Jack Norton

Singer/songwriter Jack Norton has specialized in self-described anti-folk, country-tinged music since the early '90s. He has issued albums under several different pseudonyms -- including a three-year stint as Paul Dandy in both North America and Europe. Afterwards, Norton relocated to Mexico City, where he took a series of non-music jobs due to his dissatisfaction with the business. Despite his absence from the stage, Norton kept on writing new tunes (it's been rumored that he committed 2,000 songs to tape during this period), before eventually returning to America and touring throughout the southwest. Under the name Paul Dandy, he's issued a pair of albums, 1998's Wizard Oil (which was named Album of the Year by Tradition Magazine), as well as White Dog Hunch (which earned him the title of Best New Artist in the Minneapolis Star Tribune). Norton issued the first album under his real name in 2001, Dance Real Slow, and also plays as a duo with Ben Weaver. Norton-Weaver has toured with the likes of Alejandro Escovedo and the Squirrel Nut Zippers. ~ Greg Prato