S. Joel Norman

S. Joel Norman first began playing music at age four at the piano. “Mom probably got sick of me pounding on her antique piano as a toddler, so she put me in lessons,” he says. Hailing from the south suburbs of Chicago, Norman got his musical start playing and composing gospel music in the church. “Some of the guys who played were also working musicians, and after playing a couple Sunday mornings, they asked me to come play on Saturday nights with them. I was only in junior high.”

He went on to study and graduate from Wheaton Conservatory of Music, where he began composing and arranging pieces for orchestra, chorus, and jazz ensemble.

He’s toured worldwide with a variety of artists and played alongside jazz greats Ira Sullivan and Marquis Hill, as well as rock and roll heroes Billy Ozzello (Survivor) and Chip Znuff (Enuff Znuff), and went on the road playing keyboards with Eddie Money. Joel was the resident artist at some of Chicago’s finest venues, including Soho House, The Hoxton, and Tack Room at Thalia Hall, as well as residencies in Manhattan and the Virgin Islands. He’s led worship at the largest RCA church in the world, and scored plays for Arena Theater and The University of Chicago’s Shakespeare program. Produced and performed hundreds of tracks for fellow artists and he is currently writing and recording music for upcoming albums, commercials, film, and television.

YEARS

GOOEY

My name is Juan. I love all kinds of music. I like to write songs. John is my friend. He plays a lot of instruments. He hears music in his head. A long time ago, I told John that I was learning to play the guitar. He told me to go away. A few years later, I told John that I was writing songs. He told me that he was busy. I forgot to mention that John is grumpy. Once in a while, I would pick up the guitar when John was around and I would play something that I had written. John would pretend that he wasn’t listening. I knew that he was. One day John told me that he liked my songs and that we should record them. These are my songs. This is our band. This is Gooey.