Composing for compassion

How singer-songwriter Raquel Norland finds happiness.

By: Cordelia Longo

Photos courtesy of Zach Olson

Raquel Norland looked out at the ocean and mountains in Malibu, British Columbia, pressing the keys of a piano when suddenly, a sailboat passed through the fjord, insignificant compared to the looming mountains on either side of the bay. She immediately had the name of the song she’d perform that night: “Sailing.” 

“I always play piano or guitar while I’m thinking of ideas,” Norland said. “I’ll just start playing some chords and see how they sit with me, and then eventually start humming and coming up with a melody.” 

Norland was at the piano for about an hour, finishing writing “Sailing” so she could perform it in front of 500 summer campers that night. She finds comfort and catharsis in songwriting, thinking over the lyrics and fitting them into place. 

Norland grew up in Wenatchee, Washington, and came to Bellingham to attend Western. For her, songwriting is a way of helping to understand her emotions. She started to teach herself guitar and piano in middle school, but has been writing songs since elementary school. Whether these songs are joyous or sad, they always bring her clarity. 

“I like it because it makes me feel grounded,” Norland said. “It helps me understand my emotions more.” 

This cathartic release brings her relief as well as happiness. 

Last year, Norland took the opportunity to work with Ella Davis, a fourth-year vocal performance major, over two months via a vocal pedagogy program. Davis’ work with Norland focused on her teaching Norland to explore different breathing techniques. 

“She already had a beautiful instrument, but it was just certain breathing techniques that aren’t necessarily intuitive as a singer, and just opening everything so that it would be easier for her,” Davis said. 

These techniques have stuck with Norland, from her performances at wineries to her most recent tour with Brendan Abernathy, a West Coast folk artist, whose style bodes well with Norland’s pop/singer-songwriter sound. 

Like most artists, Norland finds joy in the storytelling aspect of her work. Davis was impressed by the connection between Norland’s voice and her storytelling, she said, because it is hard to find in a lot of singers. When Norland is performing, she is thinking about more than just the lyrics. She pays attention to her body language and face while singing. 

“I feel like I’m just trying to convey with my throat and my chest what the song means to me,” Norland said. “I try to get as present as possible into the moment, to the point where I just can’t think of anything else.” 

Practicing techniques until they are second nature is important. The key is learning to automatically apply them so artists can focus on the story. 

“The storytelling will become so much more real and so much more powerful, and you will sing better if that’s what you’re thinking about,” Davis said. 

Davis found her easy to work with. Norland was willing to try different techniques, even when they didn’t work for her. 

“I’m a huge advocate for truly telling a story through music. It’s not just reading words off a page,” Davis said. “It’s so much more meaningful.” 

Norland finds joy in performing in front of an audience, which she had the opportunity to do on her most recent tour with Abernathy. She opened for him at the Mission Theater in Portland and Barboza in Seattle. 

This experience was a first for Norland, who was used to playing in smaller venues. It was a big shift for her, but she found it less stressful than other events. To Norland, people’s faces blended together in the crowd as she sang with Abernathy. 

“In group singing, we’re all united for a single purpose. And it’s not a purpose of competition like we see in many sports activities,” said Angie Kasper, director of choral activities and a professor in Western’s music department. “But it’s united in the purpose of bringing some kind of new beauty into the world.” 

Norland’s favorite part of performing is when people find her music relatable. Back at the summer camp where Norland wrote and performed “Sailing,” five girls approached her. They’d all gone through breakups recently. 

“They were like, ‘... your song described this perfectly, and I’m going to listen to this on repeat every day to get through it,’ and I thought that was beautiful because, you know, I wrote that to get over my own break-up,” Norland said. 

Finding an audience that resonated with her songs made her hopeful. 

“I feel like every time that happens, it’s like an encouragement to keep going, and also it just proves to me that writing authentic lyrics is important,” Norland said. 

As an artist, she helps people process their emotions and writes to process hers as well. 

“If I’m able to write something and put it out so that other people feel less alone, I think that’s just why I do it,” Norland said. 

Norland plans on moving to Los Angeles in fall 2024. Her days will be filled with the same melody-making and lyric-scribbling. Some days, she will think back to the day she spent at the piano, writing a song for her first big audience, watching a sailboat float across the fjord.