Stacy Norris needs your vote.
No, she’s not running for office, but the 15-year-old freshman at Homewood-Flossmoor High School is the outstanding drummer with the blues band The Instinct that has been nominated for a Chicago Music Award in the ‘most talented teens’ category and they will win through online voting.
nominated for a young musicians award. (Provided
photo)
Stacy Norris needs your vote.
No, she’s not running for office, but the 15-year-old freshman at Homewood-Flossmoor High School is the outstanding drummer with the blues band The Instinct that has been nominated for a Chicago Music Award in the ‘most talented teens’ category and they will win through online voting.
Instructions on voting are at the top of the band’s home page at www.theinstinctband.com. You can also hear them perform through the video link on the page. Contest winners will be announced March 18 at the Chicago Music Awards celebration.
It is an exciting time for Stacy and her four fellow musicians who play guitar and keyboard with her as The Instinct. The oldest band member is 17 and the youngest is 14, but their sound has left many so impressed with their talents that they got a spot on stage at the 2017 Chicago Blues Fest and have played other regional venues.
In January, they were selected to perform in the Youth Showcase of the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. This summer they will be playing at Windsor’s Bluesfest in Ontario, Canada.
Stacy credits her parents, Evelyne and Mike Norris of Glenwood, for introducing her to music. One Christmas Stacy got a toy drum set and she hasn’t stopped playing since. “Drums make me happy,” she said.
Her parents recognized her talent and bought her a better set of drums. When she was 8, she started lessons at Melody Mart in Homewood.
Evelyne said Stacy’s first teacher, Dave Robeson, taught her the rudiments of music: timing, notes, arrangement and got her to play a bit on the keyboard.
Her current teacher, Tremaine Love, “has really exponentially pushed her forward and has been working on her creativity. She considers Melody Mart her second music family. They have seen her literally grow up from the time we could not even see her behind the drums in band camp to today with Tremaine.
“When she is on the drums, she is the total reverse of her quiet and calm personality,” she added. “Because she started so young, we make sure she wears ear plugs/or headphones when she plays.”
She’ll practice on her own or jam with her dad on guitar and brother, Noah, on bass. It can be noisy, and on occasion neighbors have asked them to tone it down “but eventually they understood her love for music and supported her. We learned too: she uses pads on her drums for noise reduction,” Evelyne explained.
In 2016, when Stacy was in seventh grade at James Hart School in Homewood, she attended the Fernando Jones Blues Camp in Chicago where she met her bandmates. Because they are all in school, they meet up once a month for a two-hour practice session at The Music Garage in Chicago. Stacy’s dad drives her to the rehearsals where she has the chance to “just go with my own beat or create something else.”
Blues isn’t a sound most teens will gravitate to, but Stacy says it’s her favorite music genre. Her mom lists Buddy Rich, Clyde Stubblefield, Tony Royster Jr. and Sheila E. among Stacy’s biggest influencers.
Stacy has played with the jazz and marching bands at Hart School and is in marching band at H-F. She won’t commit to a future as a musician, however. Right now she leaning toward a career in graphic design.