Naomi Elizabeth "Nomy" Lamm (born September 1, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and political activist. Lamm has described herself as a "bad ass, fat ass, Jew, dyke

amputee Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indiv ...

." Her left foot was amputated at age three, to be fitted with a leg prosthesis, to treat a bone growth disorder. This trauma influenced Lamm's later work concerning body image. She is also known for her activism on the issue of

fat acceptance The fat acceptance movement, also known as fat pride, fat empowerment, and fat activism, is a social movement which seeks to eliminate the social stigma of fatness from social attitudes by pointing out the social obstacles which are faced by f ...

Biography

1990s

Lamm was involved with

musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

during her youth. She became part of the

queercore Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifical ...

scene in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...

, where she performed with various musicians. In 1991 she published the first of three issues of a

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

titled ''I'm So Fucking Beautiful''. The zine's visual narrative of vulnerability deliberately counters its textual power where she expresses her anger at her treatment as a young fat woman. In 1999, Lamm released a solo debut album of punk rock music with

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

themes, titled ''Anthem''. Originally, the record company Talent Show sought to compile the work of the various bands with whom she performed as

frontwoman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

, but Lamm chose to re-record the music as a solo project. Later in 1999, Lamm released ''The Transfused'', a soundtrack to the

anti-corporate Anti-corporate activism refers to the idea of activism that is directed against the private sector, and specifically against larger corporations. It stems from the idea that the activities and impacts of big business are detrimental to the pu ...

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concept ...

that she created with

The Need The Need is an American queercore band formed by singer/drummer Rachel Carns and guitarist Radio Sloan in Portland, Oregon in the mid-1990s. After issuing a series of seven-inches on labels including Kill Rock Stars and Outpunk, The Need relo ...

. Lamm also toured as part of ''Doctor Frockrocket's Vivifying Reanimatronic Menagerie and Medicine Show''. ''Effigy'', released by

Yoyo Recordings Yoyo A Go Go, usually abbreviated to Yoyo and often typeset in various ways, was an independent music festival in Olympia, Washington, first held in 1994 and followed by successor festivals in 1997, 1999, and 2001. Five- and six-day concert marat ...

, represented a departure for Lamm, with

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

replacing the sparse production of her previous work. "What I'm doing now is total

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

-pop," she said at the time, "but it’s still punk because it was created through punk channels using punk ethics." Thematically, ''Effigy'' continued Lamm's call for a revolution, but this album's focus was on an internal, rather than external revolution.

2000s

Lamm continued to publish zines, and she also gave theatrical college lectures on fat oppression, sometimes dressed in

fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

wings and waving a

magic wand A wand is a thin, light-weight rod that is held with one hand, and is traditionally made of wood, but may also be made of other materials, such as metal or plastic. Long versions of wands are often styled in forms of staves or sceptres, which c ...

. For this, Lamm was nominated for ''

Ms. Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...

'' magazine's "Woman Of The Year" award. Lamm also toured as part of the

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

performance troupe, Sister Spit, and wrote as a regular columnist for ''

Punk Planet ''Punk Planet'' was a 16,000 print run punk zine, based in Chicago, Illinois, that focused most of its energy on looking at punk subculture rather than punk as simply another genre of music to which teenagers listen. In addition to covering music ...

'' magazine. From January 2004 until May 2005, Lamm co-hosted a monthly

genderqueer Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

open mike An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether the ...

variety show called ''The Finger'' with Ana Jae. The show was held at a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

sex toy A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate human sexual pleasure, such as a dildo, artificial vagina or vibrator. Many popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals, and may be vibrating or non-vibrating ...

store in Chicago, called Early to Bed, and it featured live poetry, improv, comedy, dance,

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pre ...

, video exhibition,

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, rock music, and performance art. ''The Finger'' was said to inspire local queer people to take artistic risks and express themselves freely. Lamm's music is featured in the 2006 documentary, '' Young, Jewish, and Left''. An interview with her about the connections between punk rock and Judaism appear in the DVD extras. Lamm's most recent group musical venture is with the band Tricrotic with Marcus Rogers and Erin Daly. They have recorded one EP.

2010s

Her current music project is entitled nomy lamm & THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. It is a platform for collaborations and workshops with other artists of any genre, such as Dylan Shearer,

Mirah Mirah (born Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn) is an American musician and songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York. After getting her start in the music scene of Olympia, Washington in the late 1990s, she released a number of well-received solo albums on K ...

, Annah Anti-Palindrome,

EPRhyme Eden Daniel Pearlstein (born February 19, 1980), better known by his stage name Eprhyme (pronounced "E-Prime"), is an American Jewish rapper and hip hop production, producer based in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. While attending The Ever ...

