Biography
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Angie Nussey’s songs speak like a Brene Brown talk. She has the musicality of Bruce Springsteen mixed with the compassion of Xavier Rudd and the authentic depth of Sarah McLachlin. Her stage humour has similar qualities to Jann Arden and she performs with the comfort and freedom of an artist who has nothing to lose. A multi-instrumentalist and producer, Nussey oscillates from guitar to keyboard to looper pedal with the skill and ease of a 21-year music veteran.
Angie grew up in a small town in Northern Ontario where she learned to play piano at the age of 6. Not long after she began writing and recording her own songs. Although best known for her emotional, philosophical and at times autobiographical ballads, Nussey doesn’t miss an opportunity to poke fun at everyday situations, the human condition, not to mention herself.
In 1999, Nussey’s demo CD caught the attention of movie producer, Albert Botha, who helped launch her music career with a studio album called Circumstantial Overload released in 2001. Nussey independently released her second album, Paint and Turpentine, in 2004 followed by Silly Songs and Little Tragedies, both released in 2007.
After the release of Little Tragedies, Angie experienced an emotional breakdown which started a commitment to mental health and, consequently changed her life and writing style. Her new music was now being influenced by thought leaders such as Eckhart Tolle, Wayne Dyer, Nelson Mandella, and Marianne Williamson.
Her 2012 album, Still Hope, brims with the essence of optimism and global change. Over the next 8 years, songs from Still Hope have found their way into numerous climate change, self-actualization, business, and sporting events. Four choir groups from around the world have covered the title track “Still Hope” and her song, “Warm Hands” won for Best Country Song in the Great American Song Contest. Her Still Hope album marked a new beginning for Nussey’s career and sent her deeper into songwriting and storytelling. She began speaking publicly about mental health and she developed a hybrid way of performing using multimedia promoting key messages of love and compassion while integrating songs and stories. In 2014 Nussey presented at TEDx Nickel City Think in 3D and in 2018, Still Hope became the theme of the Global Citizens’ Climate Lobby International Conference held in Ottawa where she spoke and performed throughout the weekend. She presented again in 2020 with her song “All Your Courage.”
In 2012, as Still Hope was being released, Nussey noticed her balance of spiritual well-being was being challenged again. After 15 years of living in Toronto, she and her partner decided to move to Oro-Medonte, a small township North of Toronto, Ontario where they began a more simple life in a cozy cottage on a lake.
I Have No Idea What I’m Doing was an album that began in 2017. The original title was “Wisdom and Foolishness” named after a chapter out of Richard Rohr’s “Falling Upward.” But as time passed, Nussey saw a pattern emerging around her new album. “The combination of songs seemed like perfectly orchestrated chaos,” says Nussey “I didn’t want to question or interfere with the process so I just kept on saying ‘I have no idea what I’m doing’…and the name eventually stuck.” While writing and recording songs in her home studio, Nussey began journaling. Many parts of her journal revealed deeper explanations of her songs, so she began to refine some of the stories. This led to an album and book combination where each storied chapter corresponds to a song.
It would take over 2.5 years for the project to be completed. Nussey worked tirelessly in her home studio ensuring every part of every song was meticulously crafted. “It is the album that turned me into an engineer,” laughs Nussey. All the while collecting her concepts at night and in the early morning through journal writing. “I’ve always loved hearing the stories behind the songs, so it wasn’t a big leap for me to actually put it to paper. It made it easier to remember the emotion behind each song…which was helpful when recording.”
In 2019, Nussey joined the songwriting trio, Boreal, with Canadian folk stars Tannis Slimmon and Katherine Wheatley. The trio tours once a year in December and Angie was thrilled to pick up the third spot as singer/keyboardist/songwriter.
Nussey has released I Have No Idea What I’m Doing on a song-by-song basis, once per month with the story attached starting January 2021.
