He could have been performing as James Catchpole but the international star tells Viv Hardwick why he opted for his middle name of Morrison as he tops the bill at Durham Cricket Club’s big weekend of music.

AS A young busker down in Newquay, James Morrison’s main ambition was to make enough money to fund a performing career at local gigs. “I thought about being a carpet fitter or a builder, earning cash in hand to fund my music. My ambitions were far less and I just wanted to play music and have enough money to live on,” admits the 24-year-old international star, who is looking forward to entertaining thousands at Durham Cricket Club’s Riverside Stadium on July 12.

He and the Sugababes, who perform on July 10, top the bill for the club’s biggest outdoor musical weekend this year and Morrison says he’s might decide to change the set-list of songs a little because “I’m more likely to play up rather than down on a light night outside”.

“You don’t want to get the audience too comfy and sitting down. You get a lot of these outdoor gigs where people sit down and a good vibe, but you want them up and getting into the music,” says the singersongwriter, who gained first-hand experience of North-East arena performances by supporting Take That at Sunderland FC’s stadium recently.

“It all comes down to the fanbase. There’s no way in four years and two albums I can fill a stadium that size with fans... unless I was Michael Jackson, without the weird stuff. Take That have been around a long time and have old and new fans and I respect that. I was definitely partying and dancing around especially when Gary Barlow told me to watch out for the fifth song when it all kicked off. It was the full she-bang with balloons, tightrope walkers and the guys riding in on unicycles. It was an amazing show and I’m not a big Take That fan, but I admire anyone who can put on a show that big,” he explains.

With two successful albums and a series of hit singles since the song You Give Me Something reached top five status around the world in 2006, does Morrison find it hard to keep his feet on the ground?

“You have to, or you’d end up going mad.

I’ve got really good people around me and I wouldn’t expect people to put up with me acting like an idiot just because I’ve had a bit of success. My band have been in the business a long time and they’re all a little bit older than me and have played with people like Rod Stewart, Tom Jones and Diana Ross. They’ve all been in the game and are still really cool. I’ve met people like Stevie Wonder and he’s really cool and reminds you that, however successful you are, it doesn’t mean you have to act like a twat,” he says.

Even being asked to appear twice on Jay Leno’s top US chat show in front of millions can be put in perspective. “It was brilliant, but these things are always a bit weird. I don’t enjoy that kind of set-up. I just enjoy playing a gig with proper people who want to listen, rather than being the novelty act at the end of the show. It was good and an amazing opportunity to do a show like that in America, but it seems far from the real thing,” he explains. Morrison doesn’t like his music to fall into a category, even though it’s already seen as R&B, soft rock and soul, and says: “I’m a singer-singwriter and I try to write songs that are real. I’ve listened to a lot of soul music and you will hear influences. I try not to let it be one thing. I don’t honestly know how I’ve managed to make my songs more universal.

For my next album, I really do want to try something a bit different, but every singersongwriter wants to get the right combination between a song that’s got integrity and one that can get on the radio and people want to listen to again. It gets harder and harder to do that. You certainly don’t want to be too successful with songs that just dribble out all the time on radio and not mean anything. I’d rather be lost to BBC Radio 4 than write a load of stuff that gets airplay on Radio 1 but doesn’t mean anything.”

Album three is still at the ideas stage with Morrison feeling that his choices will have to wait until he’s got proper studio time. His current tour doesn’t finish until January next year and then “I’ll live a normal life with my kid (eight-month-old Elsie) and just chill out making an album”.

He finds the hardest part of fame is the requests to support events involving friends and family, “which have become almost impossible to do now”. “It is still hard because you’ve got time for everybody on the road but you’ve only got one or two days at home and it feels like you’re not giving your family any time. My mum finds it all a bit much and is a bit proud at the same time,” says Morrison, who is in the process of buying the old family home near Newquay after switching his home base to Hove, Sussex.

He confesses his cricket knowledge is restricted to one innings at school when he came into bat and saved the team with a few glorious slogs. The singer also reveals that he was never tempted to use his surname of Catchpole as a recording artist.

“I know there are lots of James Morrisons. There’s the ex-Middlesbrough player, there’s a TV actor, a trumpet player from Australia, a poet and a rocket scientist in America. You hear lots of little stories.

It’s my actual name and the only option I had. Catchpole just wouldn’t have been right... it sounds like a Polish torturer or something,” says the performer who gained his middle name from his mum’s Scottish ancestors.

“Apparently there’s a connection with John Wayne somewhere, but I haven’t got into that yet because I haven’t seen any proof,” he says.

■ Durham County Cricket Club’s outdoor musical weekend, Riverside stadium, July 10, Sugababes, July 12, James Morrison.

Weekend ticket £40, individual event £25. Box Office: 0844-499-4466 or durhamccc.co.uk

WIN a meet and greet

HERE’S your chance to meet singing star James Morrison when he plays at Durham County Cricket Club’s Riverside Stadium, in Chester-le-Street, on Sunday, July 12, as part of the Riverside Music Weekend.

Durham CCC is offering a Northern Echo reader the opportunity to meet and greet Morrison before the gig starts. The prize, for two people, includes the meet and greet and two passes to enjoy the gig. Also included are two admission tickets for the Sugababes, who play at the same venue, supported by Taio Cruz and VV Brown, on Friday. July 10.

Tickets are priced at £40 for both gigs or £25 for either Morrison or the Sugababes. If you want to guarantee your ticket you can buy online at durhamccc.co.uk or you can contact the Durham CCC Box Office on 0844 499 4466.

To enter see the 7 Days supplement in today's Northern Echo.