Jug Band Hokum

Emmy Award winning director Jack Norton was born in Minneapolis and grew up in a musical family. His great grandfather was a vaudevillian and left Jack a collection of dusty 78 RPM records. As fate would have it, Norton's next door neighbor – and babysitter – was none other than ukulele playing oddball Tiny Tim ("Tip Toe Thru The Tulips"), who gave young Jack his first uke.
Norton spent most of middle school obsessing over the music of the 1920s and 1930s and by high school led his own jug band which opened for Dave Van Ronk, Leon Redbone, the Squirrel Nut Zippers and others. Acclaimed badass author Nick Tosches hailed Norton as "my hope for the future of America".
While attending the University of Minnesota, Norton studied Early Childhood Education and became obsessed with hip-hop, EDM and rave culture. These two worlds would merge with a preschool kids television series he co- created, directed and co-starred in that currently airs on over 150 PBS member stations nationwide and in 175 countries via the AFN Family network. Nominated for six Emmy Awards, The Washington Post hailed The Zinghoppers Show as "groundbreaking...think Barney meets the Black Eyed Peas". Filmed in Nashville, it is estimated over 5 million people worldwide see Norton's directorial work daily.

Through the success of the series, Norton partnered with the US Pentagon, performing a 19 country tour entertaining the families of US military families stationed in Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. A veteran live performer, Norton has played everywhere from the Kennedy Center for the Arts to a private show for Crown Prince Hussein Bin Abdullah, the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Jordan.
Currently based in Minneapolis, Norton is a much sought after director of music videos, commercials and corporate brand ad campaigns. As a producer/ director, he has worked with: Justin Bieber, MTV, Disney Channel, Interscope Records, Island-Def Jam, KidzBop, Sony, Whole Foods, Hollywood Records, Chick-Fil-A and hip-hop boy band Mindless Behavior. His debut film, Jug Band Hokum, is a documentary focused on the eccentric lives of competing jug bands battling to win a broken waffle iron. Guests include: Garrison Keillor, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Charlie Parr.
Norton is producer, director, videographer and editor of Jug Band Hokum.