MP3 A Normal Life - ROCK: Acoustic

The long-awaited debut from a truly unique singer/songwriter. Garry's intense, lyrically-driven songs blend both humor and pathos in an eclectic mix of moods and styles. A master story-teller.

17 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Acoustic, FOLK: Alternative Folk

Details:
A customer service rep suffers pangs of jealousy and regret when he encounters a dog more successful in life than he is. A grown man continues to be haunted by an embarrassing incident from kindergarten. Two downtrodden New Yorkers search for a little happiness on the Internet and get more than they bargained for. And a young boy finds safety with his beloved pet rabbit in a scary world of adults. These are only some of the stories that singer/songwriter Garry Novikoff brings to life with his unique brand of humor and pathos on A Normal Life.

Garryâs success started with âDog on the Moon,â one of the standout songs on A Normal Life. Originally released on the compilation CD To Touch the Stars, âDogâ is a brilliant science-fiction song and character study about historyâs first canine space tourist and the man who envies him. âDogâ found an immediate champion in singer/songwriter Christine Lavin. Soon the song received radio airplay from DJs across the country, including the legendary Jonathan Schwartz on WNYC and Bob Sherman on WFUV. âDogâ was featured on Daily Planet, a TV news program on Canadaâs Discovery Channel, and received rave reviews in Popular Science and Smithsonian Air and Space. Writing about To Touch the Stars in Science Fiction Weekly, Jeff Berkwits offers, âMy favorite ditty is unquestionably Garry Novikoffâs joyous âDog on the Moon.â It hilariously condenses both the media circus that accompanies space âcelebritiesâ⦠and the âwhat might have beenâ feeling held today by so many of us who grew up during the Apollo era.â

âDogâsâ notoriety soon had him sharing a stage with Pete Seeger at a concert in New Yorkâs Cityâs Merkin Hall. On her website, attendee Christine Lavin described Garryâs performance as his âA Star Is Bornâ moment.

Garryâs follow-up song was a deceptively innocent anthem called âI Like Men,â now available for the first time on A Normal Life. The song was recorded with producer (and former Bongos front man) Richard Barone and has been heard all over the country on satellite radioâs Sirius OutQ station.

His mother a professional nightclub singer and his father a blue-collar amateur bongo player; Garry was destined for a life in music. He began composing at the age of six on the piano in the foyer of his familyâs Bronx apartment. He later taught himself the guitar as well, and began putting words to melodies. After graduating from college with a degree in languages, Garry moved to France for a few years, first teaching English at a French university and later working as a singer/pianist in the piano bars of Alsace-Lorraine.

âWhile living in France, I was exposed to certain kinds of songs I might not have known
about,â says Garry, who includes Edith Piaf among his many influences. âPiaf was the
master interpreter of the âchanson realiste,â story songs about everyday people, told in an everyday language. These songs made a big impression on me. They were like these amazing three-minute plays. I wanted to write songs like that.â

Like Piaf, Garry brings a rare intensity to his live performances with a style that is theatrical yet deeply connected. Unlike the French chanteuse, however, Garryâs songs often blur the line between comedy and tragedy. Amused at first, the listener may be blind-sided by the unexpected. The title track on A Normal Life, for instance, about a man on mood-stabilizing medication, begins humorously enough:

Iâm not so bad now, I used to be worse,
I was obnoxious and I was perverse.
Iâd sleep with your lover, Iâd drink and Iâd curse.
Iâd eat all your ice cream and steal from your purse.

But by the end of the song, the character mourns his former insanity:

Now I live in a place thatâs not heaven or hell,
Without highs and lows and less stories to tell.
And these days it seems I just go through the motions,
But how I miss riding those wild emotions.

Garryâs musical style has been described as âHarry Nilsson meets Barenaked Ladies over at the Fountains of Wayne on Avenue Q.â âMy songs run an eclectic gamut,â says Garry, whose influences beyond Piaf include everything from punk rock to musical theater. Garry uses this diverse musical palette to paint his colorful, haunting character studies and create his off-kilter tales. Both his story songs and his autobiographical ones delve deep, brimming over with honesty and humanity. They come together on the seventeen tracks of A Normal Life to form a truly unique work.

People who are interested in Christine Lavin Nellie McKay Harry Nilsson should consider this download.