Norfolk & Western (band)
Encyclopedia
Norfolk & Western is an indie rock
and folk
/rock
band from Portland, Oregon. An essential part of their stage set-up and sound is a turn-of-the-century Victrola Grammaphone. Norfolk and Western began as the recording project of Adam Selzer with friends, including M. Ward
, playing various instruments, and evolved over time to become a fully orchestrated band. In the early days Norfolk and Western's sound was whispery, intimate, elegant folk music laced with creaky old instruments and atmospheric sound collages. Their live shows often feature band members switching instruments, sometimes even mid-song, as well as film accompaniment.
Norfolk and Western toured in support of the release A Gilded Age in Spring and Summer of 2006.
, Oregon
where he has engineered and produced records by such artists as M.Ward, The Decemberists
, Little Wings, She & Him
, Corrina Repp
, Shelley Short, and many more. He also tours with M. Ward
playing guitar and bass.
playing the drums and ukulele
. She was formerly the drummer of The Decemberists
and has toured with Laura Veirs
. She loves to paint and make drawings, some of which you can see on NorfolkAndWestern.org.
, Dave Depper has perfect pitch. He also played in The Village Green
and Blanket Music
.
, viola
, and cello
and is a studio session player. She also plays in the band Pentacost Hotel.
and occasionally tours and records with Darren Hanlon
. He also played in the band Desert City Soundtrack.
. Contributed to A Gilded Age. He also plays in the bands Loch Lomond
and Horse Feathers
.
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
/rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band from Portland, Oregon. An essential part of their stage set-up and sound is a turn-of-the-century Victrola Grammaphone. Norfolk and Western began as the recording project of Adam Selzer with friends, including M. Ward
M. Ward
Matthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...
, playing various instruments, and evolved over time to become a fully orchestrated band. In the early days Norfolk and Western's sound was whispery, intimate, elegant folk music laced with creaky old instruments and atmospheric sound collages. Their live shows often feature band members switching instruments, sometimes even mid-song, as well as film accompaniment.
Norfolk and Western toured in support of the release A Gilded Age in Spring and Summer of 2006.
Current members
- Adam Selzer (Band founderEntrepreneurAn entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, SongwriterSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Lead vocals, found sounds, EngineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, ProducerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, and other instruments) - Rachel Blumberg (DrumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, KeyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, Backing Vocals, VibraphoneVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
, Percussion, and other instruments)
Rotating members
- Tony Moreno (GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, BanjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, AccordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, Found Sounds, Sound collageSound collageIn music, montage or sound collage is a technique where sound objects or compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as montage, the use of portions of previous recordings or scores...
, FilmFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
) - Amanda Lawrence (ViolaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, GlockenspielGlockenspielA glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
) - Dave Depper (BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Vocals, PianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
) - Cory Gray (TrumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, PianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, WurlitzerWurlitzerThe Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....
)
Former members
- Peter Broderick (ViolinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, BanjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, SawSawA saw is a tool that uses a hard blade or wire with an abrasive edge to cut through softer materials. The cutting edge of a saw is either a serrated blade or an abrasive...
, MandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, ThereminThereminThe theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
, AccordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, Lap Steel, GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
). Joined EfterklangEfterklangEfterklang is an indie rock group from Copenhagen, Denmark, formed in December 2000. To date, the band has released three studio albums and are currently signed to the 4AD label, as well as their own record label Rumraket.-History:...
.
Adam Selzer
Adam owns and operates Type Foundry Recording Studio in PortlandPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
where he has engineered and produced records by such artists as M.Ward, The Decemberists
The Decemberists
The Decemberists are an indie folk rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, fronted by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. The other members of the band are Chris Funk , Jenny Conlee , Nate Query , and John Moen .The band's...
, Little Wings, She & Him
She & Him
She & Him is an American indie pop duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward . The band's first album, Volume One, was released on Merge Records in March 2008...
, Corrina Repp
Corrina Repp
Corrina Repp is a vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and maker of quiet music based in Portland, Oregon. Her albums I Take On Your Days and It's Only the Future were released on Hush Records, while The Absent and the Distant was released on Mark Kozelek's personal label Caldo Verde...
, Shelley Short, and many more. He also tours with M. Ward
M. Ward
Matthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...
playing guitar and bass.
Rachel Blumberg
Rachel Blumberg has been a long-time songwriting collaborator and is now writing many songs of her own which appear on the Norfolk and Western recordings. Blumberg also tours and records with M. WardM. Ward
Matthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...
playing the drums and ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
. She was formerly the drummer of The Decemberists
The Decemberists
The Decemberists are an indie folk rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, fronted by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. The other members of the band are Chris Funk , Jenny Conlee , Nate Query , and John Moen .The band's...
and has toured with Laura Veirs
Laura Veirs
Laura Pauline Veirs is an American singer-songwriter.Veirs was raised in Colorado, studied geology and Mandarin Chinese at Carleton College, worked as a translator for a geological expedition in China, and now lives in Portland, Oregon.While growing up, she heard folk-country, classical, and pop...
