PJ Morton Is ‘Re-Presenting’ a Legendary Louisiana Studio for a New Generation

In 2016, five-time Grammy-winning musician PJ Morton was living the dream in L.A., as keyboardist for Maroon 5 and a burgeoning solo act. But something called him to head back to his native New Orleans. “I said, ‘Man, I’m going home, that’s my birthright,” he recalls over Zoom. Since then, he’s made it part of his mission to preserve and amplify landmarks in his home state, including the home of jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden, New Orleans jazz staple the Dew Drop Inn, and, now, Studio in the Country, which he recently purchased from former owner Debra Farmer. 

Studio in the Country is in rural Bogalusa. Sitting on 20 acres of land, the 52-year-old facility has housed music greats such as Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Frankie Beverly and Maze, and Kansas. In 2020, Morton recorded his Grammy-nominated Watch the Sun album there because it fit his need for a space where he and his bandmates could be together, secluded, during quarantine. The group enjoyed their time at Studio in the Country, which has a large home for musicians to stay in. 

“There are only a few fixes for writer’s block for me, and it’s usually switching location or reading,” Morton explains. “[In] a space like that you’re cut off from the world, all we were focused on was being together and working on this music. All you’re doing is resting your mind and creating. I often call it ‘Magic Kingdom’ because something happens in that isolation that you don’t get from being in a normal studio in the city.”

Soon after Morton concluded the Watch the Sun sessions, Debra’s husband, Pete, who co-owned the studio, died. At that point, Debra didn’t want to run the studio alone and offered to sell it to Morton. Since purchasing the land, he’s sought to, in his words, “re-present” the space. Part of that process included renovations to the home and studio, but he also strategized how to publicize the Studio in the Country. 

“I think initially it was a secret, like, if you knew, you knew,” he says of the studio. “But I want to educate people on the history.” He tells me that even though the space is sequestered from the rest of Bogalusa, the artists who recorded there made their mark on the community. “If you talk to the older people who were in high school when Stevie was there in the Seventies, they got stories of, ‘Stevie played my high school. He performed here in this restaurant.’ They’re like, ‘Stevie ate here.’ There’s a [patch of] land where they say Stevie drove a car. It’s all these legends.”

Part of that history also includes two rooms full of reels and tapes left behind from musicians who’ve recorded there, such as the Neville Brothers and Kansas. Morton says he’s looked through some of it, but it will eventually take “a month of dedicated time” to sift through the contents. He plans to involve living musicians and the families of since-passed acts in whatever he does — current considerations include putting out previously unreleased sessions or sampling some of them. 

He’s also planning a festival on the campgrounds within the next year. He’s still in the early stages, but says he’s working with people to map out where the stages and other hallmarks of a festival could go on the land. Part of that includes cutting down some of the wooded area, but not too much (“That’s the magic. I don’t want to lose that”). As for what kind of acts will be at the festival, Morton says, “It’s a festival that I want to reflect me and friends I have.” The land will also eventually house a live music series à la Colors. “I like the idea of it being a destination,” Morton says. 

With nine studio albums, including last year’s Cape Town to Cairo, Morton has a bountiful discography. But the multi-talented instrumentalist is taking a break from his solo music this year to produce music for New Orleans rapper La Reezy and Darrel “MusiqCity” Walls (of gospel group Walls Group), who is shaping his first solo project. He says both men have raved about what being in the country’s done for their creativity. 

“[La Reezy] was like, ‘I would’ve never wrote this if I was home,” Morton recalls. “These words wouldn’t have come to my mind if I was home because there are distractions or people calling my phone or my mom’s asking me to do something.’” Morton credits the slow pace for alleviating any creative pressure: “There’s no rush out there. Something about country living, where it’s not like ‘We got to get these records done.’ No. Let these records come to us.” (Studio in the Country is open for all artists who want to book studio time.)

Along with Studio in the Country, Morton is a minority investor and Chief Creative Officer of the Dew Drop Inn, a legendary New Orleans music venue where acts like Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin have performed; Little Richard wrote “Tutti Frutti” there. “This was one of the few places you could stay, eat, get a haircut, and perform while you were on your journey as a Black person in New Orleans,” Morton says. He was initially a silent investor, but has decided to be more public-facing about his involvement with the Inn. Alongside Trombone Shorty, Morton puts on Dew Drop nights, which take place every night during New Orleans Jazz Fest. So far, acts like himself, Questlove (who DJed), and Tank from Tank and the Bangaz have participated. “I just want to take that to the next level and be respectful to the history of it, but also take it somewhere else and continue to let it grow,” Morton says.

Morton is also involved in efforts to save the home of Buddy Bolden, a seminal jazz musician with no recorded music. Morton’s father’s church has owned Bolden’s home for over a decade. In 2019, the home was cited for demolition by neglect. But after learning about the home’s importance, Morton and the Buddy’s House foundation sought to renovate the space and turn it into a museum and community space. As Morton says, the home’s stoop may be one of the most important places in music history. 

“When you hear stories of Louis [Armstrong] and these guys who became known for jazz, they speak about Buddy Bolden as one of the first people they heard play this type of music,” Morton says. “The legend is that he was playing his horn so loud inside [that] his mom kicked him out of the house, and he went on a stoop and played. And another guy heard him playing, and they formed a band that would become the first band that played jazz music.” 

Morton’s work with Studio in the Country, the Dew Drop Inn, and Bolden’s home align with his mission to help be a connecting figure who preserves music history. “I love history and I love the past, and that’s in every way,” Morton explains. “Sonically, what they stood for, all of these things are so important to me. But I’m a child of hip-hop as well. I’ve always had my foot in both. I think that is part of my mission in life, to keep that conversation and keep us connected because a lot of the time, the only thing that disconnects us is the communication and the understanding.”