The new CD by the Zinghoppers, "Hop, Hop, Hop!" CLICK HERE for ordering info.
CLICK HERE
To learn about Conductor Jack's solo show for children and families.
Welcome to our News Page! Our webmaster Doolittle updates this page often with news from Zinghopper Land.
6/4/08 - Zinghoppers at CMA Music Fest
Conductor Jack and the Zinghoppers will be appearing on Sunday, June 8 at the CMA Music Festival Family Zone Stage at 11:00 AM. This is a free event, and we would love to see all our Nashville friends! Here's a video about the Family Zone. For more info, as well as a detailed schedule of other CMA family events, click here.
5/16/08 - Concert Review in Freeman Courier
We'd like to thank Tim L. Waltner for writing a great concert review and article on Jack's show this past weekend at the Freeman Academy in Freeman, South Dakota. Although this was a rare performance for a (mostly) adult audience by Jack and the Mullet River Boys, there is a lot of discussion within the article on Jack's music for children. We really appreciate the kind words and great article! A big "hello" to all our new friends in Freeman!
We are featured in today's Raising Arizona Kids magazine! Here's a reprint of the article and photo...thanks for Dan and everyone at Raising Arizona Kids for their support!
Music with Zing By Daniel Friedman
Jack and Kitty Norton of Cave Creek play hundreds of concerts for crowds of adoring, devoted fans. The Nortons created Zinghoppers characters and music to get children ages 4 and younger moving and singing along. The characters Penelope Possum (that's her at left, recording their latest CD), Coconuts the Kangaroo, Olo the Donkey and Conductor [Jack] are animated and innocent, just like the fans. ?Good kids? music should not be annoying to adults,? says Jack. ?And [kids] should respond instinctively to the beat and the characters singing it.?
Jack played bluegrass with the Mullet River Boys, sharing the stage with performers including Norah Jones, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. He and Kitty both earned degrees in early childhood education from the University of Minnesota to inform their music and make sure it is developmentally appropriate for their fans. (For example, singing ?Hop on one foot? may not work for a child who can?t yet do that.) Kitty writes most of the songs, scripts performances and lends her voice to some of the characters.
The Zinghoppers toured Australia last year, are on the road right now and they?re back in the Valley in June. Check out their concert schedule at zinghoppers.com.
To visit the Raising Arizona Kids website, click here.
5/4/08 - Feature Article in Herald-Citizen
Conductor Jack and the Zinghoppers are profiled in Cookeville's Herald-Citizen newspaper today. We are so thankful for their support and for this neat article!
A big "thank you" to reporter Margaret Shuster, Ty Kernea (for a great picture), and Bonnie (for helping Coconuts The Kangaroo).
4/22/08 - JackNorton.net & Zinghoppers.com are Green!
In honor of Earth Day, we are happy to announce that both of our websites (www.jacknorton.net and www.zinghoppers.com are now completely green! Our web hosting data center now uses 100% green power. They are fortunate enough to be based in one of the most environmentally friendly areas of the world with 100% of electrical power coming from mountain fed streams feeding hydro electric projects that power our entire internet infrastructure. Yippie!
4/20/08 - Zinghoppers Australian Tour
We'll be posting more info soon, but in the meantime...we're excited to announce that Conductor Jack and the Zinghoppers will be returning to Australia for a tour later this year! Here's the dates/cities:
12/26/08 - Sydney (two shows)
12/27/08 - Canberra
12/29/08 - Mildura
12/30/08 - Adelaide
12/31/08 - Melbourne
1/3/08 - Perth (two shows)
1/4/08 - Bunbury
1/7/08 - Sydney
1/8/08 - Newcastle
1/10/08 - Brisbane (two shows)
We had such an amazing time last year in beautiful Australia! We're really looking forward to see all of our "Aussie mates" again!
4/16/08 - Conductor Jack on "The Country Giant"
Toot! Toot!
