Jayson Norris

About Jayson Norris from Auckland

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



“This man writes songs that stick in your head when you brush your teeth, have your lunch, have a snack and go to bed at night... brilliant.....” Dave Chislett – Music Journalist, -UK


“Jayson Norris’s music is a lesson in how to make one guitar sound like 5, his songs are full of energetic guitar mixed with a voice angels would happily sue you for. Really well written songs performed with gusto” Shaun Litton – Up All Night Music - UK