If you could imagine the love child of Bill Bailey and Victoria Wood that would be Polly Morris. Her observational comedy songs about such things as supermarket shopping or the perils of e-mail, are songs that you can instantly identify with . These are peppered with more thoughtful acoustic numbers that are reminiscent of Karen Carpenter. Polly has been singing her songs from an early age, playing piano or guitar as accompaniment. She enjoys writing the songs as much as she loves performing them.
Mandy has an unusual and beautiful singing voice. She is equally at home singing harmonies or lead vocal in the band, but also is developing skills playing an unusual array of other instruments – such as Triangle, Car horn and Cuckoo Whistle! Mandy is a pianist and a performer in her own right. She sings melodic songs and ballads accompanying herself on piano.She was the first person to join the band and is great fun to sing with.
Steve plays the fiddle in the band. Playing brilliantly by ear, it would be very difficult to find someone who sounded like him. There is no piece of music that he will not have a go at. In fact there are very few instruments that he will not have a go at. He is a great person to have around. He is also a solo performer, singing mostly (but not exclusively) with Bazouki and Violin. He is also the person who looks after the technical side of the band.
Kate is a professional orchestrator and music arranger. She is able to listen to a single line of music and hear all the other parts in her head. The rest of the band are quite impressed with this. Kate plays a number of instruments but her main instruments are piano and flute. As the band members would tell you, “We LOVE having Kate with us but she lives up the impertinent M3 and has a proper job so it is rare that we are allowed to have her. However, on the occasions when she is with us – those are the times we have the most fun as a band”
Brian is a supremely skilled piano and accordion player. He started performing at the age of 11 at the local pub and hasn’t stopped since. He plays by ear with a style that is instantly recognisable. However, having had many years of experience as a radio presenter, he is also a relaxed compere and enjoys chatting to the audience. He feels that his best points are that he is short, fat, bald, Old and Welsh! All of which he has been for some time.
Joel is an extremely proficient musician. He started going to the Royal College of Music in London at the age of 9 and there are very few instruments he cannot play. His main instrument is Clarinet, but he plays Saxophone and Bass for the band. He reads music but is equally relaxed at improvisation. He is currently studying A levels at Twynham School in Christchurch. Joel is a very enjoyable character to have around and has been a great asset to the band.
Music Samples
It Wasn’t Me reflects the creation of the Polly Morris Band, consisting of Mandy Stansfield (vocals), Steve Faulkner (Fiddle), Kate Hunter (Flute and Piano), Brian Harries (Piano and Accordion) and Joel Solomons (Bass and Saxophone). The songs include some of Polly’s Solo numbers such as “Puppy” and “When I’m with You” but also some band numbers such as “ The fiddle song” which is a comedy song about what everyone in a band is really thinking. It is a real feel-good album designed to make you smile.
How Come?
It Wasn’t Me
Just One Click
This album was a culmination of performances that were beginning to take Polly further afield to London, Cambridgshire and Wales. There are 14 songs on the album, including “Just One Click” , which is a song about what happens when you send that e-mail to the wrong person. It also includes the popular song “Motorway Queue” and the often-requested love song “Smile”. The album contains arrangements by Kate Hunter and includes performances from Violinist, Brian Howells and Cellist Amanda de Jong Cleyndert both from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. The album also features Drummer, Keiron Gaffney. (Britain’s got talent finalist – 2010 )
Just One Click
Smile
Dinner for Two
This album was recorded and mixed over a two-day period in Autumn 2013 at the Hangover Hill Studios in Bournemouth and engineered by Matt Black. It marks the start of a partnership with Kate Hunter who arranged two of the songs, “ Storm” and “ Harmony in the Walls”. The album contains a mix of comedy and thoughtful songs including the inspirational song “ The Life”. One review was simple; “ Everyone should have a copy of this album”
Storm
Dinner for Two
In the Meantime
This is Polly Morris’s first album of recent years. This album was put together to coincide with a tour in March 2013 of various venues in Dorset where Polly performed with the talented Singer/ Songwriter, Annie Brooks who came over from the United States. It is an amalgamation of the Comedy Songs that launched Polly Morris onto the Dorset Folk Scene such as The Boss, and the Mobile Phone song – but also contains a couple of more thoughtful numbers at the end such as “I Love You” which was written for Polly’s baby girl. The album was mixed and engineered by Duncan Le Feuvre.
I Love You
My Phone
Good Driver
“Good Driver”is an album that came to being after a year of the band taking their music a bit further a field FATEA .Magazine says” The Album, like its predecessor, confirms Polly to be at the very top of her game and a writer of comedy songs that are going to be very hard to beat” It contains some new sounds, some songs with a blues feel and a maturity in the musical performances of the individual band members when playing together.
Commercial
Booking Polly or the Band
Please contact us if you would like to book a gig. It would be lovely to hear from you. We are very flexible with our prices and often do reduced rates for first time bookings
Specific Songs – Commercials, Jingles, Occasions
Polly has been writing specific songs about requested topics since regularly appearing on Local Radio. She has written radio commercials for Dorset- Based Companies, personal songs for special occasions and Songs for Charities.
Songwriting
Workshops
Polly is very happy to share her take on songwriting and performing to other songwriters or future songwriters..
Do contact her if you would like to book a session.
