Norma MacDonald is a creature of dichotomy; joy/sadness, city/town, past/future, art/science, dog/cat. Her music reflects the mixed feelings of one who is in a constant state of flux along these spectrums and the nostalgia felt for both extremes. The New Waterford, Nova Scotia native's third album “Morning You Wake”, produced by Halifax multi-instrumentalist Phil Sedore (Amelia Curran, Catherine MacLellan), is undoubtedly the songwriter’s most diverse collection of sounds and stories to date. From the starry-eyed waltz Bright as you Dare, to the Neko Case-ean Comeback Kid to the elegiac Springsteen flood-of-emotion of Swollen Sky, her sound mixes the sincerity and grit of car stereo old-country with the polish and sophistication of satellite radio North-Americana. This latest recording also finds MacDonald tackling her hometown’s history; Blackhearts of the Company is based on the life of William Davis, a coal miner that was shot and killed by mining company police during a protest i

Seamlessly melds old-school country sensibilities with modern influences (Wilco, Patty Griffin, Bruce Springsteen) without losing so much as a drop of authenticity.

A alt-country songstress with a break-your-heart voice and carefully crafted tunes that run the range from lush pop to earthy twangers...