Norma
grew up in Cape Breton. She played trombone in the
junior high band before deciding it was too heavy
and switched to the clarinet. She hasn’t touched
either since grade nine. At 17 she moved to
Halifax to go to university. In her second year of
school she bought her first guitar. She earned a
B.SC in Biology from Dalhousie and has been
working as a musician ever since.
For six years Norma fronted
a very successful east coast folk act called
Highland Heights. The band released three albums
and toured Canada extensively, with stints in the
U.S. and Europe. Acting as a multi-instrumentalist
(guitar, mandolin, accordion), lead vocalist, and
front person, Norma honed her skills as an
entertainer. In the meantime, she has been fine
tuning her craft as a songwriter. Churning out
songs for the last decade, she figured it was high
time to do some recording on her own.
September 2005 marks the
release of Norma’s solo debut, a rootsy little
gem called Nothing is Where it Was. The album was
recorded at Ultramagnetic Studios in Halifax and
was co-produced by Charles Austin (Matt Mays, Joel
Plaskett). Her folk influences are evident but are
given some edge with hints of rock and a bit of
twang. The writing is primarily inspired by the
intricate workings of human relationships. Whether
it be a waitress dealing with a difficult customer
(“Annaline”) or the musings of a couple who
have lost there way in a strange city (“Lost in
Boston”), Norma attempts to embrace the
idiosyncrasies that keep us from ever fully
understanding each other.