. She loves to paint and make drawings, some of which you can see on NorfolkAndWestern.org.
Dave Depper
Originally from Bend, OregonBend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...
, Dave Depper has perfect pitch. He also played in The Village Green
The Village Green
The Village Green is a Portland, Oregon indie rock band, composed of lead vocalist/guitarist/composer J. Nicholas Allard and drummer/producer/back-up vocalist Jeremy Sherrer....
and Blanket Music
Blanket Music
Blanket Music is a jazz-influenced indie-rock band from Portland, Oregon. Led by Chad Crouch, the owner/operator of Hush Records.-History:The band formed in 1999, to perform at a wedding reception. Mixing jazz, rock, bossa nova and pop music, the band released debut album Nice in 2000...
.
Tony Moreno
Tony Moreno recently became a father and has been playing in the band since the inception. Moreno records on his own under his name with several releases to date. He also designs websites, including NorfolkAndWestern.org.Amanda Lawrence
Amanda Lawrence teaches violinViolin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, and cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
and is a studio session player. She also plays in the band Pentacost Hotel.
Cory Gray
Cory Gray has been a fixture at Type Foundry Recording Studio as a session piano and trumpet player. He first made his mark in Norfolk on the Dusk in Cold Parlours CD. He leads his own band Carcrashlander and plays with various other bands such as The GravesThe Graves
The Graves is an aggregation of rock outcroppings in Massachusetts Bay, Massachusetts, United States. Situated some offshore of downtown Boston, it is the outermost island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. It is the location of The Graves Light, at tall the tallest lighthouse...
and occasionally tours and records with Darren Hanlon
Darren Hanlon
Darren Hanlon is an Australian singer/songwriter who plays urban folk music. He has released five solo albums, three EPs and eight singles on Candle Records and Flippin Yeah industries , as well as several compilation tracks...
. He also played in the band Desert City Soundtrack.
Peter Broderick
Peter Broderick recently left the band to join the Danish band, EfterklangEfterklang
Efterklang is an indie rock group from Copenhagen, Denmark, formed in December 2000. To date, the band has released three studio albums and are currently signed to the 4AD label, as well as their own record label Rumraket.-History:...
. Contributed to A Gilded Age. He also plays in the bands Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault. It is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area. The lake contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles, although the lake itself is smaller than many Irish...
and Horse Feathers
Horse Feathers
Horse Feathers is a Marx Brothers film comedy. It stars the four Marx Brothers and Thelma Todd. It was written by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, S. J. Perelman, and Will B. Johnstone. Kalmar and Ruby also wrote some of the original music for the film...
.
Discography
- Dinero Severo (2009)
- The Unsung Colony - Released on Hush RecordsHush Records-Background:Crouch, frontman of the band Blanket Music, organized Hush Records in 1997, when he self-released a solo record called Portland, Or. The following year, Crouch bought a CD burner and began recording and distributing music by Mike Johnson , Jeff London, and Ben Barnett to record stores...
. 24, October 2006. The album was made available for purchase on the Hush RecordsHush Records-Background:Crouch, frontman of the band Blanket Music, organized Hush Records in 1997, when he self-released a solo record called Portland, Or. The following year, Crouch bought a CD burner and began recording and distributing music by Mike Johnson , Jeff London, and Ben Barnett to record stores...
site before the official release date at the beginning of October. - A Gilded Age - Released on Hush RecordsHush Records-Background:Crouch, frontman of the band Blanket Music, organized Hush Records in 1997, when he self-released a solo record called Portland, Or. The following year, Crouch bought a CD burner and began recording and distributing music by Mike Johnson , Jeff London, and Ben Barnett to record stores...
. 2006. - Dusk in Cold Parlours - Released on Hush RecordsHush Records-Background:Crouch, frontman of the band Blanket Music, organized Hush Records in 1997, when he self-released a solo record called Portland, Or. The following year, Crouch bought a CD burner and began recording and distributing music by Mike Johnson , Jeff London, and Ben Barnett to record stores...
. 2003 - Winter Farewell - Released on FilmguerreroFILMguerreroFILMguerrero is an independent record label based in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1998 by John Askew as a way to release Ames, the debut album by Askew's studio project Tracker. Since then, the label has gone on to release CDs, LPs and EPs by a number of different artists...
. 2002. - Centralia - Released on FilmguerreroFILMguerreroFILMguerrero is an independent record label based in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1998 by John Askew as a way to release Ames, the debut album by Askew's studio project Tracker. Since then, the label has gone on to release CDs, LPs and EPs by a number of different artists...
. 2000. Out of Print.
External links
- NorfolkandWestern.org - The Band's Official Website
- Concert photos by Laurent Orseau
- Flipside Samizdat - The Blog of Adam Selzer
- A Plea to get the Band to Milwaukee.
- A Review of The Unsung Colony from OnMilwaukee.com