In a land of sunshine where the palm trees sway There's a special show to brighten up your day.

From rockin festivals to Broadway dreams, Tune in with Bonnie G.

It's a desert scene.

The Desert Scene with Bonnie G.

Meet the stars and feel the beat from the Coachella Valley is the place to be for all the culture, fun and har.

The desert sea.

Yeah.

With Bonnie G.

Mutual Broadcasting welcomes you to the desert scene.

Featuring conversations with the people who make culture, art and entertainment happen in the Coachella Valley.

From local theater to live music, art exhibits to cinema and beyond, the desert scene is presented by El Puerto Mexican Restaurant in Cathedral City.

Now here is your host, Bonnie G.

And welcome to the desert scene.

Very happy to have you here and very happy to welcome to the show Patrice Morris, a buddy of mine.

We just performed recently at the jam session for, well, in the Desert.

This woman can sing.

Sing, sing, sing.

She's amazing.

Welcome, Patrice.

Thanks for being here.

Oh, my pleasure.

Thanks for having me.

So, a couple things.

First of all, I want to let people know, if they don't, that every Wednesday you are at the Indian Wells Resort Hotel.

So tell people a little bit about what they can expect if they come see you there.

Well, it's Motown, Motown, Motown and other great, great songs that I'm sure they already know.

I am there every Wednesday evening from 6 to 9.

I am on a little leave right now because I'm traveling with my group, the Fifth Dimension.

So I'll be back there on December 11th.

So I'll be out for a minute.

And then just to let everyone know, I'll be there again New Year's Eve.

I'm going to take a break and then New Year's Eve will be back and then of course, resuming back in January.

Every win.

Excellent.

So now let's talk about the Fifth Dimension for a second.

So you tour with them now.

Are there, are there any original members from the 5th Dimension touring with you?

Yes, absolutely.

There has to be.

Well, the rule is you have to have at least one original member to continue.

Yes.

So I'm with Florence LaRue, who is original member.

And of course, Marilyn and Billy have branched off on their own and they're still touring as well.

But yes, I'm with Florence LaRue and three other gentlemen who will be joining me.

Two of the gentlemen will be joining me in next year, 2020, 25 for a couple of shows and it's fantastic.

So please, you know, just keep up with us.

Check me out on Facebook and hopefully, yeah, you guys will come and you'll enjoy the show.

So tell.

How did that come about?

How long have you been touring with them?

18 years.

Wow.

I know.

That's a long time.

It is.

I tell the story that I'm a Mississippi girl, met a California guy in college in Mississippi.

I got a full ride, private hbcu, and we met, got married, he brought me to California, and a few years later, actually meeting the Fifth Dimension.

It was so crazy because they have had a few replacements for Marilyn McCoo and they needed someone.

And I tell the story that someone told someone the time.

Talk to someone.

They talk to somebody else.

To talk to somebody else that mentioned me.

Yeah.

And I went for audition and they hired me right away.

Wow.

That's fabulous.

So let's talk about your husband.

So one of the things that I love to talk to other performers about is I'm guessing that he's very supportive of what you do of your career.

Very supportive.

He's my manager.

Been my manager since my career began.

Well, since we've been married.

We've been together for 45 years, and he's been my manager.

I've been in the gospel arena for years.

I've always done, like, weddings and things like that, but never lounges until I came to California.

And so even though I continued in the gospel arena, I did lounges.

And that's why I met a young lady who's a promoter in Palm Springs and brought me to Palm Springs.

And life just changed.

But my husband continued to be my manager, which I cannot do without him because I sing.

He does everything else.

Yeah.

Standing up.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Great time.

So let's talk about how you started.

Now.

Did you start singing as a kid?

Did you start in the church?

Or how did you.

How did you first find out you had a voice?

I did.

I started at the age five.

I come from a singing family at the age five.

We were all young, but we had harmony even then because my parents sang, especially my mother there would.

She had 12 siblings, and they were great.

Wow.

And so we.

There were six of us, and we just began singing and realized we had this talent.

And I just.

I began singing and my career took off.

And so go ahead.

Did you take off as a solo artist?

Did you guys sing together as a group for a while, or did you kind of take off right away?

We did.

We sang for a group for a while, but we were very young, in our teens, you know, again, a gospel group that was traveling with other gospel groups at the time in Mississippi and then.

But I always sang solo, even with.

Even with, you know, even when I was with the group.

So I've always done solo and again, gospel.

And then I got signed a couple of times by a couple of record labels and.

Excellent.

And my career.

Yeah, my career just took off.

Now, was your.

Were your parents and your family, was everyone supportive of you doing this for a living?

Was that like, they're like, go, Patrice.

Well.

Well, they were supportive, I would say, especially with the gospel, because we're Christians and they didn't want me out there because all they could see was singing in a night's club with smoking and drinking dangers.

Yeah, yeah.

Yes.

So that was what they saw.

So they were not supportive of that.

And then I.

So I never did do that scene.

I'm saying, even I got blessed to do lounges.

It was always a really cool place, so I didn't have to do the same that I guess they didn't approve of.

Yeah, but fifth dimension, I mean, you know, when you get an opportunity.

