"MacDonald's second release is nothing short of delicious."--Exclaim!
"'The Forest for the Trees' is beautiful. To use any other description cheapens the thought."--Herohill.com
Norma MacDonald is a singer-songwriter and avid biology nerd. She was raised on AM country stations and Willie Nelson cassettes in her hometown of New Waterford, Cape Breton, but has made her home in Halifax, NS for the last number of years. On her sophomore recording, ‘the forest for the trees’, Norma manages to seamlessly meld her innate old-school country sensibilities with contemporary influences (Wilco, Patty Griffin, Bruce Springsteen) without losing so much as a drop of authenticity. By the time the band kicks in on the opening track “a little longer”, one gets a sense they are listening to an artist who has finally come into her own. Juxtopositioning lyrical sophistication with playfulness, MacDonald balances a visceral sense of nostalgia and longing with hopefulness for what lies ahead. On “we’re ghosts” she sings the refrain “Let me come back as a flesh and blood reminder of the past” with an almost otherworldly conviction. Backed by some of Halifax’s finest musicians; Charles Austin (Superfriendz, Buck 65) on guitar and banjo, Adam Fine (Gypsophilia) on bass, Dale Murray (Cuff the Duke, Hayden, the Guthries) on pedal steel—not to mention a host of others—‘the forest for the trees’ is the ideal showcase for MacDonald’s pure yet soulful voice. Her efforts were rewarded with a 2009 ECMA nomination for Female Solo Recording of the Year and her track 'long shot' has recently been included on the iTunes compilation "CBC Radio 2 Discoveries".
MacDonald’s debut album ‘nothing is here it was’ (2005) garnered glowing reviews from as far away as the UK and earned her a NSMW nomination for Female Recording of the Year in 2006. She has performed on the “Canadian Music- East Coast Style” stage at the North American Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis, TN as well as the prestigious Stan Rogers Folk Festival (2007). Having just completed a tour of Eastern Canada, she has plans to hit the West Coast this summer. Please check back for tour dates...
I'm hitting the road in a couple of weeks to raise money for War Child, Coast-to-coast – 50 cities – ALL PROCEEDS TO WARCHILD. Why? 66% of all war victims are CHILDREN. Shocked like me? War Child helps these children that have been affected by war. Check out the new blog – the whole story is up there. Love to have you be a part of it.
You’ll find a Blog, Tour page and a Bio page. I’ll be blogging daily from the road.
