Norman Westberg is a guitarist from Detroit best known for his work with

Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

. Present through almost the entirety of the band's existence, Westberg was brought on for Swans' debut album '' Filth'' (1983) and appeared on every album through 1991's '' White Light from the Mouth of Infinity'' (he also played on the 1995 album ''

The Great Annihilator ''The Great Annihilator'' is the ninth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released on January 23, 1995, through frontman Michael Gira's own record label, Young God. The album has been described by Gira as a companion ...

''). Westberg became a full-time Swans member once again when

Michael Gira Michael Rolfe Gira (; born February 19, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, author and artist. He is the main force behind the New York City musical group Swans and fronted Angels of Light. He is also the founder of ...

reactivated the group in 2010. Westberg's playing can also be heard on many Swans

side project In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style. Usually these projects emphasize ...

s including The Body Haters and solo albums by

Jarboe Jarboe Devereaux, known mononymously as Jarboe (), is an American singer and musician who came to prominence as a member of the New York City experimental rock band Swans in 1985. Jarboe and Michael Gira, the founder of Swans, were the two const ...

. Before Swans he was a member of Carnival Crash. Westberg was for a short-time a member of The Heroine Sheiks with

Shannon Selberg Shannon Scott Selberg (born June 3, 1960) is a noise/punk rock musician known for his unusual antics on stage. Formerly the frontman for the Minneapolis-based group The Cows, Selberg provided lead vocals, trumpet, bugle and hardcore guitar.Robbi ...

(ex-

The Cows ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

) as well as John Fell (ex- China Shop). Aside from the present incarnation of Swans he currently plays in the NYC bands NeVAh (with Vinnie Signorelli &

Algis Kizys Algis Kizys (born September 8, 1960 in Chicago) is a New York City bass guitarist most well known for his long-time membership in New York City band Swans. First joining Swans on 1986's ''Greed'' LP, he stayed with the group through ''The Great ...

) and Five Dollar Priest (formerly Size Queens) (with Ron Ward of

Speedball Baby Speedball may refer to: Games *Speedball (paintball), a paintball game variant * ''Speedball'' (video game), a 1988 video game by Bitmap Brothers Music *"Speedball", a song by Black Label Society from ''1919 Eternal'' *"Speedball", jazz composit ...

Bob Bert Robert Bertelli, better known as Bob Bert, is an American rock drummer. Biography Based in Hoboken, New Jersey, Bert initially came to prominence as drummer for the experimental rock band Sonic Youth during the early to mid-1980s. Bert playe ...

among others). He also appeared (credited as Norman Westburg) in a short film

The Right Side of My Brain ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

directed by

Richard Kern Richard Kern (born 1954) is an American underground filmmaker, writer and photographer. He first came to prominence as part of the cultural explosion in the East Village of New York City in the 1980s, with erotic and experimental films like ' ...

and starring

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

. On February 25, 2012, Westberg made two limited edition solo releases available at his webstore. ''

Plough A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

'' is a four-track EP recorded from 2006 to 2009 and features Westberg coupling guitar with banjo and DX drum machine. ''

Limited Edition of 75 Limited may refer to: Arts and media *''Limited Inc'', a 1988 book by Jacques Derrida *Limited series (comics), a comic book series with predetermined length Businesses *Limited Brands, an American company - owners of Victoria's Secret, Bath & Bo ...

'' features one fifteen-minute-long ambient piece and is packaged in one-of-a-kind imagery--each disk being decorated with a unique MRI from a CD Westberg was given in hospital. Both CD-Rs are packaged in handmade sleeves: ''Plough'' with a signed inner and ''Limited Edition of 75'' signed and numbered on the disk itself. In February 2014 Westberg released a third limited edition solo CD entitled '' 13'', which was then reissued through the ROOM40 record label on November 13, 2015. In 2014, Westberg joined with Mark Shippy ( U.S. Maple), Jim Sykes (Invisible Things), Matthew Wascovich ( Scarcity Of Tanks), and

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...

(

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...

) to form the

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ...

project band Hidden Rifles. Their debut album, ''Across The Neighborhoods'', was released in October 2017.

Discography

Swans

Sulfur

The Heroine Sheiks

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westberg, Norman American rock guitarists American male guitarists American indie rock musicians Noise rock musicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) The Heroine Sheiks members Swans (band) members No wave musicians American post-punk musicians