Norm Hamlet is an American steel guitarist and a member of

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...

's The Strangers band for the past 49 years.Terry Downs: ''The Strangers'', http://www.terrydownsmusic.com/Archive/strangers_article.pdf, n.d., downloaded May 6, 2012.The Steel Guitar Hall Of Fame, Inc.: ''Steel Guitar Hall of Fame'', http://www.scottysmusic.com/hofplq.htm, 2012. Hamlet was born on February 27, 1935, in

Woodville, California Woodville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 1,740 at the 2010 census, up from 1,678 at the 2000 census. Geography Woodville is located at (36.091847, -119.200116). According to the ...

. He began playing guitar in his teens and played throughout North Central

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

for a number of years with several groups, before going to

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

, in 1965 where he became an influential part of the Bakersfield sound. He has won many awards, including induction into the Western Swing Society

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

, and the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. In 2005 Hamlet had quadruple heart bypass surgery and recovered well at his home in

. As of October 18, 2015, Hamlet continued to tour with Haggard until Haggard's death in April 2016 and is now touring with Haggard's sons, Noel and Ben, as well as pianist Mario Carboni.

References

American country guitarists American male guitarists Guitarists from California Living people Steel guitarists People from Tulare County, California Country musicians from California Year of birth missing (living people) The Strangers (American band) members {{US-guitarist-stub