Charlie’s Beat: Clifty Park assistant director brings his music to Madison

Legend holds that the band Lynyrd Skynyrd based their name on their high school phys-ed teacher, Leonard Skinner. In the case of Cory Duff, lead singer of the band Normyn Akree, the name is derived from their 8th grade science teacher, a Mr. Norman Acree (unrelated to the Acree Golf Cart family fortune, hence his need to become an educator.)

“Mr. Acree was the reason most of the band members ended up in science professions,” explains Cory. “He was a really great teacher who made science accessible and interesting. I ended up in biosciences, a couple of the other guys are engineers. We wanted to honor him with the band name.”

Cory is the assistant manager at Clifty Falls State Park, and he lives in one of the park-owned houses that faces Clifty Drive. “We’ve been here about a year, me and my wife Kayla, and we just love it in Madison. Kayla is from Bloomington and I’m from up around Peru, so we both appreciate the small-town Indiana lifestyle.

“I’m really liking the assistant manager job, there’s just something different every single day, lots of challenges and interesting people. Local people sometimes don’t realize this, but Clifty Park is a huge regional draw for avid hikers and outdoors people. We’re on par with Red River Gorge down in Kentucky for the quality of our trails and the natural scenery.

“Anyway, I’ve had this band since my college days with some of the guys I went to school with. And before I moved down here we were playing quite often up in Logansport, Kokomo and Ft. Wayne. We play mostly what you’d call Alt. Pop rock stuff, what I like to call catchy pop songs. And the covers we do tend to be the more complex stuff, like Pink Floyd and Dire Straits.

“Actually, I’m so driven musically, and it has always been such an important part of my life, that I was a little bit hesitant about taking this job so far away from the other band members. I didn’t want it to derail the energy we had going. But I’m glad I made the move, and the job is great. Now I just have to find a way to restart the musical part of my life.

“We’ve been talking up Madison and trying to get our friends to maybe move south and join us. That would be ideal. We just love the community here, love the people. And being from up north, I love the slightly milder weather, too. We especially love the food scene here, at places like the Taproom. Kayla is vegan, and she’s had no trouble finding delicious food options.

“So the main focus now is for people to start knowing me as Musician Cory, not just Clifty Park Cory. I hope to start playing some solo gigs around town, and I know the band will come down and play if I can get some dates lined up. That’s my primary focus for 2024, to re-energize the band and get that important part of my life going again. I’m confident I can, and I’m looking forward to being a part of the amazing music scene we have here in Madison.”

If you’d like to hear Cory singing with his band, you can check out some tracks from their brand new album. Just search “Normyn Akree” on YouTube and watch the songs labeled “Songs of the Summer.” You can also find the entire album on Spotify.

Hot Tip of the Week

The open mic scene is heating up in Madison, which is a great thing. On Monday night this week Analog Coffee had a very successful open mic, with Jordan Wilson debuting some new original songs and lots of other surprises. On Saturday, there is a sort of single artist specific open mic at Thomas Family Winery, with the annual Obscure Neil Young Night. This night is open to anyone who wants to try their hand at any of the 1,180 tunes Neil has written (says Google!). But get with Steve Thomas first with your song choices so he can coordinate and avoid any repeats. It’s going to be fairly warm again this weekend, so get out there and enjoy Indiana’s Music City.

This Week in Music Friday, Jan. 26 • 1st Street Saloon: Matt Red Moore • Rivertown Grill: Crossfire Band • The Central: Cody & Alex • The Drake: Jimmy Davis • VFW: L&L Karaoke • Analog Coffee: Kelly & Koren (5-7 p.m.) Saturday, Jan. 27 • The Central: The Albumists • Thomas Family Winery: Obscure Neil Young Nite • 1st Street Saloon: DJ Nate • Rivertown Grill: Ragtop Deluxe • VFW: Silverwings Sunday, Jan. 28 • Rivertown Grill: Ruben Guthrie