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Charles Edward Norman (born March 8, 1965), known by the stage name Charles Normal, is an American record producer, audio engineer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is perhaps best known for his work with Frank Black, Pete Yorn, Jetboy, and his brother, musician Larry Norman. He has collaborated with Guns N' Roses, Steve Jones, Isaac Brock, Courtney Taylor-Taylor, and actor Kiefer Sutherland.
Norman was born in San Jose, California, and was exposed to the performing arts at a young age, coming from a family of musical and theatrical performers. His grandfather was a vaudeville actor, his aunt a burlesque circuit pianist, and his brother Larry Norman had a national Top 20 Hit record with the San Jose-based rock band People! when Normal was three years old.[ citation needed ]
In 1982, at the age of 17, Normal became the lead guitarist of the influential [1] [2] Bay Area hardcore punk rock band Executioner. [3] By the age of 20, he had grown disillusioned with the San Jose and San Francisco punk scenes and moved to Hollywood, California, at the behest of his older brother Larry, who offered Normal the role of bassist in his band for a series of national and international tours starting in 1985.
After a lengthy residence in the Netherlands and Sweden working as a record producer, Normal moved back to America in 1989 and joined MCA recording artists Jetboy, replacing Sam Yaffa (Hanoi Rocks, New York Dolls) as bass player. He spent the following year touring the U.S. and Canada with the band in support of their album Damned Nation. It was during this time period that he forged a strong relationship with Guns N' Roses keyboardist Dizzy Reed, eventually moving in with Reed and Sinisstar drummer/record producer Sid Riggs.
In 1991, Normal returned to Scandinavia, spending seven months in Norway producing and co-writing Larry Norman's album, Stranded in Babylon . His band The Merchants of Venus signed a record deal with Warner Music in 1994 and Normal produced and engineered their album Wish Across The Land, [4] which was nominated for the Spellemannprisen in the Rock category the following year. [5]
1996, brought Normal back to the U.S. when Dizzy Reed asked him to sit in for Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan who was touring with another group. Normal took part in the recording sessions for what would eventually become the Chinese Democracy album, but after several months of rehearsing with the rapidly dissolving line-up of Guns N' Roses, he moved back to Norway to form a band of his own.
The Guards of Metropolis (née Softcore) was the result, a Norwegian pop rock group that spent the next few years touring Europe and America. In 2003, the band signed to actor Kiefer Sutherland's recently formed indie label Ironworks Music and began to record their first album. Creative differences between Normal and Ironworks producer Jude Cole led to the band's departure from the label and the recording of their self-produced album, Alligator. [6] While Normal was finishing the album he, co-wrote, produced, and engineered Mark Lemhouse's album, The Great American Yard Sale, which won the 2005 Muddy Award for Best National Recording. [7]
Normal began working with Pixies singer Frank Black (aka Black Francis) in 2007 as a touring and session guitarist. He has appeared on two albums by Black's side-project Grand Duchy, and played guitar on Pete Yorn's self-titled 2010 album which was produced by Black.
In 2012, Normal signed with Los Angeles based independent label SideOneDummy Records with his latest incarnation, the self-described "audioarcheological" solo project Thriftstore Masterpiece. For its debut album, a cover of Lee Hazlewood's 1963 album Trouble Is a Lonesome Town , Normal enlisted members of Modest Mouse, The Dandy Warhols, Pixies, Art Brut, and The Guards of Metropolis. The album had a July 2013 release. [8] [ needs update ]
In 1997, Normal married Norwegian singer/artist Kristin Blix. They live in Salem, Oregon, with their son, where Normal owns and operates Magnetic Real recording studio.
Larry David Norman was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Christian rock music and released more than 100 albums.
Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black. After releasing two albums with record label 4AD and one with American Recordings, he left the label and formed a new band, Frank Black and the Catholics. He re-adopted the name Black Francis in 2007.
Peter Joseph Yorn is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first gained international recognition after his debut record, Musicforthemorningafter, was released to critical and commercial acclaim in 2001. He is known for playing the bulk of the instruments on his records. Spin magazine, in a career retrospective article dated March 26, 2021, recognized Yorn as one of his generation's best songwriters. Yorn’s 10th full length album, Hawaii, was released on June 17, 2022. His latest single, “Someday, Someday”, was released on January 12, 2024.
Motorpsycho is a Norwegian rock band from Trondheim. Their music can generally be defined as progressive or psychedelic rock, but they also mix in elements from alternative, jazz, post-rock, pop, country and many other musical styles. The stable members of the band are Bent Sæther and Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan. From 1992 to March 2005, Håkon Gebhardt was the band's drummer. From December 2007 to May 2016 Kenneth Kapstad was the drummer of the band, being replaced by Tomas Järmyr, who joined in early 2017. Järmyr left the band in January 2023.
