Kody Norris
Whatever you do, don’t call The Kody Norris Show ‘retro’.
Because while the reigning SPBGMA Entertainers of the Year are known for the rhinestones that shine from their lapels and the fringe that hangs from their collars seem to conjure up memories of times gone by, The Kody Norris Show are very much directing their gaze forever forward.
The talented group, made up of frontman Kody Norris, Josiah Tyree, Mary Rachel Nalley-Norris, and Charlie Lowman, finds themselves with a growing legion of fans craving the comfort that comes from their retro look, but equally craving dynamic instrumentation and thought-provoking lyrics – all of which can be heard throughout their epic new album Rhinestone Revival.
The foundations of the electrifying four-piece band can be found within the roots of Kody Norris himself, a once inquisitive youngster from Mountain City, Tennessee who would spend hours sitting in the passenger seat of his Uncle Jack’s Chevrolet El Camino listening to the entirety of The Stanley Brothers 16 Greatest Hits tape, wondering if he would ever be able to match the sweet harmonies coming through the speakers.
It was those very harmonies that Norris also would recognize wavering through the rafters of the Baptist church he attended as a kid. There was a bluegrass quartet that would play in the Free Will Baptist Church, and soon Norris became infatuated with the music that could materialize from a banjo and a guitar. It was a similar love affair of music for Mary Rachel Nalley-Norris, who started playing classical violin in the fourth grade, but by the fifth grade, she knew it wasn’t for her. Instead, in a quest to differentiate herself from her musical counterparts in her grade school orchestra, she took up the fiddle. She began playing the festival circuit alongside the likes of the legendary Larry Sparks and the Lonesome Ramblers and soon became one of the most dynamic females on those festival stages.
It was on that stage she eventually met her husband Kody, who had already gone on to play alongside the likes of Ralph Stanley, Ralph Stanley II, and Joe Isaacs throughout his already impressive career. In 2017, banjo extraordinaire Josiah Tyree signed on with The Kody Norris Show, and soon his old-time clawhammer style fit right into the bluegrass style that the band was becoming known for across the country. And when bass player Charlie Lowman joined in on the fun, armed with a giddiness and love for the music that he plays that soon became infectious, The Kody Norris Show as we now know it was complete.
And the fans can’t get enough. In fact, it’s those fans that have raised The Kody Norris Show to a place in which they stand today, a place where the four-piece, multi-instrumentalist, bluegrass band are quickly becoming four of the most epic entertainers of our time. Add that to the songwriting displayed on the Kody Norris-penned “Baltimore I’m Leaving,” “Fiddler’s Rock,” “Please Tell Me Why,” and the infectious “Gotta Get My Baby Back” on Rhinestone Revival, and there is no doubt that The Kody Norris Show is as current as ever. They ain’t retro. They have something different. They have something uniquely theirs. They have something that makes them stand out.
Learn more at The Kody Norris Show
