Meet Tom Norman | Singer/Songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tom Norman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tom, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Music feels like it has always been a part of my life. From a very young age I was playing instruments and I always enjoyed listening to music and singing/playing along with it. When I picked up guitar and started singing in middle/high school the natural evolution was to start making my own music and writing lyrics. As far as pursuing music as a career, it doesn’t necessarily feel like something I’m pursuing. It’s something I do and is just a part of my life. I was lucky enough that with hard work I was able to turn music into a career.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Hey! I’m Tom Norman. I’m a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. Music has been a big part of my life ever since early childhood. At age seven I started taking flute lessons. Between then and high school I learned drums, saxophone and guitar and I also started playing in bands with friends. When I started learning guitar I also began singing and writing music, which eventually became one of my true passions in life. A little after college I was lucky enough to start playing cover gigs at a number of bars, restaurants, hotels and other venues and was able to make a living out of that. Doing this type of music is a HUSTLE and at my peak I was performing 25 or more gigs a month. Unfortunately, when that was happening I had a vocal injury that lead me to have vocal surgery. After recovering from surgery and getting back to where I was before COVID hit. However, the time off from performing allowed me to concentrate on my writing and learn to produce my own music. This year I am taking a step back from the performances to really concentrate on original music and getting some of those songs recorded and released! I can’t wait for everyone to hear the new music.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh man! There’s a ton of amazing places in Southern California to visit and incredible things to do. For great live music I like to take friends that are visiting to The Hotel Cafe. So many amazing musicians play there. I always like to take a drive down PCH with the windows down listening to music and enjoying the coastline, and stopping at some of the beach towns to eat, drink, and enjoy the sun and the beach. I live in Long Beach, so a lot of the places I like to take people are my regular spots in town to see all the stuff I do and meet the people I love here. Some of my favorite places to eat and drink are The Ordinarie in Downtown Long Beach and Nick’s in Belmont Shore. I also love craft beer and love to brewery hop and show friends some of the great craft breweries around LA/LB/OC.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are a lot of people that deserve a shoutout when it comes to my music and music career. Let’s start with my parents for allowing me to take a number of music lessons from flute to drums to guitar, and for driving me all around town to those lessons before I could drive.

Next, I want to give a shoutout to my older brother, Travis. He played piano when I was little, and without him doing music I might not have taken lessons at a young age.

All of the talented music teachers, coaches and professors I’ve worked with in the past deserve shoutouts too. Specifically, I’d like to thank Ryan Haas, Lee Wertman, Steve Nalepa, and Mindy Pack. These individuals all supported and encouraged individual creative expression and helped me to start making my own music the way I wanted to.

There’s a ton of talented musicians that I’ve played with and learned from, but I’d like to shoutout my three band mates from my high school band: Chris Thomas, Chris Sell, and Zach Smith…you guys are rock stars!

The last person I’d like to give a shoutout to is Matt Diehl. He gave me some of the best advice I ever received in regards to turning music into a career. Without that advice I don’t think I would be doing the amount of music I am to this day.

Website: TomNormanMusic.com

Instagram: @TomNormanMusic

Twitter: @TomNormanMusic

Facebook: @TomNormanMusic