Original southern music from Athens, GA

Norma Rae 

Athens, Georgia, band “Norma Rae '' writes songs about the South, blending original lyrics with inescapably Southern vocals into its Americana sound.  All the stories –inspired from true Southern experiences—are indelibly sown from the unpretentious, and unpredictable, “soggy” part of the real South – the part where both good and evil take root in the same soil, and where certainly everything grows… 

Norma Rae was formed in Athens, Georgia, in 2008 as an independent music project – a collection of songs addressing contemporary Southern concerns, told from a female perspective, hence the project’s name.  The “Norma Rae project” would grow into a full, permanent band by the summer of 2011. 

In 2013 the band released a self-titled EP, and in 2014, Norma Rae’s song “Muscle Shoals” was featured nationally on the PBS series Independent Lens. 

Norma Rae’s songwriters Jeff Soileau and Kelly Hoyle, were  featured in Southern Distinction magazine’s 2017 article, “Best of Unknown Athens --Athens Best Kept Secret”. Jeff Rieter, Zach Wright and Wade Newbury round out the Norma Rae line-up.           

“We always love coming to Athens, just a great town with a great venue, the Georgia Theatre, and always really great people. What’s not to love? We had a lot of fun after the show up on the rooftop listening to local band Norma Rae, who were great. Check ‘em out!”

-Lucinda Williams (Facebook, May 5th 2016)

Norma Rae is:

Kelly Hoyle - Vocals and Guitar
Jeff Rieter-Bass
Zach Wright - Pedal Steel
Wade Newbury- Drums
Jeff Soileau - Guitar