Morgan James: I Belong Here

You’ve heard the voice of today’s guest on a previous episode where she participated in a panel recorded live at the CCMA Awards weekend in Calgary - but no doubt, we needed AT LEAST an hour to cover off her brilliance, if not more. Funny story; I had no idea I was already connected with Morgan through e-mail. Truth be told, I thought she was an Indigenous dude from what I could tell through our servers. I was communicating with 'MJ' to recieve a weekly Indigenous Music Countdown from NCI FM, a partner to SiriusXM who I worked for at the time. Fast forward to an episode recorded with Keziah Myers from ADVANCE. We were trying to figure out if there was a single black programmer in Canada working in Country music...after asking around for days...Amanda Kingsland led me to MJ from Winnipeg, who I was already e-mailing. Whoops. This episode teaches me a lesson about assumptions in so many ways. The ways I make assumptions. The ways that others make assumptions. We are human and we make mistakes. Morgan demonstrates how kindness, curiosity, and compassion can lead you to the lesson. We talk about her transition from Rhythm to Country radio formats, her thoughts on Morgan Wallen and micro-aggressions in the industry, and we talk about how minorities are represented in media. Currently, MJ is the Music Director of Now Country & NCI FM in Winnipeg. She also hosts a show on Now Country and the MJ Show Podcast where she interviews Country musicians. Find MJ on Air: https://nowcountry.fm/about-us/ Listen to the MJ Show Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mj-show-podcast/id1569264506 Watch the MJ Show Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@MJShowPodcast Find MJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morganjames-mj/ Check out Episode #41 for another appearance from MJ on the 2022 CCMA Awards Women in Country Panel: https://www.sarahburke.ca/women-in-media-podcast/ep41-ccma-women-in-country-panel