Jessica Lee Morgan

Jessica Lee Morgan
Background information
Born	(1976-06-16) 16 June 1976
Origin	Reading, Berkshire
Genres	Folk
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2010–present
Associated acts	Tony Visconti, Mary Hopkin
Notable instruments
Acoustic guitar

Jessica Lee Morgan (born June 16, 1976) is a British singer and songwriter.

Early life

Daughter of American producer Tony Visconti (T. Rex, David Bowie) and Welsh folksinger Mary Hopkin (1968 number one hit "Those Were The Days"), she grew up in a musical environment. She learned songs on guitar from her mother and musician friends of the family, and was influenced by singer-songwriters such as Joni Mitchell. When she was 11 she wanted to borrow her mother's valuable custom Zemaitis Guitars for the school Eisteddfod. Mary was reluctant so she asked her friend Joe Brown (singer) to find a guitar, and he sourced one for Jessica which she still has today.^[1]

Jessica continued to sing in concerts and sessions. One of her earliest sessions was for Hazel O'Connor^[2] and later for Elaine Paige^[3] as Jessica Visconti, both produced by her father, Tony Visconti.

At university she played solo original gigs and in covers bands, and also put on gigs for other bands.^[4]

Career

In 2010 she launched her debut album "I Am Not".^[5][6] The same year, she sang on several tracks on "You Look Familiar" by her mother Mary Hopkin and her brother Morgan Visconti.^[7]

In 2011 Jessica recorded "The Long and Winding Road" for The Beatles Complete On Ukulele.^[8]

In 2014 Jessica sang on Morgan Visconti's album, "Ride", and performed live at the launch event in May in New York City. Morgan and Jessica had previously collaborated on her album "I Am Not", which Morgan co-produced.^[9]

Later in 2014, Jessica took part in the Dylathon, a 36-hour performance of the works of Dylan Thomas at the Swansea Grand Theatre to celebrate the poet's centenary, directed by Michael Bogdanov. Jessica performed her own acapella musical adaptation of "Love in the Asylum" and two excerpts from Under Milk Wood as Polly Garter, with the Wales Theatre Company and Ian McKellen.^[10]

On Saint David's Day 2015, Jessica represented her mother at Wales at Number One, a concert at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. She sang Those Were The Days (song). The same year, she released her singles "Painting By Numbers"^[11] and "When Did It All Begin?".^[12]

She currently performs solo and with her band in the UK and USA.^[13]

Other projects

In 2005, Jessica founded Mary Hopkin Music, a record label, exclusively for the distribution of previously unreleased material by Mary Hopkin. The label has released several albums including "You Look Familiar" and Jessica's cover of "Painting by Numbers".^[14]

Jessica performs as Very Hopkin, singing Mary Hopkin covers.^[15] She has also toured her own material as a support act and performing backing vocals with the band Holy Holy, featuring Woody Woodmansey, Tony Visconti and Glenn Gregory.^[16] She has also played twelve-string guitar and saxophone with the band and sung lead vocals.

References