MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Twin Cities father found his way back into the recording studio after his daughter’s failing health. And their music gives other families a soundtrack to get through tough times.
Alyssa Norell seemed in a hurry to get here from the start six years ago.
“Within 22 minutes of arriving at the hospital, Alyssa was born,” said father Jesse Norell.
Alyssa was born with Down Syndrome, and doctors soon discovered that she also had heart problems.
“Through a series of events, they were able to find out that Alyssa has a pretty serious heart condition, which is another thing we didn’t know,” Jesse said.
She survived two open-heart surgeries to repair the three holes in her heart. It was then that Jesse returned to writing music for the first time in 15 years.
Alyssa and Jesse Norell (Credit: The Norells)
“To me, this story couldn’t be told the way I wanted to tell it without music,” he said.
He launched a Kickstarter campaign to celebrate children with Down syndrome and raised enough money to record an album in March 2020 – just as COVID-19 was creeping up.
“The plan was for kids to go to school, I’ll start making music again, and I’ll give people the record that they asked for and contributed to,” he said. “And then I had to figure out how to make it really quiet [laughs]!”
The title “Aorta Borealis” reflects Alyssa’s heart problems and the Northern Lights.
“You can only see the Northern Lights when you have the background of darkness. Then when it’s dark you can see this beautiful thing that you would never have been able to see otherwise,” he said. “For me, it’s about finding light and joy both in the middle of the night and at sunrise.”
“Aorta Borealis” will be released for free on all music streaming services on March 4th. A live concert is also scheduled for April 8th at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis.
Click here to watch the official teaser and click here to pre-order the album.