Old-Time Blues & Good-Time Folk
Hey, guys!
Jack Norton here. Thx for visiting my little ol’ website! Maybe you stumbled upon this here page on account of the fact that I have a syndicated radio show (& podcast) called “Jack Norton’s Old-Time Radio Show” where I play nothing but old 78 rpm records from the 1930s & 1940s…
Or maybe you found one of my albums or saw me playing a show at your local theater or performing arts center. Heck, maybe you saw me busking on a street corner somewhere, just a-singin’ for my supper…
Celebrating Over 100 Years As A Musician!
I’ve been making homemade folk music since 1925, but back then we didn’t call it “folk music”, it was just “music”. But when you’ve been doing something for over 100 years now, things change, genres come ‘n go, & all that remains are the melodies dancing in the fog of analog…
I write songs, cover old vintage vaudeville tunes, tell a lot of stories & share even more bad dad jokes. Some times my wife Kitty will grab her ol’ washboard & do some musical scrubbing while I pick out a tune on the guitar, ukulele, jug, or banjo…
She’s a heckofa better musician than I am & hey we even won an Emmy Award for an original tune we wrote for PBS Kids!
We also have some original songs in two of director Sean Baker’s films: the Oscar-nominated moving picture called “The Florida Project” (starring Willem Dafoe) & a Kenzo fashion film called “Snowbird” (starring supermodel Abbey Lee). Sean just won the Oscar for his movie “Anora”. Yowza!
Toot! Toot! I’m Also A “Viral” YouTuber!
Kitty was a preschool teacher for years and a long, long time ago she said to me: “you’re so goofy, kids will love you!” so I began to drop by her classroom with my guitar & puppet. Well, long story short now I also make family-friendly children’s music for preschool & early elementary age kids! LOL. I perform that stuff under the name “Conductor Jack”, because who doesn’t love a friendly, singing train conductor?
As Conductor Jack, I toured for the US Pentagon performing shows for families serving in the Middle East, the Mediterranean & Europe. I’ve also done kids shows in Nashville at: the Bluebird Cafe, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, CMA Fest… oh & at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.
Back in the day I hosted a show on PBS Kids affiliate stations called “The Zinghoppers Show”, and now I have a YouTube channel where I read kids books – in hopes that young children can discover the joys of reading. That’s gotten over 80 MILLION plays & we have over 125,000 subscribers – so I guess I can call myself a “YouTuber” now…
Don’t worry grown-ups: I also have a YouTube channel for my old-time music & podcast!
Real Music That’s Real Fun!
At the end of the day, it’s all about doing something real. This is real music, real words, real bad jokes – all made by a real human (joined sometimes by his amazingly unreal wife)…
That means ya ain’t gonna find any AI & you also aren’t gonna find me on any social media (because, let’s face it, being “real” isn’t what social media is about)…
Travel Back In Time With Me!
The goal is to put down your screen, close your eyes, & when you finally open them again, you’ve traveled back in time to a lost place where families made music together, folks were a little bit kinder, time moved slower, & life was a bit less chaotic…
Maybe that time never really existed, then again, maybe it did. I’m not sure. None of us are…
All we can do is get lost in the grooves, smile, sing & share in the joys of being human. That’s something no artificial intelligence will ever have: soul.
Cheers!
Jack
PS: me & wifey Kitty are currently splitting our time between:
- US: Nashville & Minneapolis
- CAN: Montreal & Winnipeg
- UK/EU: London & Amsterdam
…this means we’re always somewhere in this big ol’ beautiful world & I’d LOVE to play a show for you!! Here’s some booking info, you can also email me at: hello@jacknortonmusic.com or text: 1-818-233-0612
