Halifax, Nova Scotia resident Norma MacDonald’s fifth album, OLD FUTURE has just recently been released. It’s a recording that has made quite an impact on us at Lonesome Highway and will most certainly feature in our ‘Best of 2020’ listings at year end.
It enters the world in extraordinary times both globally and locally for the singer/songwriter who was born and raised on Cape Breton, a small island about four hours’ drive from her current home. The closing song on the album opens with the words: ‘Some days you can’t ever lose, some days you can’t see the green for the blues.’ Given these uncertain times I wondered what sort of day it was in Halifax when I spoke with Norma last week.
‘’That’s a tough question to answer right now. On top of the global COVID-19 pandemic that is keeping people isolated in their homes, Nova Scotia also experienced the worst mass shooting in Canadian history this past weekend. People are hurting and scared, and confused as to how this could happen in our beautiful, largely-peaceful little part of the world. But ... the sun is out right now and it’s a lovely spring morning. We’re trying to mourn but keep our heads up at the same time.
I wrote Some Days as kind of a country-song mindfulness activity; trying to reconcile myself with the idea that whatever happens, good or bad, that things will pass and then the next thing will happen, and everything just continues to flow along. I’m trying to remind myself of that right now.’’
OLD FUTURE features ten tracks and so much about the album, from the songs to the packaging and photography, appears to be looking back at the classic country sounds of the 1960’s and 1970’s.
‘’A couple of years ago I was asked by a theatre company in Nova Scotia called Ships Company Theatre to produce a tribute show to the great ladies of classic country music. I did some deep digging through repertoires of female country artists, mostly from the 60s and 70s, and completely fell in love. I wrote a lot of the songs from OLD FUTURE during the time I was researching music for that show. Some of it must have seeped in. Incidentally, I was also listening to a lot of Roy Orbison and 60s girl groups, like The Ronettes, which really influenced the production on I Already Have a Shadow. I wasn’t really intending for the entire project to sound so retro, but once we started production the arrangements just naturally took on that shape. It was also my first-time recording bed tracks to tape as opposed to digital, so I feel that gives the album a warmer, vintage sound.’’
Like the work of many artists, the writing on the album is a combination of songs based on both personal experiences and in the third person. The themes range from mortality to regret and passion, with every word meticulously enunciated in what I would describe as classic country vocal delivery. The song Your Wedding Day is particularly striking: it is classic, old school country. I could imagine quite a number of established Nashville artists covering it. A pension song perhaps, with a bit of luck?
‘’I would love that. Could you send it around for me? I definitely feel that of all the songs I’ve written this one lends itself best to being covered by other artists. And it even has a good classic country key change. Your Wedding Day is an amalgam of several (yes, several) situations in which ex-boyfriends got married shortly after we broke up. It’s meant to be pretty tongue in cheek. All my writing tends to be a bit of both. Some songs on OLD FUTURE are intensely personal and others not so much. The opening track, Temperamental Year, is about trying to process the death of my dad in 2015 and the pain but inevitability of losing people you love. Other songs like Slow Down Marie were written just because a stream of words flowed out that worked well with the melody and luckily they weren’t complete nonsense.’’
The track Golden Age reads very much like a song for the days that we face currently. The lyrics are striking and evocative and could be regarded by the listener as relating to lost love or yearning for the more uncomplicated days of yesteryear, or indeed more recent times.
‘’The process of writing Golden Age actually went on for several years. I had the melody and chord progression recorded as a voice memo in my phone probably as long ago as 2013. I really loved the mood of those chords but struggled with finding the right lyrics (although the word “Golden” was always in the title for some reason). In April of 2019, I was rushing to finish two last songs for Old Future before heading back down to Dale’s (Murray) studio. I was frantically scrolling through ideas to see what I could try to flesh out. I had been thinking about how a couple of my close friends had recently moved away from Halifax and how much I missed them, and the lightness and ease that they brought into my life. I came across the voice memo for what would become Golden Age and managed to write it all in just about an hour. But yes, I think a lot of us are yearning for the golden age of just a couple of months ago right now. Everything feels so far removed from where we were.’’
