Here at The List, we are saddened to learn that Norman Chalmers has died, aged 75. Norman was part of the original team that launched The List back in 1985. An accomplished concertina and whistle player, he pursued his own career but was also committed to promoting the folk scene across Scotland and encouraging young talent.

Norman was folk music editor of the magazine until 2001. In the early days, this required detailed research to compile day-by-day listings of what bands were playing when, together with articles highlighting the best (or most interesting) of what was on. Meeting or even acknowledging deadlines did not come easy to Norman and many a late night was spent by the production team tearing their hair out waiting for his copy. It would eventually come, often from a phone box on a remote Scottish island, sometimes needing to be taken down by laborious dictation.

Norman was proud of his St Kildan ancestry and was a regular on the celebrated musical voyages around the Western Isles of the restored 19th-century trawler, The Lorne Leader. Norman was a member of various bands, most notably Jock Tamson’s Bairns and later The Cauld Blast Orchestra. Perhaps his most prominent performance was in the Communicado show (also called Jock Tamson’s Bairns) at Tramway, marking the start of Glasgow’s reign as City Of Culture in 1990. We send our love and sympathy to Norman’s daughter and two grandchildren.