Conductor Jack will be interviewed on Friday morning (April 18) at 7:15 AM on The Country Giant's award-winning radio morning show hosted by Gator & The StyckMan.
Residents in the Upper Cumberlands (Cookeville, Tennessee) can tune in to the Country Giant (WGSQ) at 94.7 FM or listeners worldwide can visit online at: www.countrygiant.com.
Jack will be discussing his shows on Friday, April 18 and Friday, May 16 at the Cookeville Children's Museum. Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $5.00 per family. The museum is located at 36 W. 2nd Street on Cookeville's Westside, at the corner of Cedar Avenue and 2nd Street. For more information on this great museum, click here.
We'd like to thank Gator & The StyckMan and WGSQ FM for supporting children's music!
4/10/08 - Words & Music Program
Jack will be a participating songwriter for the Country Music Hall of Fame's Words and Music Education Outreach Program.
Classes participating in the program complete a four-part lesson plan, developed by the Museum, which highlights the lyric-writing process. Students write or co-write lyrics in the classroom; the lyrics are then given to professional songwriters, who refine their lyrics and add melodies. Finally, students visit the Museum for a tour and a performance of their songs by their participating songwriter.
More than 4,700 kindergarten through 12th-grade students at 51 Tennessee and Florida schools wrote songs that were put to music by 48 volunteer professional songwriters throughout the 2007-08 school year. This is the 29th year that the Museum has offered its Words & Music program.
Stay tuned. We'll try to add song samples of the tunes Jack writes with the students!
4/6/08 Written by Doolittle
Toot! Toot! We are very excited to announce that the Zinghoppers will be appearing at the 2008 CMA Music Festival (formerly known as "Fan Fair")!
The event is often described as, "ultimate country music fan experience". Some of the great acts appearing this year include: Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Dwight Yoakam, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Jewel, Miranda Lambert, Josh Turner, Rodney Atkins, Kellie Pickler and many more!
We'll be a featured act on the Family Zone Stage on Sunday, June 8.
CMA Music Festival is unique among music festivals. It is a four-day celebration of America?s music that features artist/fan interaction, autograph signings, photo opportunities, more than 100 hours of concerts, family activities and much more. Each year, hundreds of artists and celebrities appear at CMA Music Festival ? from rising stars, to current favorites and the legends. CMA Music Festival is a veritable stomping ground for both those who love making music and those who love hearing it.
Presented annually by the Country Music Association, this world-class event has grown to attract nearly 200,000 fans from around the world in 2007, while simultaneously raising money for "Keep the Music Playing," a music education initiative in local public schools through a partnership with the Nashville Alliance for Public Education. Since co-establishing ?Keep the Music Playing? in 2006, CMA has donated more than $1.1 million to the cause from proceeds generated at the CMA Music Festival.
For information on the CMA Music Festival, click here. For information on the Country Music Association, click here.
So hop on the Happy Train with Conductor Jack, Penelope The Possum, Olo The Donkey, Coconuts The Kangaroo and the Zinghopper Dancers for an afternoon of "musical fun just for the young" in Nashville!
3/29/08 Written by Doolittle
We are happy to announce that the Zinghoppers debut album, "Hop, Hop, Hop" is now available at Target stores worldwide through Target.com.
Look for Jack's new album, "Toot! Toot! All Aboard!" on Target.com in the weeks following its release (4/8/08).
2/8/08 Written by Doolittle
We'd like to thank all the recent visitors to our site. Last month, we had 600,245 unique visitors to our site! At this stage of our career, we never thought we'd get that much traffic in a single month, and we're excited and honored to have you visiting us!
We promise to keep adding new videos, pictures from the road, and news from Zinghopper Land to keep this website exciting, fun and safe for young children and their families!
Thanks!
The Zinghoppers
1/23/08 Written by DoolittleThe Zinghoppers song, "Dancing Like A Donkey" (from our CD, "Hop, Hop, Hop!") has been added to Gooney Bird Kids. We're really excited as they are a great resource for children's music!
A big thanks to the Gooney Birds from the Zinghoppers!