And it did the same with the fifth dimension, to be honest, I was still skeptical because I was a church girl and I talked to my bishop about it, and my bishop says, I love the fifth dimension.

Go and make your money.

Yeah.

All right.

So that was kind of the green light.

All right.

Yeah.

I mean, who doesn't like the songs?

The songs are great.

Oh, sure.

Oh, my gosh.

And they.

Yeah.

And they still.

They still.

We still feel arenas, so.

Excellent.

Let's take a.

Let's take a very, very quick break on the desert scene with Patrice Morris.

We'll be right back.

Craving a delicious meal that won't break the bank, look no further than El Portal Mexican restaurant in Cathedral City.

At El Pertal, we pride ourselves on offering family friendly dining with affordable prices on our authentic Mexican cuisine.

Owner Victor Lucurcio and his dedicated staff make you feel like part of the family.

Whether you choose to dine in takeout or opt for deliver, you can always count on fresh mouth watering dishes that will transport you to the heart of Mexico.

Enjoy discounts throughout the week and explore one of the Valley's best selections of tequila to complement your meal.

Join us for live entertainment on Friday evenings and consider El Patol for your next special occasion with our catering services.

Visit eatlpertal.com for more details and discover why Elpertal Mexican restaurant has become a culinary gem in the desert.

Elpertal, located one block south of Ramon on Day Palm and Via Oliveira.

And we're back on the desert scene.

Let's Talk about your recordings.

You said you were signed a couple times by record labels.

So do you have several CDs out there that people can find?

I do.

I have four gospel CDs as a matter of fact.

And then I have a couple of singers, singles, they're all on YouTube and of course I have some here that if people want to purchase them, I usually bring them to my shows.

Again, they're gospel, but I still have them with me.

Very encouraging music.

So yeah, you know, they're very enjoyable.

So the Indian Wells Resort Hotel is lovely.

If you haven't been there, it's really, really lovely.

Your show's at 6pm and now do you sing with a trio?

Do you sing with tracks or how does that work?

I sing with tracks there, but I do a lot of private shows that sometimes require band and if they do, I have a band at Indian Wales.

There are several things happening.

For instance, I sing with girls called Women of Soul and we do a special retreat, the Franklin Show Quarterly.

So that's going to be coming up again this coming year and they are wonderful again again with tracks.

But the blend is so beautiful.

And then like I said, I even two of the guys from the fifth dimension will be joining me for a couple of shows.

I have a saxophone as who will be coming from la.

He's good.

I even have a comedian that's coming and she's crazy good.

Okay, excellent.

I have a lot of entertainment because again I am known in the gospel arena and these people gospel as well.

But they also do shows like I do.

So I was a lot.

I'm allowed to bring in good company.

Excellent.

So just again, follow me.

Yeah, so I love to ask performers, do you have any, I mean given that your background is gospel stuff.

I'm imagining prayer is part of it.

But do you have any other sort of rituals before you do a show, before you go out on stage that you do well?

Yeah, well, my husband and I.

Well, my husband and I walk every day two miles and during that time we pray.

Like I say with Chris, as Christians, we do pray religiously and we pray for everybody.

Everybody, everybody.

The people who we are involved with, the people, you know, we move to this beautiful place.

We pray for people, we even pray for you.

Even I don't call your name, but we ask God to just bless everybody and keep everybody.

So that's been our lives forever.

And I'm also a minister.

Multi talented.

So I love, I love to ask folks if you go to a, you know, like a nice place, a Professional jam session or a friend of yours has a gig and they say, hey, Patrice, come on up and sing something.

Do you have a go to song, a song that you would pull out at a time like that?

Well, it's according to if it's gospel or if it's, you know, secular.

If it's gospel, there's a gospel artist named Yolanda Adams.

She's really, really good.

And I usually p from her songs because they're just very encouraging.

Secular, my goodness, is hard to choose.

Aretha Franklin is always.

Yeah, everybody knows her.

So it's really easy to do an Aretha Franklin or pull out a Gladys Knight.

Oh, yeah.

Or even a Chakra Khan.

But I would say.

I would.

I would even.

I would say Aretha.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I tell you what.

The other night, Patrice Moore, she.

She brought the house down with her singing.

So you need to check her out.

Every Wednesday, Indian Wells Resort Hotel, 6pm Also, go on Facebook, check her out.

Patrice Moore's the Fifth Dimension.

Check out where they're going to be.

Then New Year's Eve, she's back at the Indian Wells Resort Hotel.

You are just a joy.

Thank you so much, Patrice, for your talent.

And thanks for being here today.

Really, really appreciate it.

Thank you.

If I can mention one more time, once a month, I'm at Idyllwild.

I'm in Idyllwild at this place called Middle Ridge Winery.

So if you all know anyone there, come.

All right, Patrice Morris, thank you so much.

Have a wonderful day, and we'll see the rest of you the next time.

On the desert Scene with Bonnie G.

Meet the stars and feel the beat from the Coachella Valley it's the place to be for all the culture, fun and harmony.

The desert scene, yeah.

I'm with Bonnie G.

To the desert there's scenes where you belong With Mutual Broadcasting.

Bonnie G.

Just sing along Just sing along.