11/29/2009 10:54:00 PM
Forecasts' musical stylings have home in Prescott
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Matt Hinshaw/The Daily Courier
Norman Fisk works on a song Friday afternoon at his home studio in Prescott. Fisk has been a musician for the past 25 years and has been sending his tunes to The Weather Channel for the past two years. |
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By LINDA STEIN
The Daily Courier
Tuning into The Weather Channel to catch the latest winter weather update, you may hear the gentle melodies of Norman Fisk during the Local Weather on the 8's segments.
Fisk, 68, a long-time studio musician, pilot and real estate agent, mixes his tunes in a studio in his Prescott home. There he lays down guitar, keyboard and percussion tracks.
Vocalist William Strickland, sings some of the lyrics for Fisk's songs, although The Weather Channel offerings trend toward instrumentals.
Fisk said melodies just come to him. "I get up in the middle of the night with heart burn," he said jokingly. "I hear other music and get ideas ... I typically start working with the drums and the bass lines. Then I start adding overlays. I have a multi-track digital recorder.
"I do a little bit of everything, pop, light rock, a little jazz. The stuff that I do for The Weather Channel is fairly mild, light rock, jazz, some country."
His song, "Bossa Me," a catchy bossa nova piece is one of 10 of Fisk's creations aired on The Weather Channel.
While the guitar is Fisk's primary instrument, he also plays the mandolin and banjo. Usually, Fisk plays all of the parts himself but sometimes works with other musicians. Over the years, he's been a studio musician for big names such as Johnny Cash, Ricky Skaggs, Gary Puckett, the Beach Boys and the Del-Vikings.
"We would trade," he said. "They would do stuff on my music and I'd help them on theirs."
Fisk always liked music.
While in Tucson, he worked with early rock 'n' roll pioneer Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray, who died last year.
"He was the guy that everybody wanted to play like because he was such a great guitar player," Fisk said. "I learned a lot from him." Fisk would bring his ballads to Wray and "before we got done, it was a rock 'n' roll song."
Originally from Yuma, Fisk has lived in various parts of the country, including California and Massachusetts, and abroad, but he said Prescott, his home since the 1980s, remains his favorite spot.
In fact he likes Prescott so much that Fisk co-wrote "The Official Prescott Song," a country-western paean that's been played at the local rodeo, during the campaign to save the old courthouse and is frequently requested by local radio listeners.
"Hot Rod Fever," a boogie-woogie number, featuring Strickland, that has garnered over 100,000 plays on You Tube, is another of Fisk's co-creations.
When he's not recording music, Fisk enjoys riding his Yamaha motorcycle with a group of buddies a few times a week. Divorced, Fisk is the father of a grown son and daughter and has five grandchildren from 15 months to 21 years old.
"This is one of the most beautiful areas in the world to ride a motorcycle," Fisk said. "I've been all over the world and haven't found a place I like better than Prescott."
David Blumenthal, a spokesman for The Weather Channel, now owned by NBC and based in Atlanta, Ga., said the station features an eclectic mix of recording artists.
"We have a wide variety of artists," Blumenthal said. "Music has become one of the things that people know us for." The Weather Channel's 95 million viewers listen to Moby, Pink Floyd and Eric Clapton, to name a few, along with Fisk.
"Most musicians want to get their music heard," said Fisk, who's pleased his work is part of The Weather Channel's repertoire.
Meanwhile, a website is in the works to market The Weather Channel music: www.theweatherchannelmusic.com. Fisk's music, including his new album "Pushing' the White Line", is available through Amazon, iTunes and locally through Hastings.
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Posted: Monday, November 30, 2009
Article comment by:
Patty
What got me hooked on the weather on the 8's music soundtracks was back in the late 80's when Phil Collins, my all-time favorite, was featured.
Posted: Monday, November 30, 2009
Article comment by:
Shelley
Local on the 8's is my favorite genre. Keep sending them in!
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