Monday, July 26, 2021

Chris J Norwood is candid about his father’s suicide on “Good Guy With A Gun,” calling to light a missing topic in ongoing gun debate.

 Offered no answers on how to stop a good guy with a gun, Norwood hopes to encourage dialogue; Listen at The Bluegrass Situation.
 
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Chris J Norwood as photographed by Alyssa Leigh Cates
 
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Chris J Norwood | “Good Guy With A Gun”
 

 
 
[STREAM]: https://Fanatic.lnk.to/ChrisJNorwood-GoodGuyWithAGun
 
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Listen to “Good Guy With A Gun” from I Am Not Cool by Chris J Norwood at The Bluegrass Stuation or at the link above.
 
​“I struggled with whether or not to include this song on the album,” Chris J Norwood says of his latest single “Good Guy With A Gun,” from the upcoming I Am Not Cool (Aug. 20th, State Fair Records), but I realized that losing a parent at a young age is always going to be a part of me, it’s part of my story, and it’s good for me to keep singing about it.
 
“As a country, we need to talk more openly about suicide,” he continues. “Especially as it relates to the gun debate and gun culture. I feel like suicide is often overlooked in the debate about guns here in America. We’ve been given fruitless answers about how to stop a bad guy with a gun, but little in the way of how to stop a good guy with a gun.
 
“I don't have any solutions to offer,” he concludes, “but my hope is to encourage dialogue, and my hope is also that anyone who needs help will feel the courage to seek it out. Please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255.”
 
Norwood points out the song's lyric, “Daddy was a good guy, and always did the best he could. He’d do anything to protect the ones he loved. That's how I chose to remember my father.”
 
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Chris J Norwood
I Am Not Cool
Aug. 20th, 2021
(State Fair Records)
  

Track Listing:
 
01. I Am Not Cool (Prologue)
02. The Final Girl (VIDEO)
03. Good Guy With A Gun (STREAM)
04. Creature of Bad Habits
05. Leaving Louisiana Behind
06. I Am Not Cool (STREAM | VIDEO | LYRIC VIDEO)
07. 85 Feet
08. Grandpa Was A Farmer
09. I Need You (To Quit Breaking My Heart) (STREAM | VIDEO | LYRIC VIDEO)
10. Home Is You And Me
11. Love And Mercy
12. I Wrote You A Song
 
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Chris J Norwood | Live
 
 
Tickets: https://www.prekindle.com/promo/id/531433527733103985
 
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PLAY, POST & SHARE
 
Chris J Norwood | “I Am Not Cool”
 

 
 
[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VpibyXuq-s
 
[LYRIC VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejVboc8Uj50
 
[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/ChrisJNorwood-IAmNotCool-Single
 
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Check out the video for the title track from I Am Not Cool by Chris J Norwood at The Boot or listen at Americana Highways or at the links above.
 
This video was so much fun to make,” says Chris J Norwood of the clip for “I Am Not Cool,” the title track from his new album (Aug. 20th, State Fair Records). “Getting to wear fancy clothes, getting to pretend I have fans, and win awards. It’s a pretty perfect picture of my life and pretty perfectly captures the sentiment of the lyrics.”
 
Norwood’s wife and bandmate Carrie Norwood agrees, “Preparing for this video wasn’t too different from performing with the band. I lined up a babysitter, put on the only make up and dress I’ve worn all week, had a great time singing with Chris, and came back home to kids who will be waking up early needing breakfast.”
 
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PLAY, POST & SHARE
 
Chris J Norwood | “I Need You (To Quit Breaking My Heart)”
 

 
[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=652HDyRNsFI
 
[LYRIC VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfFLWwKWihI
 
[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/ChrisJNorwood-INeedYouToQuitBreakingMyHeart
 
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See the video for Chris J Norwood’s “I Need You (To Quit Breaking My Heart)” at Twangville. Listen at Americana UK or at the links above.
 
