Jadi Norris: PRESS

Hello Jadi,
Caught your act at the Mazatzal Casino Saturday night.I was the one that bumped into you outside the door there.Loved your show hope be able to catch you again.Have spread the word if one gets a chance to catch your act then by all means do so.I also put a bug in management ear to have you back.You provided me with one of the greastest evening I have ever had at a concert.For that I Thank you.
Good lucky with you future.Can't beleive a major label hasn't pick you up.
With Regards,
Bob Murfin

Tucson country bands shy from contesting Jadi Norris
Cathalena E. Burch
Jadi Norris & Overdrive apparently strike fear in the hearts of other Tucson country bands.

The idea that the band was on the bill for the True Value-Jimmy Dean Country Music Showcase at the New West this weekend prompted four local bands to pull out. The event was sponsored by 99.5 KIIM FM.
The showcase, a competition to find Tucson's best country band, was to have featured four acts Sunday and four July 11. Of those, two would be selected to perform in a face-off competition Aug. 15, with the winner then progressing to a state championship in Prescott.
Only six bands submitted demo tapes to the New West; of those, only four were available to perform Sundays, said Ryan Dahlstrom, New West's live entertainment coordinator.
``A lot of the acts we had talked to - for whatever reason, I'm not sure - didn't want to compete against Jadi Norris,'' Dahlstrom said.
That sends a two-sided message to the 31-year-old Norris, who performs with Overdrive Tuesday-Saturday at Maverick, King of Clubs on East 22nd Street.
``In a way, I'm sad that it's viewed as a competition, because I thought that it would be a way for new bands to showcase at the New West,'' he said. ``But in a way I'm happy. That's quite a compliment.''
Norris and Overdrive have opened New West shows for several national acts, including Bryan White, Collin Raye and Ty Herndon.
Dahlstrom said that with the increase in the number of national acts coming to Tucson, now is the time for local country bands to get as much exposure as possible.
``It's a perfect time for local country groups to start playing in front of 2,000, 3,000 people,'' he said.
The New West, 4385 W. Ina Road, is always on the lookout for local bands to open shows for national artists, Dahlstrom said. For more information, call him at 744-2099.

Tucson country sensation Jadi Norris received the good news that he was to be a father - again! - this past Father's Day. His wife, Tara, exhibited true creativity by "informing" her husband onstage. How, you ask? By presenting him with the gift-wrapped home pregnancy test! The happy news came during Jadi's performance at C&R Entertainment's Father's Day Show, where he and his band opened for headliner Lee Ann Womack. The new baby is due in February. Says Norris, "My wife has great style about breaking the news - and I can't wait to tell this child that he/she made the papers before they were even born!" Congratulations, Jadi!

Rowdy energy surges to, from Lawrence and frenzied fans
Cathalena E. Burch
Tracy Lawrence wiped the sweat from his cheek and looked out into the screaming crowd crushing close to the stage.

``Are you all feeling good yet?'' he shouted above the whistles and applause. ``I can tell we're gonna get loud and rowdy tonight!''
From the screaming response, he was preaching to the choir.
The crowd of almost 2,000 had been loud and rowdy since opening act Jadi Norris and Overdrive were on stage.
It's hard to blame them; Lawrence hasn't been in Tucson for a couple years, so they were anxious for a little ``Texas Tornado'' and ``Sticks and Stones'' to end the doldrums.
Lawrence didn't disappoint as he whisked the crowd into a loud, fists-and-beers-in-the-air frenzy for 90 minutes at the New West last night. It was a show that delivered on its promise of honky-tonk revelry and hard-rocking country that you don't get from today's sugary pop hat acts.

Norris gets news on Father's Day


Tucson country cutie Jadi Norris got an unexpected Father's Day gift on Sunday.

His wife, Tara, presented him with a positive home pregnancy test in the middle of his 40-minute show at Old Tucson Studios' Rio Lobo Stage. He and his band opened C&R Entertainment's Father's Day show, starring Lee Ann Womack.
Norris invited Tara on stage with the couple's 2-year-old daughter to perform his self-penned song "Best Man in the World." The pregnancy test device was wrapped in a box, and when Norris opened it, Tara gave him the good news. She's due in February.
"Looks like I'm going to be a daddy again," Norris, 33, said backstage afterward, smiling broadly as he packed up his equipment.
Norris - who last weekend dyed his shaggy brown hair dirty blonde, looks almost as young as his barely-out-of-teenhood band mates.

Norris glad to be back in Tucson
Cathalena E. Burch, ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson's favorite adopted country son Jadi Norris is coming home.

Norris will return to his old stomping grounds (at a new location) - the Maverick, 6622 E. Tanque Verde Road, beginning Tuesday to front the house band.
"I'm stoked to get back," Norris, 36, said Tuesday from his native North Carolina, where he has been since leaving Tucson in summer 2002.
Norris headed the Maverick house band, then called Overdrive, from 1997-99, when Vince Moreno took the helm. Norris spent the following several years etching out a music career that included opening concerts for such country superstars as Clay Walker, Gary Allan, Toby Keith, Tracy Lawrence, Mark Wills and Diamond Rio.

WHO'S IT FOR anyone who likes country
RECOMMENDATION

These songs are more down to earth than stuff on the radio. My teenage daughters and my wife love the songs like (runaway heart) and (bottom of my heart). I am a mechanic and the songs like (workin man''s saturday night) and (company man)
sound like my life story. Good rockin'' country and good love songs without being sappy.