Trans-Siberian Orchestra's roots trace back to Tampa

TAMPA, Fla. - Since 1981, brothers Tom and Jim Morris of Morrisound Recording in Tampa have worked with artists of all music genres and some of the biggest names in the world.
"We've had artists like Beyoncé that came in and did some Christmas songs," Tom said. "John Travolta, Justin Timberlake came in for some movie soundtrack work."
But the act that holds a special place in its history is the multi-platinum rock group Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
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"It's almost like a family relationship. We always saw that when they had success, and we had success, we both really appreciated each other, and it's been really great being able to stay working together after all these years," said Jim.
In the late 1970s, local songwriter and musician Jon Oliva co-founded the hard rock band Savatage. They worked with the late producer, Paul O'Neill.
"I think it probably started with Jon Oliva that this was his home base, Tampa Bay," said Tom.
"It was a real Tampa operation even though Paul, their producer, was a New York guy," said Jim.
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The sounds they created in Savatage morphed into something unique that was described as heavy metal Christmas.
"When I heard that they were going to take this Christmas metal thing and go big with it, I'm like, 'well, that's perfect. It's a no-brainer to do it,'" Jim said. "So, they slowly changed from being a local Tampa band, a local Tampa heavy rock band into a national worldwide heavy rock band where the main founders still lived in the Tampa area, to eventually, they became Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and they were based out of the Tampa area, and they recorded at our 56th Street studio for years."
The popularity of the band's holiday tours has been so successful, that they've found a way to divide and conquer to entertain crowds across the country.
"One of the things that I don't think everybody realizes about them, they actually run two tours simultaneously around the country," Tom said. "In the two months they are on the road there are actually two bands playing cities all over North America."
For almost a decade, they've had a base in Tampa through Morrisound.
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"In 2014, they purchased a facility from us that we built in the '80s, and that's their home now", said Tom.
"We've done some mastering work for them on some things", said Jim.
And the Morris brothers said, as fans, seeing the group on tour is truly a gift that rocks.
"You don't fill Amalie Arena to see an orchestra or a real regular orchestra. But a Trans-Siberian Orchestra can fill an arena like that because it can draw in more than just classical music fans, and they get a little bit of everything," said Jim. "They get a little bit of orchestra, they get a little bit of hard rock, they get a little bit of opera and TSO gives them everything."
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra has two shows at Amalie Arena in Tampa on December 23 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.