Norman Westberg

Who is Norman Westberg?

Norman Westberg is a New York City guitarist best known for his work with Swans. Present through almost the entirety of the band's existence, Westberg was brought on for Swans' debut album Filth and appeared on every album through 1991s White Light From the Mouth of Infinity. Westberg became a full-time Swans member once again when Michael Gira reactivated the group in 2010.

Westberg's playing can also be heard on many Swans side projects, including The Body Haters and solo albums by Jarboe. Westberg was for a short time a member of The Heroine Sheiks with Shannon Selberg as well as John Fell. Aside from the present incarnation of Swans, he currently plays in the NYC bands NeVAh and Five Dollar Priest. He also appeared in a short film The Right Side of My Brain directed by Richard Kern and starring Lydia Lunch.

On February 25, 2012, Westberg made two limited edition solo releases available at his webstore. Plough is a four-track EP recorded from 2006-2009 and features Westberg coupling guitar with banjo and DX drum machine. Limited Edition of 75 features one fifteen minute long ambient piece and is packaged in one-of-a-kind imagery, each disk being decorated with a unique MRI from a CD Westberg was given in hospital. Both CD-Rs are packaged in handmade sleeves, Plough with a signed inner and Limited Edition of 75 signed and numbered on the disk itself.