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 that ...

. 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 Fort Eisenhower and Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established southwest of Augusta, Georgia in October 1941. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps, United States Army Cy ...

and raised in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

and

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

.''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 Melvin Huston McDaniel (September 6, 1942 – March 31, 2011) was an American country music artist. Many of his top hits were released in the 1980s, including " Louisiana Saturday Night", " Big Ole Brew", " Stand Up", " Baby's Got Her Blue Jean ...

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 Clide Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Br ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

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 country singer and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded 14 albums and released 25 singles to dat ...

Eric Sardinas Eric Sardinas (born November 10, 1970) is an American blues-rock slide guitarist born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is noted for his use of the electric resonator guitar and his live performances. He sometimes sets his guitar alight on st ...

Rob Zombie Robert Bartleh Cummings (born January 12, 1965), known professionally as Rob Zombie, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live show ...

, The Outlaws,

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

, and Wynonna, among others.

Playing style

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

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 inst ...

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 Bloody knuckles is a game in which each player makes a fist with the thumb wrapped around the other fingers. Then each fist punches the other's fist. Players who flinch are out of the game. Whoever lasts the longest before quitting wins the ga ...

'' (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