It’s hard to not hear touches of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” when you cue up Graham Norwood’s latest single, “Collapses To Zero,” but Young and Norwood do share a similar heartbreaking affectation in their vocals. Not quite country but with just enough pedal steel to make the whiskey go down easy, Out Of Sea, Norwood’s debut full-length, is anchored by those soft but strong vocals. Norwood, who is legally blind, said this of the song in an interview with American Songwriter:
“My greatest fear was that I would be known as ‘The Blind Kid,’ and I didn’t want to carry that label with me my whole life. As I got older and fell in love with music, I realized that performing was an opportunity to transcend my disability, to not have that be the first thing people noticed about me. If you can play, you can play, and that’s what counts.”
A quick peek at the liner notes reveals a talented assemblage of players on Out Of The Sea, including bassist Dan Edinberg (The Stepkids, Anderson. Paak), pedal steel player Dan Lead (Norah Jones, Valerie June), vibraphonist Brittany Anjou (Okkervil River, Elysian Fields), and drummer Bill Campbell (Andrew Bird, Cass McCombs).
You can listen to “Collapses To Zero” and read a short interview with Norwood here.
Image courtesy of grahamnorwoodmusic.com.