1/8/07 Written by Doolittle
The Zinghoppers will be featured on tomorrow's broadcast of the award-winning "Good Morning! Arizona" news. We'll be performing three new songs from our CD, "Hop, Hop, Hop!".
We are very excited to be a part of the show as it is Arizona's number one rated morning news show, the number one independent morning news show in the United States and has more Arizona viewers than "The Today Show", "Good Morning, America" and "CBS This Morning"! We're going to have some fun!
Watch for us around 8:30 AM on Wednesday, January 9. In Arizona, check local listings for KTVK.
1/6/08 Written by Doolittle
We are pleased to announce that all of the content on Zinghoppers.com is now available in Spanish. We have recieved several emails requesting this, and we are more than happy to add this feature. Please drop us an email telling us how it works. We would love to hear specifically from Spanish speakers to get feedback on the quality of the translations.
You'll notice that at the top of each page, just below our banner, there is a link for English or Spanish - if you click the Spanish link a new all-Spanish version of our site opens.
Our friend Olo is busy teaching Jack and Penelope how to speak Spanish and we're excited about adding several Spanish songs to our new CD!
12/27/07 Written by Doolittle
The Zinghoppers first music video for the song, "Dancing Like Olo The Donkey" from "Hop, Hop, Hop!" featuring Penelope, Coconuts, Conductor Zinghopper - and of course, Olo!
We had a lot of fun in the park shooting this video!
11/12/07 Written by Doolittle The Zinghoppers will perform a special concert of holiday music on Saturday, November 17 at Santa's - Christmas Theme Park in Chandler, Arizona at the Firebird International Raceway. Although this is a special private event for employees of the Mayo Clinic, we encourage your family to visit Santa's this holiday season for lots of Christmas fun!
11/8/07 Written by Doolittle
The Zinghoppers are featured on the cover of this week's issue of the The Desert Advocate News - a great newspaper which is available in the North Phoenix, Cave Creek, Carefree, Anthem area. They are the oldest newspaper in northern Maricopa County.
A big thanks to Jim Crawford for a great interview and to Brian Barbour for a wonderful picture! Thanks guys!
10/9/07 Written by DoolittleWe are happy to announce the release of the Zinghoppers new album, "Hop, Hop, Hop". For ordering information, click here.
Meet the Zinghoppers - a playful band of colorful characters that love making music to the delight of preschoolers! With upbeat original dance songs, high energy sing-a-longs, as well as a few children’s classics, this album features 20 tracks of developmentally-appropriate music for children ages 1-8.
The Zinghoppers (lead singer Penelope The Possum on bass, Olo The Donkey on guitar and Coconuts The Kangaroo on drums) are joined by their friends Conductor Zinghopper (banjo, ukulele), Cowgirl Kitty (piano, xylophone) and special guest Zookeeper Ken on their debut CD.
The group encourages play through songs such as “That Possum Is Awesome” and “Our Friend Olo”. Physical activity, movement and dance are explored through songs “Dancing Like Olo The Donkey”, “Stomp Your Feet” and “Thumbs Up”. Reading readiness and literacy is promoted in “A Letter For Coconuts” and “Down At The Zoo”. A few sing-a-long classics are included such as “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and a new Zinghopper version of “If You’re Hoppy And You Know It”.
Fun, entertaining and educational, this playful collection will have you singing, dancing - and of course - hopping along to the Zinghoppers.
9/17/07 Written by Doolittle
Borders Books In-store Performances...
The Zinghoppers will be appearing at several Phoenix area Borders bookstores this month to promote the release of our debut CD, "Hop Hop Hop". Five shows, in two days! Here's the schedule...
Meet The Zinghoppers - Arizona's premier band for preschool children and their families!
Appearing live in concert at Borders, the Zinghoppers are a band of
colorful costumed characters that love to make music and dance to the
delight of preschoolers. The group is led by the adorable Penelope The
Possum and her band mates: Olo The Donkey on guitar, Coconuts The
Kangaroo on drums and the friendly Conductor Zinghopper (the only
human asked to join the band) on ukulele.
