Norman Merten is an L.A.-based guitarist with a hard-driving, progressive style that layers rock and roll with the deep grooves of rhythm and blues. He has performed with a variety of artists, including: Vanessa Williams, Howard Hewett, Jay Leno's Tonight Show Band, The Arsenio Hall Show, Miki Howard, The Boys, and Philip Bailey to name a few. Additionally, he has composed and performed music for MTV's "The Real World," the Disney Channel, ABC's "Starting Over," and FOX's "The Bernie Mac Show" among others.

On his new CD, "Beggin' for a Brand New Day," Merten ventures out with vocalist and composing partner Jonathan Hayes, and succeeds in creating a new kind of guitar-driven rock, one fused with alternative and blues overtones, then sprinkled with a dash of funk for good measure.