}
For Tom Norton, Variety Is the Spice of Life
Rodger Mullen:writer for Fayetteville Times 1989
One thing you develope quickly when you're a staff songwriter is versatility.
Tommy Norton learned that during the five years he spent under contract to Jade Publishing in Nashville.
" They'd say,"We want a reggae, country and rock version of this song by tomorrow morning," says Norton.
"That's all we did, sit around and write songs all day long."
That versatility has come in handy for Salemburg resident Norton.
His "Variety is the Spice of Life" albums run the gambit from spiritual-flavored country to guitar-saturated rock to shuffling reggae.
Making a living performing original material is no easy task, Norton discovered quickly.
Folks are a little reluctant to spend money to see an unknown performer sing songs they never heard of before.
"With original music, you have to really pull people out to come see you," he say's.
"Its more of an artistic experience."
It's difficult to pigeonhole Norton's music, and the songwriter say's he views that musical diversity as a strength, not a drawback.
Songwriter back home from Nashville
Wilmington Star News
Staff writer: Ben Steelman 1985
In the late 1970s,Tommy Norton used music to work his way through the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
" I played at the Pony Express, I played at Munchies," Norton recalled, "I even played at the university cafeteria, I played there once a week for a meal ticket."
In addition to performing, he worked an 11pm-7am shift as a councler with the Crisis Line.
Even that experience helped his music.
"I'd listen to people's problems, and then I'd turn alot of it into songs" he said.
Norton who graduated from UNCW in 1979, now considers himself primarily a songwriter.
These days he is based in Nashville, Tenn. working under contract with Jade Productions.
Norton bills his music as rock-n-roll, but his songs come in a wide range of styles, from straight rock to New Wave and even Country.
In his Wilmington days, Norton gained a following with comedy numbers like the "Preppie"
A number of his songs, like 7:14 Flight with no Destination reflected the area's drug culture (The name is derived from numbers 7-14 stamped on Quaalude tablets)
"They think something like 7-14 is pro-drugs since it has the word "Quaalude,in it" he said.
"But if you listen to the words, they are not as drug oriented as people think they are"
Norton keeps singing the lyrics which describe the price a drug user pays-for a reason.
"If you can get them to come out and listen," he said,"maybe the next day, they'll get straight and think abot being locked up or whatever, and finally they'll understand the message."
After graduation, Norton toured heavily in Florida, the Carolinas and elsewhere.
It was while he was on the road that he first met Brutus.
" His owner was going to kill him, so I took him off his hands." Norton said "I call him the Great American Dog, he's a mixture of everything, and he took off to seek freedom and escape oppression at home"
Nowadays, life is more settled, but Norton admits hes' not one of the Nashville's glittering stars.
For the time being, relative obscurity suits him fine, "I've got a saying: Fame and Glory turn into flame and gory," Norton said "I don't want to be the next Elvis Presley, I just want to go on making music.