The group will be performing songs from their debut CD, "Hop Hop Hop"
which will be on sale at Borders the day of the performance.
Created by the husband and wife team of Jack and Kitty Norton (each
experienced educators with a degree in Early Childhood Education), the
group performs Nationwide and is based in the Phoenix area.
Blending upbeat music, playful lyrics, slapstick comedy, and important
"edutainment" elements designed for the audience's age group, the
Zinghoppers encourage kids to explore the world around them through
music, movement and laughter.
6/20/07 Written by Doolittle
Here's a cute picture taken by the St. Charles Press of Conductor Jack and Penelope The Possum joined on stage at the Winona County Fair by a friendly shark!
Everyone's doing a shark dance!
Happy Hopping!
Doolittle
6/20/07 Written by Doolittle
Here's a picture of me at work in my office. A lot of folks have asked to see a picture of my workplace.
Happy Hopping!
Doolittle
6/20/07 Written by Doolittle
I just added some coloring sheets on the Activities & Games page. Here they are:
Click the above image of Penelope for a PDF file to print and color!
If you'd like to send us your artwork email us at: webmaster@zinghoppers.com.
Click the above image of Olo for a PDF file to print and color!
If you'd like to send us your artwork email us at: webmaster@zinghoppers.com.
Doolittle Z. Webmeister
"The World's Only Webmaster Dog"
6/4/07 Written by Doolittle
With anticipation of the new Zinghoppers CD and our busy summer schedule, we have been working on adding a lot more content to the website. Stay tuned - and check back often!
Doolittle Z. Webmeister
"The World's Only Webmaster Dog"
© 1996-2008 Wonderiffic LLC
We'd like to thank Tim L. Waltner for writing a great concert review and article on Jack's show this past weekend at the Freeman Academy in Freeman, South Dakota. Although this was a rare performance for a (mostly) adult audience by Jack and the Mullet River Boys, there is a lot of discussion within the article on Jack's music for children. We really appreciate the kind words and great article! A big "hello" to all our new friends in Freeman!
We are featured in today's Raising Arizona Kids magazine! Here's a reprint of the article and photo...thanks for Dan and everyone at Raising Arizona Kids for their support!
Jack and Kitty Norton of Cave Creek play hundreds of concerts for crowds of adoring, devoted fans. The Nortons created Zinghoppers characters and music to get children ages 4 and younger moving and singing along. The characters Penelope Possum (that's her at left, recording their latest CD), Coconuts the Kangaroo, Olo the Donkey and Conductor [Jack] are animated and innocent, just like the fans. ?Good kids? music should not be annoying to adults,? says Jack. ?And [kids] should respond instinctively to the beat and the characters singing it.?
Conductor Jack and the Zinghoppers are profiled in Cookeville's Herald-Citizen newspaper today. We are so thankful for their support and for this neat article!
In honor of Earth Day, we are happy to announce that both of our websites (
Toot! Toot!
Jack will be a participating songwriter for the 
Toot! Toot! We are very excited to announce that the Zinghoppers will be appearing at the 2008 CMA Music Festival (formerly known as "Fan Fair")!
Presented annually by the Country Music Association, this world-class event has grown to attract nearly 200,000 fans from around the world in 2007, while simultaneously raising money for "Keep the Music Playing," a music education initiative in local public schools through a partnership with the Nashville Alliance for Public Education. Since co-establishing ?Keep the Music Playing? in 2006, CMA has donated more than $1.1 million to the cause from proceeds generated at the CMA Music Festival.
We are happy to announce that the Zinghoppers debut album, "Hop, Hop, Hop" is now available at Target stores worldwide through Target.com.
The Zinghoppers song, "Dancing Like A Donkey" (from our CD, "Hop, Hop, Hop!") has been added to 
The Zinghoppers will perform a special concert of holiday music on Saturday, November 17 at 
