IRON MIKE NORTON
Here it is...the ever popular Iron Mike Biography
Artist Information
Biography
Raised from an infant by Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes, Iron Mike grew up in both the swamps of the deep south and the hills of the Ozark mountains. Since snakes don't produce much milk,
Mike developed a taste for bourbon and blues at a young and tender age.
Early in his career as a musician, Mike was a bass player and sound engineer in the Tampa metal scene until Kurt Cobain came along and ruined everything. After a brief stint in a country band,
Mike switched to the blues as a condition of his probation.
Referred to as the "Rob Zombie of the blues", Iron Mike Norton broke onto(or perhaps more accurately "into") the blues scene in 2000 (as Michael Shaun Norton) with his debut CD Spooky & The
Blue Voodoo Tribe. The release pissed off blues critics across the United States with its dark themes, over the top guitar work and Mike's uncommonly powerful roadhouse vocal style. A self
described tone-junkie and disciple of the legendary Sonny Landreth, Michael brings an entirely new sound to the blues.
In 2002 Michael signed with the now defunct B&M Records and released 3 more CD's that further cemented his image as a blues outcast and probably lead to the financial demise of his record
label. With songs like Spooked, Dead Man's Stomp, and a remake of Landreth's Congo Square, Michael continued to build his legacy of dark and somewhat foreboding music, delivered in a high
energy package aimed directly at impressing women with loose morals .
In early 2006, Mike returned to the Ozark Mountains. Dubbed Iron Mike by an exhausted but satisfied groupie in Douglasville, GA, the name caught on and Mike began using it regularly. In an effort
to con more people into coming to his shows, Mike began doing live performances with guitars made from unusual objects like car mufflers and toilet seats. This succeeded for a little while, but it
was also hard work, and Mike went back to using regular guitars on account of laziness.
Through the effective use of bribery, Mike has garnered favorable comments from more established bluesmen like Bo Diddley and Mike's hero Sonny Landreth. In late 2007 Mike moved away from
the blues and recorded his first progressive rock CD "Live Free or Die" featuring several tracks demonstrating his technical slide guitar wizardry, expanding Mike's audience to include fans of
more progressive acts like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.
All seemed to be going well until a severe motorcycle wreck in early 2010. While still in a wheel chair, Mike began writing and eventually recorded a traditional 2 piece Mississippi style project. The
end result is the newly successful blues cd "Dirty South", which features a raw deep south style of blues normally associated with the likes of R.L. Burnside and Hound Dog Taylor.
Biography
Raised from an infant by Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes, Iron Mike grew up in both the swamps of the deep south and the hills of the Ozark mountains. Since snakes don't produce much milk,
Mike developed a taste for bourbon and blues at a young and tender age.
Early in his career as a musician, Mike was a bass player and sound engineer in the Tampa metal scene until Kurt Cobain came along and ruined everything. After a brief stint in a country band,
Mike switched to the blues as a condition of his probation.
Referred to as the "Rob Zombie of the blues", Iron Mike Norton broke onto(or perhaps more accurately "into") the blues scene in 2000 (as Michael Shaun Norton) with his debut CD Spooky & The
Blue Voodoo Tribe. The release pissed off blues critics across the United States with its dark themes, over the top guitar work and Mike's uncommonly powerful roadhouse vocal style. A self
described tone-junkie and disciple of the legendary Sonny Landreth, Michael brings an entirely new sound to the blues.
In 2002 Michael signed with the now defunct B&M Records and released 3 more CD's that further cemented his image as a blues outcast and probably lead to the financial demise of his record
label. With songs like Spooked, Dead Man's Stomp, and a remake of Landreth's Congo Square, Michael continued to build his legacy of dark and somewhat foreboding music, delivered in a high
energy package aimed directly at impressing women with loose morals .
In early 2006, Mike returned to the Ozark Mountains. Dubbed Iron Mike by an exhausted but satisfied groupie in Douglasville, GA, the name caught on and Mike began using it regularly. In an effort
to con more people into coming to his shows, Mike began doing live performances with guitars made from unusual objects like car mufflers and toilet seats. This succeeded for a little while, but it
was also hard work, and Mike went back to using regular guitars on account of laziness.
Through the effective use of bribery, Mike has garnered favorable comments from more established bluesmen like Bo Diddley and Mike's hero Sonny Landreth. In late 2007 Mike moved away from
the blues and recorded his first progressive rock CD "Live Free or Die" featuring several tracks demonstrating his technical slide guitar wizardry, expanding Mike's audience to include fans of
more progressive acts like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.
All seemed to be going well until a severe motorcycle wreck in early 2010. While still in a wheel chair, Mike began writing and eventually recorded a traditional 2 piece Mississippi style project. The
end result is the newly successful blues cd "Dirty South", which features a raw deep south style of blues normally associated with the likes of R.L. Burnside and Hound Dog Taylor.