Naming the album DEATH BY NOSTALGIA, a reference that appears in the song Some Days,was aconsideration but one that was eventually overruled.
‘’Ha. Because people kept telling me they thought it was morbid. I thought it was funny. And the sound and lyrical content of the album are so nostalgic. I do feel like OLD FUTURE captures the essence of the album pretty well, too, though.’’
It was co-produced with Dale Murray, whom Norma has worked with previously. The song One Man Band could have been directed at him, given the number of instruments he plays on the album.
‘’Dale has played guitar and pedal steel on several of my albums but we hadn’t worked together as co-producers before this. I’m a huge fan of both his playing and production so it seemed an obvious and natural choice. He had a ton of great ideas but was always respectful of what I was bringing to the table production-wise as well. The whole process seemed so incredibly easy and fun.’’
Together with her solo work, she is also a member of the folk-rock band Bend the River, a seven-piece Halifax collective covering a range of sounds that include pop, soul and folk.
‘’My friend Ronok Sarkar is the principal songwriter for Bend the River, although the whole band contributes to the arrangements. I mostly sing backing vocals but take lead on a few songs. Being a backing singer is the best gig in the world, nothing to carry. I LOVE being a member of that band. If you haven’t checked out any music yet, you should track it down.’’
Alongside her musical callings she also enjoys a parallel career as an ER nurse. It’s an interesting dual occupation and one that appears to comfortably suit her character. ‘
“I feel like I have two very distinct sides of my brain that both need attention. I’ve played music full time in the past and it didn’t make me happy. Just as I wouldn’t be happy if I were working as a nurse and didn’t get to write and play music. My life feels very full and satisfying having both careers.’’
The current Coronavirus has imposed immense pressure, both financial and mental, on the majority of musicians, with the exception of the household names and commercially successful acts. Many artists have resorted to live streams by way of continuity. It’s a platform, isn’t it, that most likely will be explored more in the future as a means of communication when things return to some degree of normality?
‘’I do think that artists will continue to use online performances more frequently after the pandemic is over. Touring is expensive and exhausting. If you can reach people from your own living room and create some connection, why wouldn’t you? But on the other side of the argument, playing in front of a live audience - to see people’s faces and hear applause when you finish a song - is far more rewarding than seeing some words and emojis appear on a screen. I feel online platforms will be used more frequently as an income adjunct, but I don’t think this will ever replace the magic of an actual onstage performance.’’
Given Norma’s surname, the issue of her Celtic roots was of interest to me. She explained.
‘‘My family is originally from Scotland but has been in Cape Breton for generations. My brother Peter is a huge genealogy buff, so most of the things I know about our family’s roots are through him (and he could tell you about them for hours. In my early 20s I played in a Celtic pub band called Highland Heights that toured and recorded for several years. We played a lot of traditional Irish and Scottish folk songs so I used to be fairly well versed in that music, but admittedly haven’t been playing much of that style over the last decade. As a bit of a non-sequitur, I also remember being obsessed with Mary Black during that time. A friend of mine had a bootleg recording of her singing at the Royal Albert Hall that he made on a dictaphone and I played it 8 million times. Her voice was just magic, even on that crappy pocket recording.’’
A visit to perform in Ireland did take place some years ago and hopefully she will return in the future. In the meantime, she closes the conversation with this fond memory.
‘‘I grew up in Cape Breton, NS and many things about Ireland reminded me of home; the landscape, the people, the music. This memory may not seem like a big deal but I remember having the day off in Galway and I brought a book to the pub in the afternoon to read for a while. I had a lovely, hilarious conversation with the people next to me and when they left, I had another great conversation with the people who took their seats. Before I knew it, it was the evening and I had spent the entire afternoon chatting with a dozen complete strangers but felt so warm and welcome. I’m really hoping to get back there to play some time in the near future.’’
Interview by Declan Culliton