Jayson Norris

JAYSON NORRIS is a Singer/Songwriter
originally from Kaitaia, a small town situated in the
far north of New Zealand’s North Island. Jayson
relocated to London in 2004 where he has
remained. Since his move to the UK, Jayson Norris
has released two albums, “A Basket Full” in
2006 and the new 2009 release “Freedom To
Live”.

“A Basket Full” was released in 2006 on
Jayson’s own Indie label “Rangiputa Records” and
achieved over 2,000 sales independently in London
alone. Singles like “Window” and “The Beginning”
winning favour with an ever increasing fan base.
The independent success of “A Basket Full”
provided opportunities for support slots
throughout the UK with well known artists such as
Blue King Brown, Pete Murray, Dave Dobbyn,
Breaks Co –Op and the Black Seeds, along with
invitations to perform at some of London’s biggest
music festivals including “Love Box”, “Secret
Garden” and “Toast” to name just a few.
“A Basket Full” was released in NZ in December
2006 with a 4 day whirlwind visit to NZ comprising
of a sold out album release party in Auckland and
followed by a 1 hour live performance showcase
on NZ’s Juice TV which was broadcasted several
times over 3 weeks. “A Basket Full” also
featured on all international Air New Zealand
flights coupled with a 60 min live audio showcase
and interview.
Jayson returned to NZ in March 2008 to headline
the “Acoustic Lounge Tour” which featured artists
such as Jason Kerrison (Opshop), Jonny Love and
Luke Thompson. The tour was a huge success with
all shows selling out. Jayson won over a whole new
fan base with his phenomenal live show.

Jayson returned to studios in February 2008 to
start recording his much anticipated second album
”Freedom To Live”. Multi platinum artist
Shelton Woolright (Blindspott) and producer Paul
Matthews (Blindspott, Stylus) came onboard to
produce the first recording and single (Superhero).
Shelton and Paul came with a raft of experience in
both writing hit singles and in producing multi
platinum selling albums. After a couple of weeks of
pre production and creating a more commercial
sound “Superhero “was completed and ready for
the world to listen to. Both Shelton and Paul
played on the track.
“Superhero” was released as a single in 2008
where it was picked up in NZ by an Auckland
business as their theme track for all their radio
advertising.
With a heavy schedule of shows in the following
months after completing the recording of
“Superhero” and the good vibe created around
“Superhero” Jayson returned to the studios in
November 2008 to complete the album. Armed
with a bag of new songs, Jayson enlisted UK based
NZ producer Steve Roberts to help complete the
album.
Steve Roberts came complete with a resume
packed with accomplishments. Having produced,
mixed and engineered for a number of acts
including Tricky, Soul II Soul, Money Mark, Dave
Dobbyn, Che Fu and Brooke Fraser.
”Freedom to Live” was completed in June 2009,
was mixed in NZ at York St Studios by Steve
Roberts and mastered at Abbey Road by Kathy
Bryan. The album truly conveys Jayson’s explosive
live feel and captures the real soul and emotion of
Jayson both musically and in his heartfelt lyrics.
The Sound: Combining his rich, earthy voice with
a blend of soul, roots and rock, Jayson Norris offers
music inspired by many songwriters including Ben
Harper, Lenny Kravitz and Bob Marley. Jayson’s
cultural and musical heritage is subtly reflected
with a South-Pacific feel resonating throughout his songs