Norman Mervyn Barrington-Foote is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and comedian. Foote is originally from

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He has been nominated for four

Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

for Best Children's Album in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, and won in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. He has written for ''

Walt Disney Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its r ...

Shari Lewis Shari Lewis (born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz; January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was a Peabody-winning American ventriloquist, puppeteer, children's entertainer, television show host, dancer, singer, actress, author, and symphonic conductor. She wa ...

,'' CBC's syndicated TV show ''

Scoop and Doozie Scoop and Doozie was a late 1990s Children's television series about the everyday lives of Doozie, an orange toy bulldozer, Scoop, a yellow toy excavator, and Axel, a blue and red dumptruck, aimed at preschoolers and kindergarteners. It used skil ...

,'' and

Koba Entertainment Koba Entertainment is a producer of original musical theatre based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. To date, they have produced numerous Canadian and U.S. tours for such famous children's properties as Bubble Guppies, Max and Ruby, Toopy & Binoo, ...

, with productions including Nelvana's ''Little Bear Live'', Max and Ruby live on stage shows, Toopy and Binoo in The Marshmallow Moon and ''

Backyardigans ''The Backyardigans'' is a computer-animated musical children's television series created by Janice Burgess. The series was written and recorded at Nickelodeon Animation Studio. It centers on five animal neighbors who imagine themselves on fantast ...

Live.''

History

Norman Foote received his first guitar from his parents at the age of 11. Influenced by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

, and

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, he soon switched to the

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

. This led to performing with

garage bands Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

throughout his high school career. At the age of 20, Foote left home to travel

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and it was while he was abroad and performing with a travelling theatre group in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia that Foote discovered his passion for

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a perform ...

and

slapstick comedy Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

. Foote was one of the first artists to sign on for the ''Music Box Artist Series'' with Walt Disney Records. It is with Disney that he recorded his first two albums, ''FootePrints'' and ''If the Shoe Fits''. In 1995, Foote teamed up with another children's performer,

Fred Penner Frederick Ralph Cornelius Penner (born November 6, 1946) is a Canadian children's entertainer and musician known for the song "The Cat Came Back" and his television series, '' Fred Penner's Place'', which aired on CBC in Canada from 1985 to 199 ...

, and his company Oak Street Music to release his next album ''Shake a Leg''. Oak Street Music continued to be a major contributor in the production of future records, including ''Pictures on the Fridge'', released in 1997. Foote's music has been called exuberant, good-natured, and fun with refined mannerisms. While Foote uses only his voice and guitar as instruments, he combines light jazz, pop, and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

music to create his own style that has helped keep his name alive for over 20 years. His first contemporary album, ''Domestic Rendez-vous'', is geared towards an adult audience rather than children. He has performed with numerous symphonies, including the

Oklahoma City Philharmonic The Oklahoma City Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. History As is the case with many American symphony orchestras, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic owes a degree of its heritage to two predecessor professi ...

Nashville Symphony Orchestra The Nashville Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in Nashville, Tennessee. The orchestra is resident at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. History In 1920, prior to the 1946 founding of the Nashville Symphony, a group of amateur and ...

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

, and the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

. He has also performed at the Montreal Comedy Festival, Just For Laughs and internationally at the

Galway Arts Festival The Galway International Arts Festival (GIAF), founded in 1978, is a cultural organization that produces an annual arts festival in Galway, Ireland. It also produces new work that tours nationally and internationally, in addition to presenting ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. His seventh album, ''Love My New Shirt'', won "Best Children's Album" at the 2010 JUNO Awards in St. Johns, Canada. On May 25th, 2013, Norman released his eighth children's album, "Always Be Yourself". In 2018, Norman's 9th children's album, "Everybody Sings," was released.

Awards

*''Parent's Choice Award'' - 1992, 1996, 2001, 2002 *''Socan's Best Songwriter for Children'' - 2002 *''National Association of Parenting Publications of America Award'' - 1992, 2002, 2003 *''Juno Awards'' Nominee - 1990, 1993, 2001 *"Juno Awards" Winner - 2010

Discography

*''Some People'' (1985) *''FootePrints'' (1989, rereleased in 1991) *''If the Shoe Fits'' (1992) *''Shake a Leg'' (1995) *''Pictures on the Fridge'' (1997) *''Step To It'' (1999) *''1000 Pennies'' (2001) *''Love My New Shirt'' (2008) *''Always Be Yourself'' (2013) *Everybody Sings (2018)

References

Norman Foote
Retrieved October 14, 2008.

Retrieved October 14, 2008.

Retrieved October 15, 2008.

Footnotes

External links

Norman Foote on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foote, Norman Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Musicians from Vancouver Canadian children's musicians Juno Award for Children's Album of the Year winners