The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #129629   Message #3028003
Posted By: bobad
09-Nov-10 - 07:24 PM
Thread Name: CD: Some Mother's Son/Norman Doucette (Beer's Bro)
Subject: RE: Beer's Brother Norman New Song
Tom Ghent wrote a very nice review of the album on CD Baby, I will reproduce it here for those who won't bother to follow the link.

Singer, Songwriter Tom Ghent (Whiskey, Whiskey) had this to say about Norman Doucette:

I don't know exactly what it is, but, somehow, the northern US and Canada, seem to produce a variety of music, which is, at the same time, both country and folk.....a type of music which I find far more palatable and exciting than the watered down stuff that, all too often, seems to dominate the airwaves. Recently, I was fortunate enough to be in Canada sharing a bill with friend Ron Bankley and my long lost Greenwich Village contemporary, Bruce Murdoch. While I was up there, Ron arranged for me to be on the bill with singer/ songwriter, Norman Doucette, who was performing at the out door stage behind he Lil Crow Cafe in Tyendinaga, Mohawk Territory, Ontario.
Well, Norm, aside from being a great guy, is a refreshing throwback to the music of the1960s! There is a haunting vocal similarity between him and my old friend Paul Siebel, writer of such 60s classics as "Louise" and "Spanish Johnny"....Much of Norm's music has an almost ragtime feel, which cleverly, and often humorously, wraps itself around some extremely serious subject matter!
I often found my foot tapping while he sang about war, soup kitchens, lost love, and even child molestation. Then suddenly the tempo slowed, and Norman's expressive voice tackled the tragic death of a drug addicted prostitute in "Angel with a Broken Heel", it's haunting refrain, "everybody thinks your coming home" still resonates!
Norm throws himself into each song with an abandon that makes it easy to see why he's been lovingly nicknamed "Stormin" Norman, by his friends! Both I, and the audience sitting outside on that beautiful evening were treated to a truly moving performance.
Since returning home to Nashville, I have often listened to Norman's newly released 12 song CD, "Some Mother's Son". The songs are all originals, and Norman, backed by a contingent of excellent studio musicians, is just as exciting and convincing as he was that evening, months ago in Ontario!