Shameless Self-Promotion is Our Specialty!
My husband and I play music together under the unlikely name “Spiny Norman.” The backstory of the name – in terms of how we happened to select it – is a long story best saved for another day. Suffice it to say that it’s a pretty obscure reference lovingly ripped off from Monty Python.
THIS Spiny Norman is comprised of my husband, Tom, playing guitar, me playing hand drums, electronic kick drum, and various hand percussion, and both of us singing.
It’s all Tom’s fault, really – he’s the one who gave me my first djembe and created a monster. I’d always loved singing, but had never really mastered playing any musical instrument. I’d dabbled in piano and guitar just enough to be dangerous and/or annoying. Tom’s the born musician: piano is his first language, having started lessons before his little feet could reach the pedals. Then, the night of his twelfth birthday, the Beatles made their American TV debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, and while ditching his birthday party and trying to hear the band over the screams of adolescent females, he figured out that girls go for guitar players.
It’s true. I can personally vouch for that.
Fast forward to the present, and Tom & I have been performing together for 13 or 14 years. We play for love, tips, and free food or coffee. We’ll never be in a position to quit our day jobs to make music full time, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