Madrugada is a Norwegian alternative rock band formed in the town of Stokmarknes in 1993. Its key members have included Sivert Høyem (vocals), Robert Burås (guitar), and Frode Jacobsen (bass). After Burås' death on 12 July 2007, Høyem and Jacobsen decided to finish recording what was to be their final album in the original lineup. On 21 January 2008, the band released Madrugada and announced that they would split after one last tour. They performed their final concert on 15 November 2008.
Buckcherry is an American hard rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, Buckcherry (1999) and Time Bomb (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Buckcherry's first album Buckcherry was DreamWorks' first album to go gold. In 2005, lead vocalist Josh Todd and lead guitarist Keith Nelson reformed Buckcherry with a new lineup and released a new album in 2006, 15. It contained Buckcherry's biggest crossover hits to date, "Crazy Bitch", and their first Billboard Hot 100 top ten hit, "Sorry". The band continued to record albums, releasing five between 2008 and 2019: Black Butterfly in 2008, All Night Long in 2010, Confessions in 2013, Rock 'n' Roll in 2015, and Warpaint in 2019. Their ninth album Hellbound released in 2021, and their tenth and most recent album Vol. 10 released in 2023.
Ken Andrews is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Andrews was born in Seattle, Washington, and attended film school in Los Angeles before his band Failure received a record deal from Slash Records.
Waylon Albright "Shooter" Jennings is an American musician and record producer. He is the son of country singers Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter. In a career spanning three decades, Jennings has explored a variety of musical genres.
Keep of Kalessin is a Norwegian extreme metal band from Trondheim, formed in 1993. The group's early lineup consisted of Ghash on vocals, Obsidian C. on guitars and keyboards, Warach on bass, and Vyl on drums. They released two albums under this lineup: Through Times of War in 1997, and Agnen: A Journey Through the Dark in 1999, before splitting up. Obsidian C. then toured with Satyricon, but revived the Keep of Kalessin name for a 2003 EP, Reclaim. In 2006, he reconstituted the group with a new lineup and released a third full-length, Armada. They toured with Behemoth and Dimmu Borgir early in 2008. Their fourth album Kolossus was released on 6 June 2008. They take their name from Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series of books, where Kalessin is the name of the arch-dragon who is the bearer of the Earthsea world. Keep of Kalessin was nominated for a Spellemannprisen in the metal category in 2008.
Sami Yaffa is a Finnish bass guitarist best known for his work in New York Dolls, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Pelle Miljoona Oy, Michael Monroe's bands, and Hanoi Rocks. He is currently the bassist for the Michael Monroe band and is also concentrating on his solo career.
Smack was a Finnish rock band that was active from 1982 to 1990. Although Smack never achieved huge commercial success, they have a very strong cult following and they are regarded as one of the most influential Finnish rock bands. Smack has been cited as a major influence for bands such as Guns n Roses, Mudhoney and Nirvana.
Recording since 1966, first as a lead singer for the group People! and then as a solo artist, Larry Norman is noted for his extensive career as well his attention to Christian subject matter. His music was released on both mainstream and independent labels, including his own Solid Rock Records. During his career his work appeared on over 100 albums, concert bootlegs, and compilations.
Daniel Joseph Schmid is an American musician, known for his work as the bassist and co-founder of the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Schmid was also part of the rock duo the Visible Men, and has worked with alternative rock musicians such as Black Francis and Pete Yorn.
Karin Maria Erika Park is a Swedish-Norwegian singer-songwriter. Park was born and raised in Sweden, but began her musical career in Bergen, Norway.
R. Walt Vincent is a Los Angeles–based record producer, recording engineer, composer, and multi instrumentalist known for his work with indie rock icons Pete Yorn, Liz Phair and Tommy Keene.
Årabrot is a Norwegian noise-rock band established in 2001, originally from Haugesund, but with a current creative base in Djura and the Oslo-based record label Fysisk Format.
The Olms is a two-member musical group made up of singer-songwriter Pete Yorn and J.D. King. Their debut self-titled album debuted at #4 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers.
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Day Wave is an American indie rock project from Oakland, California, formed in 2014. The band, based around musician Jackson Phillips, with accompanying musicians for live performances, released their debut EP Headcase in 2015. Day Wave has been featured in LA Mag and Billboard. They opened for Blonde Redhead during their fall 2016 tour.
Trouble Is a Lonesome Town is the debut studio album by country pop artist Lee Hazlewood. The work is a concept album about the fictional town of Trouble and its colorful characters and was originally recorded as demos to showcase for other singers. It has received mixed reviews from critics.
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