kyle norris :: biography
     
 

 

  

 

 

Kyle Norris was born and raised on the shores of Lake Huron. The first time she was thrown into a body of water was at the age of 10 months when her parents enrolled her in an infant swimming class at the local YMCA. She swam competitively from ages 6-17, spent childhood summers collecting beach stones & building fantastic sand forts, and worked as a lifeguard for seven years. As an adult she dreams about rescuing drowning victims on a weekly basis.

She studied classical trombone at the Interlochen Arts Academy in northern Michigan for her last three years of high school, and graduated from University of Michigan with an undergraduate degree in creative writing. Today she earns her living as a freelance writer in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

During her years at Interlochen she began fiddling with a borrowed guitar and taught herself a series of basic chords. She wrote her first songs post-university, and began performing them at local open-mic sessions held in the Ann Arbor vicinity. Despite the jitters that come with first time performances, she vowed to continue until she felt flawless


photo courtesy norris family
 
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with her material & delivery. Despite complimentary feedback about her vocal abilities, she vowed to persevere until audience members (specifically male ones) commented on her technical work as a guitar player, which they now do on a regular basis.

Musical influences range far and wide—from classical orchestral works (she’s a sucker for Tchaikovsky’s gushy Symphony No. 4, along with string quartets playing works from any kind of period), to old-timey American country music. Really she loves it all, especially traditional and contemporary folk, straight up pop schlock, electronic music, world beat, Motown, and hip-hop.

As a listener, Tori Amos profoundly penetrated her emotional musical landscape; Ani Difranco shattered her conception of what could be accomplished with a guitar and vocals; and Richard Buckner irrevocably altered her relationship with the English language.

 Norris loves circumstances that involve unforeseen fortune, like the time she was spontaneously bestowed with seventy bottles of wine in a single afternoon. Or the true story that happened at a school carnival in the second grade—when she won three cakes in a row at the annual cakewalk, and was then grudgingly yanked out of the lineup by organizers and banned from the event.

 Other things she loves include the chili-cheese fries at Detroit’s Lafayette Coney Island (especially with compelling companionship), antique hunting for childhood relics from the 20s & 30s, and the feelings evoked from the inside of a Zen Buddhist temple.
 

 

  


© 2003 kyle norris