SOUNDZ
From the tundra to the desert: Norgaard likes local music scene
By Gerald M. Gay
ggay@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.08.2007
Name: Amber Norgaard, singer-songwriter.
Age: 32.
Back story: Four years ago, Amber Norgaard was a registered nurse, living in the small town of Bethel, Alaska.
Her day-to-day routine included, among other things, administering to the American Indians of Bethel's 56 neighboring villages.
These days you can find the Last Frontier adventurer, who plays a little bit of everything including guitar, piano and saxophone, performing regular gigs around the Old Pueblo and once a week at Tubac's Farmers Market. She will make an appearance Saturday at the 17th Street Market.
What made you move to Tucson? "I wanted to be on the road system and the Southwest looked kind of cool. There seemed to be a lot of access to L.A., Phoenix, bigger places like that. Where I was living, in the bush region of Alaska, I was way off the road system. It was 400 miles west of Anchorage, and you could only get there by boat or plane. In some strange way, the desert reminded me of the wildness up there."
You were born and raised in Iowa. How did you end up in Alaska in the first place? "I was in a volunteer corps. After graduating from nursing school, I volunteered to go to the Dominican Republic and worked at a migrant clinic in Oregon. The corps had an opening up in Bethel, so I took it. After my time was up, I decided to stay and work full time for the health corporation."
When did you first start getting into guitar? "When I lived in the Dominican Republic. I brought a guitar down but didn't know how to play very well. My first instrument was the piano. But I thought it was a good time to learn guitar because I couldn't carry a piano on my back. The more time I spent there, the more I realized it was a really great tool to connect with the people. I didn't speak Spanish very well, but music always made a connection. After that, when I moved to Oregon, I started songwriting and did a lot more in Alaska."
Where do you draw your songwriting inspiration from? "I get it from everywhere. Immediately after moving down here, I wrote a song called 'Camino del Diablo' based on the migrant book "Dead in Their Tracks" by John Annerino. For me, music is kind of writing about the human condition. I like to raise awareness about human issues and social causes."
I take it our music scene is more fruitful than in the Alaskan bush? "When I lived there, there wasn't a music scene. We would kind of tag on to Anchorage. If they got a big act, our little arts council would try to get them to our town. Anchorage had a decent music scene. It is a novelty for artists. They all want to go to Alaska. I took my band up there in October for a little CD-release tour. It was a homecoming for me. I had a couple hundred people show up in the town I lived in and I got to show the guys I work with here where I came from."
Which is more fulfilling: being a nurse or being a musician? "They are both fulfilling in their own way. I feel completely exposed and vulnerable as a musician. It is more of a challenge. When you are a nurse, you are trained and you should know exactly what you are doing. You have benefits and know what hours you work. Music is totally different. You have to self-promote and are in charge of making it on your own."
You've lived several places over the last decade. Can we expect a longer stay for you in Tucson? "Yeah. I'm kind of planted here for a while. For me, this is kind of where I can base myself. The city is not too big, and you are still close to nature."
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