Norma MacDonald
Norma MacDonald
Where: Halifax, NS
What: Singer/songwriter
Visit: www.normamacdonald.com
Growing up in New Waterford on Cape Breton Island, singer/songwriter Norma MacDonald was exposed to a steady stream of classic country songs broadcast by local AM stations, and there was more at home, where the songs of Willie Nelson frequently found their way onto the family stereo.
It likely didn’t come as much of a surprise to those around her that elements of classic country found their way into MacDonald’s music when she began to write her own songs.
Two albums into a promising career, MacDonald’s music still reveals the influence some of those early country songs had on her, but one listen to her second album, The Forest For The Trees, will tell you her influences are far more wide-ranging than that, crossing both genres and generations.
MacDonald in fact draws her inspiration from a host of sources, sources that include both Nashville stalwarts and more contemporary tunesmiths like Springsteen and Wilco.
The songs that pour out of her are honest, heartfelt, and emotionally charged, and they are exceedingly well-crafted for someone whose career is only just beginning to take shape. They are well-served by a voice which has a beautifully melodic quality to it, falling somewhere between Gillian Welch and Patty Griffin.
The future looks very bright for MacDonald, who’s already garnered favourable reviews from as far away as the UK and just this year found herself with an ECMA nomination for Female Solo Recording of the Year.
Categories: Showcase