for a live theater show, “The Christmas Snow,” starring Muse Watson and Catherine Mary Stewart, performed during the holiday season in Branson.
TulsaPeople sat down with Morrison to get her take on this new aspect of her career.
How do you first learn about each of the movies in which you are writing and performing the music?
Author and producer Jim Stovall (a Tulsan) has been so encouraging and supportive of my music for nearly 15 years, and when they wanted to make a movie out of his book “The Ultimate Gift,” he was adamant about having some of my music in it, so I wrote a song called “Legacy” for that movie, which opened the doors for future projects, such as “The Lamp” and “A Christmas Snow.”
Explain how you create each song for each movie, and how many are usually featured in a film.
Every song seems to take a different path in coming to fruition. Some of them are pieces I have been working on for years that finally just come together. Others are like wonderful gifts from heaven that come instantaneously. Those are the moments that make the 30 years of work I have put into songwriting worth it all.
Is reading the movie script before filming begins a prerequisite for writing each song?
I have always read the movie script before writing the songs, and I definitely think it helps, but since I’ve never done it any other way, I don’t know if it’s a prerequisite or not.
Do you have other movies on your professional horizon?
Absolutely. I don’t know what they are yet, but now that this train is finally rollin’ I can’t imagine that it’s going to stop anytime soon.
Do you have the opportunity to work with the stars and producers of each film?
Yes. I have had the privilege of meeting and working with Abigail Breslin, Louis Gossett Jr., Drew Fuller, Brian Dennehy, Muse Watson (“NCIS”), Catherine Mary Stewart (“Weekend at Bernie’s”) and more. I’ve also had the honor of working with award-winning producers such as Rick Eldridge, Tracy Trost and Jim Stovall.
I had so much fun recently writing songs for the cast to sing in the live production of “A Christmas Snow,” which played at the Starlite Theater in Branson last month and will be returning next Christmas. I wrote and performed several songs for the movie version, which I produced with Bryan Popin in Nashville.
When they put together the live stage play, director Tracy Trost asked me to write some songs for the cast to sing, so I worked directly with Muse Watson, Catherine Mary Stewart and Cameron Ten Naple (“The Lamp”) to make sure the songs fit their range and voices. They are all delightful to work with.
Are you working on any CDs at the moment that are not related to filmmaking?
I have released all of the songs I have written for movies as singles on iTunes but am thinking about doing a compilation CD called “Stage and Screen” that would include all the songs I’ve written for the stage and screen.
Has working in the movie industry always been one of your personal or professional goals?
Yes. I have always wanted to have my songs in movies, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities that have come my way and for Jim Stovall and Tracy Trost, who have created platforms for my songs to be heard by the masses.
Is it always a challenge to come up with different lyrics, styles, sounds and tunes for each movie?
It is an incredible challenge, and, to be honest, each and every time I face it, I also face the fear and doubt that I won’t be able to make it happen.
Writing music is both a skill and a gift. I can hone my skill and work hard at it every day, but I have no control over when and where the gift of a haunting melody or captivating lyric will come. So I just keep working and praying, and it always seems to work out. It also helps having decades of life experiences and emotions stored up that I can tap into when I need them.
