Iron Mike Norton (born October 20, 1973) is an American blues musician who plays

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

. Known as "the King of Swamp Stomp", Norton developed a style of blues that combines elements of traditional hill country slide guitar, with modern elements of hip-hop and other modern urban styles of music.

Career

Norton was born in

Fort Gordon, Georgia Fort Gordon, formerly known as Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established in October 1941. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps, United States Army Cyber Command, and the Cyber Center of Excellence. It ...

and raised in Springfield, Missouri and St. Petersburg, Florida.''Boogie Man of the Blues''. The Weekly Planet, May 1999, Sarasota, FL He started his professional career as a session bass player in the Tampa Bay area heavy metal scene but eventually moved on to work as a roadie for several country music acts including Mel McDaniel in the early 1990s. From 1995 to 1997, Mike was the lead vocalist for the country rock act Ozark, which was nominated for Airplay International's Nashville King Eagle Award in 1997. In 1997, Norton met Sonny Landreth and began to learn

. Through his personal and professional friendship with Landreth, Mike developed his slide guitar technique that included many of the techniques pioneered by Sonny. Prior to 2005, he toured and performed as Michael Shaun Norton. He has worked alongside such artists as Sonny Landreth, Willie Nelson,

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and relea ...

, Eric Sardinas,

Rob Zombie Rob Zombie (born Robert Bartleh Cummings; January 12, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and voice actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live shows have be ...

, The Outlaws, Waylon Jennings, and Wynonna, among others.

Playing style

Norton is best known for his slide playing, having developed a technique pioneered by his mentor Sonny Landreth where he

fret A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instrume ...

s notes and plays chords behind the slide. He is also known for employing right hand finger tapping techniques in combination with his slide work. North is considered one of the foremost practitioners of Landreth's fret behind the slide techniques.

Discography

Studio albums

As Michael Shaun Norton

* ''Spooky & the Blue Voodoo Tribe'' (2000), B&M Records * ''Red Rum'' (2002), B&M Records * ''Carpe Noctum'' (2003), B&M Records * ''Hellhound'' (2005), B&M Records

As Iron Mike Norton

* ''Sledge'' (2007), GFO Records * ''Live Free or Die'' (2009), GFO Records * ''Dirty South'' (2011), GFO Records * ''Bad Monkey'' (2012), GFO Records * '' Bloody Knuckles'' (2013), GFO Records * Box Fulla Bones (2015), GFO Records * Swamp Stomp (2017), GFO Records

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Iron Mike 1973 births Living people Musicians from Springfield, Missouri American slide guitarists American male guitarists Songwriters from Florida Resonator guitarists American blues singers American blues guitarists Guitarists from Florida American blues rock musicians 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American guitarists American male songwriters