, and Felonious. Lamm writes for ''make/shift'' magazine in the section called ''Dear Nomy''. Lamm directed the Artists in Residence Program for Sins Invalid, a non-profit arts organization in the

Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

that features performances about sexuality and disability and centralizes the work of people of color and queer people. In 2012 Lamm was a keynote speaker at the biannual Femme Conference. She completed writing her first book, for her MFA, a series of short stories about trauma and transformation called ''515 Clues''. , Lamm was writing a novel titled ''The Best Part Comes After the End''. Lamm held an artist talk and creative process workshop for students and the Olympia community on June 6, 2019, at the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts Black Box Theater.

2020s

Lamm continues writing and performing with Sins Invalid and nomy lamm & THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. Lamm participated in
music video
for the social-distancing-friendly music series Promising Notes — put together by the Olympia Downtown Alliance, Octapas Cafe and the City of Olympia's Artists on Board project. Lamm continues writing and releasing music with her band
The Beauty
Their most recent release, "Honey", was written and recorded for the Sins Invalid production "We Love Like Barnacles: Crip Lives in Climate Chaos," which had streamed Oct 23, 24, 25, 2020. Following a film screening of Sins Invalid's "Unshamed Claim to Beauty", Nomy participated in the Sins Invalid #NoBodyIsDisposabl
Film Panel
(with ASL & embedded captions).

Personal life

Lamm identifies as a Jewish witch and is involved with Jewitch Camp, an organization of Jewish witches and Jewish pagans from the

Reclaiming In linguistics, reappropriation, reclamation, or resignification is the cultural process by which a group reclaims words or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. It is a specific form of a semantic change (i.e. ...

tradition of

Wicca Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was ...

. She has been ordained as a Kohenet Priestess by the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute and has created a divination deck for the

Counting of the Omer Counting of the Omer (, Sefirat HaOmer, sometimes abbreviated as Sefira or the Omer) is an important verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days starting with the Wave Offering of a sheaf of ripe grain with a sacrifice immediately following ...

between

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...

and

Shavuot (''Ḥag HaShavuot'' or ''Shavuos'') , nickname = English: "Feast of Weeks" , observedby = Jews and Samaritans , type = Jewish and Samaritan , begins = 6th day of Sivan (or the Sunday following the 6th day of Sivan i ...

. Lamm practices magic, reads

tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, ...

, and studies

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

. Lamm's totem animal is a

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

. According to artist

Riva Lehrer Riva Lehrer (born in 1958 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American painter, writer, teacher, and speaker. Lehrer was born with spina bifida and has undergone numerous surgeries throughout her life. Her work focuses on issues of physical identity and ...

, "In the water ammfeels both psychic and physical freedom. She is a strong swimmer, and in the water she moves from a state of impairment to one of dexterity. Seals are complex creatures in how they are perceived. Usually seen as cute and puppy-like with their enormous eyes and neotenous faces, seals are actually serious carnivores sporting large teeth and claws. Through her work Nomy Lamm also demonstrates a certain edge of danger. Her resonant, smoky, voice has a startling power, whether raised in song or when speaking as an activist for marginalized people." Lamm lives on occupied

Squaxin The Squaxin Island Tribe are the descendants of several Lushootseed clans organized under the Squaxin Island Indian Reservation, a Native American tribal government in western Washington state. Historically, the ancestors of the Squaxin Island T ...

/ Nisqually/

Chehalis Chehalis may refer to: People * Chehalis people, a Native American people of Washington state **Lower Chehalis language **Upper Chehalis language * Sts'Ailes people (Chehalis people), a First Nation in British Columbia * Chehalis First Nation, Bri ...

land in

with her partner Lisa, their dogs Dandelion and Momma, and their cats Calendula and Chanukah.

Discography

Albums

*''Nobody Knows What We've Been Through'', self-release 2008 *''

Effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

'', Yoyo Recordings, 2003 *''The Transfused'', (with

), Yoyo Recordings, 2000 *''Anthem'', Talent Show Records, 1999

Bibliography (illustrator)

* ''I'm Jay, Let's Play'' by Beth Reichmuth and Nomy Lamm

References

External links

Intercourse 2002: a Sex and Gender Spoken Word Recipe for Revolution
Interview with the ''Portland Mercury'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamm, Nomy 1975 births Living people Musicians from Olympia, Washington American accordionists American amputees American feminists American Wiccans American punk rock singers Fat acceptance activists Women punk rock singers Jewish American musicians Lesbian feminists American lesbian musicians LGBT Jews American LGBT rights activists American LGBT singers Riot grrrl musicians Queercore musicians Jewish feminists Jewish American writers Third-wave feminism Postmodern feminists Jews in punk rock Amputee musicians 21st-century accordionists 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Reclaiming (Neopaganism) Wiccans of Jewish descent Wiccan feminists American priests Wiccan priestesses Feminist musicians 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people