Burn The Tapes partners MacDonald with an impressive array of East Coast musicians.
Norma MacDonald is an inspiring musician. A native of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, she now calls Halifax home where she works as an ER nurse. When not attending to the realities of the everyday, she directs her energy toward writing and performing with an award-winning career that has now resulted in four full length albums.
On her latest release Burn the Tapes, MacDonald adds the role of producer to her long list of accomplishments.
“I was actually thinking about asking a big name producer this time around but then realized I didn’t have that much money,” said MacDonald. “I also realized that I knew what I wanted the record to sound like and that I knew enough from making three other albums that I could probably figure out how to make it sound the way I wanted, with lots of help along the way from engineer Phil Sedore. Also, I was listening to a bunch of old Gram Parsons records during most of the writing and production of Burn the Tapes and I tried to emulate that a bit.”
The album features guest performances from many talented Nova Scotia musicians including Dale Murray, Erin Costelo, Adam Fine, Charles Austin and Gabrielle Papillon.
“I’m really lucky to be friends or at least close acquaintances with all of the musicians that played on the record,” said MacDonald. “It was like having the giant pool of resources to draw from. They are all so incredibly talented but also lovely and supportive. It’s great to play with such high caliber musicians, because although sometimes it can make me feel like I’m a crappy player, it makes me work harder so I don’t look or sound like an idiot. We had a really fun time making this album, mostly because I loved being around these people so much.”
Burn the Tapes delivers a pleasing mix of country-folk across ten engaging tracks that weave between the tragedy and longing of Patsy Cline and the fierce independence of Neko Case. From the first notes of Company, a haunting, reverb-laden story of lost love highlighted by the Murray’s signature pedal steel work, to the simplistic Celtic influenced sounds of the album’s closer Hard to Get Back, MacDonald displays a strength and ability as a songwriter that can only come from experience and dedication to the craft.
Norma MacDonald performs at Corked Wine Bar this week.
Norma MacDonald | October 1, 2015 | Corked Wine Bar | 7:30 p.m. | Suggested Donation $10 | View Event
