NEDERLAND -- Have you ever heard of a boarding school for musicians? Even this column’s author had no idea a school like that existed. For those who actually attended, though, it became some of their first experiences touring.
Christopher Morse attended his middle school years at the American Boychoir School in Princeton, New Jersey. Though he shifted from his classical upbringing to acoustic indie pop-folk tendencies by high school, the Boychoir is where he first honed his musical skills.
“The easiest way to describe it is, it was Hogwarts for singing,” explains Morse. “It was a boarding school where we sang three to four hours a day, having rehearsals, and then we would go on tour, have school on the bus while we were on tour, sing every night, and drive to a new city the next night.”
During his time at the school, Morse had the opportunity to perform in venues such as Carnegie Hall and with groups such as the New York Philharmonic. “That was a really, really deep dive into performing at a high level at a very young age,” Morse recalls.
Morse had already grown used to this kind of life as an observer, however. His parents, both classical musicians, integrated it into their daily lives, with neither of them working a nine-to-five job.
“I guess I sort of saw what they were doing as normal,” Morse reflects. “They would be at home during the day and have rehearsals or concerts in the evening, and so that was sort of my example of what working was like.”
His high school transition out of the classical world started when he picked up the guitar. Blown away by John Mayer’s album Room for Squares, he taught himself how to play, first practicing Mayer songs, then practicing other people’s, and ultimately writing his own.
“I think the two biggest influences when I first started playing and writing were John Mayer and Jason Mraz,” says Morse. “I thought, at the time, ‘If I can put something together that has somewhat of an acoustic feel of John Mayer mixed with the vocals of Jason Mraz, I might have something,’ so that’s been my North Star for a long time.”
As Morse has developed his songwriting, he finds himself primarily starting with the guitar. However, his songs can sometimes start from a lyric or a melody that sticks out to him, an aspect he finds surprising about the process.
“For me, it feels like every time I sit down to write a song, I’m starting from zero,” states Morse. “There’s no right or wrong way to write a song, and it feels like you have to re-learn the process all over again.”
However, Morse has found his own shortcuts to implement into his practice as he’s continued writing. Like his consistent rehearsing and performing in his youth, he consistently works on his songwriting to strengthen his skills.
“I try really, really hard to not wait for the ‘muse’ to hit me,” says Morse, who integrates songwriting into his daily schedule as much as possible. “I try really hard to make songwriting a practice and work it out like it’s any other muscle group that you would go to the gym for.”
Christopher Morse will be performing live at Busey Brews, located at 70 East First Street in Nederland, on Sunday, February 22, 2026, starting at 2 p.m.
