Edinburgh's original open mic night

Norman Lamont

in his own words

Describe your first OOTB

OOTB 1: Jim, Nelson, Freeloading Frank and me sitting up in the Waverley playing songs to each other wondering if anyone else was going to come. That night they didn't.

Which OOTB performers really rock your boat?

I'm a bit out of touch now so don't know the contemporary figures that well, but I am always surprised and delighted by Jill Hepburn, who seems to go from strength to strength. I admire Julie King's lyrics and singing but probably my favourite performer is Nobody Jones.

What's the worst, nails-down-a-blackboard musical experience you've had?

Usually at the end of parties when some jerk starts up and no-one has the strength or will to shift their ass and take the guitar off him. Yes, friends, I was that jerk.

What do you think is your best song and why?

In terms of strong lyric and strong melody, Hungry Ghosts. I'm also very proud of The Wind Like Lace on Greenan Shore, the last track on the Wolf album. I'm pretty conceited actually, there are some clunkers but I love most of my stuff!

What's the best piece of songwriting advice you've ever been given?

'Have you considered plumbing as a career?' Or maybe 'Take a song you like, change the words then change the music.', which is attributed to Dylan but I don't know if he ever said it.

Favourite songs of all time?

Feast of Stephen by Mike Heron, The Circle Is Unbroken by Robin Williamson, Ne Me Quitte Pas by Jacques Brel, The Belldog by Brian Eno, Avalanche by Leonard Cohen. Tomorrow's choice might be different, but these are the ones I've mentioned most when I've been asked this question.

How would your best review sum you up?

'Leonard Cohen and REM with Robert Fripp were up next but somehow it seemed like an anticlimax ...'

How would your worst critic sum you up?

At an Edinburgh gig once, after I'd sung a Robert Burns song, a lady turned to her companion and very loudly declared 'God, I used to like that song.' Ouch!

Who do you fancy at OOTB?

Anyone with the cognitive impairment to fancy me.

at OOTB

(April 2004)
Norman Lamont With a new CD to plug he launched into "Call Back, Fall Back" that had a traditional sounding guitar backing which showed his immense playing talent off fantastically. Once described as 'a surreal Bob Dylan' Norman's vocals had a clear yet a strangely slight breathy tone (in a good way of course). His direct lyrical style aimed at a friend with lines such as 'velvet world is closing around you' and 'when it falls apart, when he breaks your heart, you'll ask for me' made this a powerful number. Norman's witty repartee introduced the next song "This Horse", again accompanied by Lynsey playing a bass part on a guitar (by this point we were wondering if she'd ever leave the stage). This had a bluesy walking rhythm and was a humorous analogy of a songwriter losing their faith in music ('I used to sing these songs for money, for fun...I guess my singing days are done'). With a chorus of 'This horse don't walk no more, this horse is dead' and interjections of 'What do you think Lynsey' this song was performed with the excellence we've come to expect and love from Norman. 'Bye ba ba bye'... Norman closed with a musical story about Bob Dylan (possibly) and an escaped mental patient. He said it was about the only man he had ever heard of succeed in making the TV news just for appearing in a women's underwear advert. An ironic and amusing tune this was all about the words with great imagery like 'Voice like a hangover looking for a cure' and 'It was like watching Cain and Abel before the flood' this is a man you can just sit back and relax to.

(Nov 2002)
Norman Lamont, losing his Innocents (ouch!), was the only performer this evening who played at the 1st OOTB show last November. Always good for a surprise, he played a couple of songs completely new to me. "A Forest Trail In Autumn" was absolutely, effortlessly gorgeous. This was a tale of an obsessed man constantly returning to a place in a forest where once, very briefly, he'd had an encounter with a strange and beautiful lady. "Empty" is a great song detailing feelings of loneliness and isolation. This was exemplified in the refrain 'the company don't need a man/so the woman don't need a man/and the children don't need a man/where does that leave a man?' Powerful stuff. The far more upbeat "Singing Nothing", with The G on percussion, was written in London and was reggae-ish in style. This was played immaculately and, in this mood, Norman is on a par with anyone though he struggled a little vocally on this one after a heavy cold and the rigours of recording new material with his band The Innocents. It's been a very good year Mr. Lamont - hope to see you this time next year, unless you're the touring megastar you thoroughly deserve to be.