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Moose Jaw Times-Herald Tuesday November
7, 2006
Physics Laws,
urban legends are source material for Norm Walker's story-songs
By Mandy Higgins
In his song Ohm's Law,
the two worlds of Norm Walker are joined.
Walker is a teacher at the Electrician Apprenticeship Program
at SIAST Palliser Campus in Moose Jaw. He is an electrician
by trade.
He is also a songwriter, who specializes in telling stories
in song. He lives in Regina.
"In Ohm's Law, songwriting
meets my day job," said Walker, laughing.
Ohm's Law states that electric current is proportional to
voltage and inversely proportional to resistance.
Not to worry, though; a person doesn't need to understand
the meaning of the law to enjoy the song, written in the style
of an old-west ballad, Walker assures.
However, the song is technically correct. Walker says
he often gets letters from electrical engineers congratulating
him on the illustrated accuracy of the law in his song.
On Walker's CD, 'T Time':
Time Tested Tales, Tall and True, the liner notes have
this to say about the song: "Ohm's Law is a television theme
song for a science fiction western action drama starring George
Simon Ohm, the man who plowed a major furrow in the field
of electrical physics by formulating a relationship between
amps, ohms and volts."
Walker, who will be performing his work in Moose Jaw on Wednesday
and again on Nov. 15, calls himself a "story-singer."
He tells stories in songs, choosing a musical genre that best
suits it, including ballads, folk songs, country western or
a capella.
Urban legends often supply inspiration for his work.
The Mexican Pet,
for example, another of Walker's songs, tells the oft-heard
urban legend of a person bringing home what is thought to
be a chihuahua from Mexico, but the person later finds out
from the vet that it's a different animal entirely.
Walker performs his songs on an acoustic guitar.
Though Walker has never performed a concert in Moose Jaw,
he has performed a regular gig in the city as a wandering
minstrel at Hopkins Dining Parlour at the restaurant's medieval
feast nights.
He is performing over the course of two evening in Moose Jaw,
Walker explained, because he has enough material to spread
over two one-hour programs. He will be doing different
songs at each performance.
Who: Norm Walker, "Stories in Song"
When: Part 1 on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Part 2 on Nov. 15
at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Moose Jaw Public Library, South Meeting Room |