“‘I Need You (To Quit Breaking My Heart),’ a duet with his wife Carrie, captures the back and forth of a bickering couple,” says Twangville in its premiere coverage of the latest single from Chris J Norwood’s upcoming I Am Not Cool. “Yet Norwood sets the quarrel against a happy-go-lucky melody, making the song more charming than exasperating.”
 
Norwood adds, “Carrie and I thought it would be fun to tell the story of the song in a tongue-in-cheek modern day context. We thought, “What would it look like if you got to see the couple in the song’s intimate heated exchange play out over their Instagram stories,’ and we really cracked ourselves up trying out different filters for the video. Singing hot dogs will always be funny! Best viewed on a mobile device.”
 
About the song, Americana UK says, “It’s a sassy take on the form, with great lyrical hooks – who could resist listening on after hearing ‘I hope this letter finds you well but I need some time to myself… PS: here are my regrets’?”  Having reeled you in the Dallas based singer-songwriter makes the stay more than worth the while.”
 
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Chris J Norwood | About
 

Chris Norwood isn’t cool.
 
Or Chris J Norwood, as the Dallas-based singer-songwriter bills himself, is not cool.
 
So “not cool” that when searching for a synonym for “uncool” that starts with “J” in order to complete a lame joke, this writer could not find one.
 
Pretty damn uncool.
 
Norwood is honest, however, and in a world that becomes more cynical by the moment, the kind of honesty that he conjures and delivers so eloquently and elegantly on his new, very uncool, album I Am Not Cool (Aug. 20th, State Fair Records), well, that kind of uncool is... cool?
 
The album is the follow-up to Norwood’s much-praised 2017 debut record Longshot.
 
In addition to Norwood’s genial ability to say things you may not want to hear and leave you appreciating the experience, he is also masterful at a kind of tongue-in-cheek levity that is sorely missing from this genre.
 
There’s only two kinds of music / What’s true and what ain’t / It only takes three chords to set the record straight
 
Norwood sings these lyrics on the “I Am Not Cool” title cut, a perfect example of how his economy of words is quizzical, meta, and puts a smile on your face all at the same time.
 
But, wait, there’s more.
 
Norwood really gets going on the album’s second single “I Need You (To Quit Breaking My Heart),” which is such a plainly evocative song title that other songwriters should be shaking a fist in Norwood’s general direction for thinking of it first. A universal sentiment succinctly stated.
 
“It’s a 10-year marriage kind of love song,” he says of the tune, and as if to hammer that description home, Norwood’s wife Carrie joins him on vocals, which adds a whole new level of “what is going on here?!” to the proceedings.
 
Further on, “Good Guy With A Gun” will remind listeners of the political rhetoric it references, but is more tragically tied to the songs from Norwood’s debut album, which dove head-first into his very personal story of growing up as a child of a father who died by his own hand.
 
“This song is about that,” he explains, “But more than that it’s about the ridiculous theory that the NRA likes to tout. The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun? My dad was a good guy with a gun, so how were we supposed to stop him from killing himself?”
 
Once again, it is astounding how Norwood is able to take such personal matters, write about them with conviction and clarity, make it catchy and memorable, and make you feel like you challenged yourself and had a chuckle all at once.
 
Uncool? Hmm.
 
Frankly, Norwood says that claiming himself “uncool” may be an awful career move. “I’ll either make it or break it as uncool Chris J Norwood,” he opines on the topic.
 
But, the thing is, Norwood’s work is righteous no matter how it is perceived by anyone who makes judgments about “career moves.” This brand of vulnerable, self-effacing songwriting, salted with a bit of required brainpower... it’s unique. And it’s here to stay.
 
Maybe the J stands for “justified?”
 
I Am Not Cool, the second album by Chris J Norwood arrives via State Fair Records on Aug. 20th, preceded by the singles “I Am Not Cool” (May 21st), “I Need You (To Quit Breaking My Heart)” (June 18th), and “Good Guy With A Gun” (July 23rd).
 
Chris J Norwood is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
 
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Chris J Norwood | Links
 
ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE : STATE FAIR RECORDS
 
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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
 
WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL

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