Normandie Wilson on Primetime

Normandie Wilson

On Thursday, January 5, 2012, at 12pm/PST on Swoop’s World Primetime we are happy to have musician and artist Normandie Wilson as our guest. Join us as we get to know the Normandie and her music. Tune in at Swoopsworld.com.

Normandie Wilson is an odd bird: a visual and a vocal artist with a mix of modern and vintage influences; a five-foot tall tattooed pixie with a decidedly feminine streak; and a big heart and hurricane-force energy when it comes to helping birds. Ms. Wilson is engaging on a 2 week tour of the Rocky Mountains and West Coast in January, supported by Lincoln, Nebraska’s 50’s jazz/folk/pop duo The Golden Hour.

A steady childhood diet of Burt Bacharach, The Beach Boys, and Motown has given Normandie’s music a distinctly 60’s pop throw-back, and her songs showcase these influences with style. Normandie was an accompanist for many years, playing classic show tunes by the likes of Cole Porter and Kander & Ebb, and these jazzy rhythms and lyrics have made their way into her work as well.

The playful Wilson has been busy since releasing her first EP in 2007, Glitter Patter, an early collection of songs written during her time living in New York. Later that year, after a rough emotional time, she produced and recorded Healing Arts for Broken Hearts. Later, these two quirky records were re-released online as Early Birds: Songs from 2007. True to her DIY roots, Wilson packed her VW bug and toured the US solo in late 2008. Wilson has continued her participation with San Diego mariachi-indie-pop collective Red Pony Clock, and appeared on the records God Made Dirt (2007) and Whatevz Forevzzz (2011).

In 2009, Wilson released a joint record with fellow songwriter Sebastian Clark, Music for Smart People. This school-of-pop inspired collection features reflective and brooding lyrics, with Wilson and Clark’s charming harmonies evoking early Carole King and Brill Building-style pop. The two toured the US and Europe to support the record, which heavily influenced Wilson’s songwriting, and decision to record parts of her fourth album, The Flower Box, in Scotland and the UK.

The Flower Box was released in July 2010 and was well-received in the US, putting Normandie on the local music map in San Diego. She toured heavily in support of it, stopping at the Nebraska Pop Festival, the San Francisco Pop Festival, and SXSW, among others. In 2011, Normandie followed up The Flower Box with a 5-song EP, Summers Are For Lovers, and a 7” record, Saturday Night Girl. She completed several extensive tours of the US and made her first solo appearance at the Athens Pop Festival in Athens, GA. Normandie was also voted one of the “Top Ten Voices of San Diego” by NBC San Diego.

Normandie is currently finishing up the recording of her fifth full-length studio album, Geography And Other Problems, to be released in March 2012.

Normandie Wilson continues to make her own path as a singer, composer, painter, and woman. She will be touring the United States, France, United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden in support of Geography And Other Problems in 2012.