New Orleans has jazz. Nashville has country. The Delta has the blues. Garnavillo, Iowa - population 745 - has corn…and we ain’t talking veggies! That’s right - thanks to the homegrown and farm-shucked comedic jazz of a few heartland boys, a new musical genre called Corn plowed its way up the charts and across the globe in the late 1930s. From the obscure tractor-dotted landscape of the Midwest to Hollywood, Manhattan, Europe, and all points in between, this is the comedic tale of stolen creative genius, betrayal, quirky passions, rags-to-riches luck - and perhaps even murder - which will knock your socks off. You may have never heard of Freddie Fisher’s Schnickelfritz Band and Stan Fritts and the Korn Kobblers, but the cornball jazz and novelty swing of these two groups would go on to have a profound influence on the landscape of American pop culture. Artists as diverse as Frank Zappa, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, Tiny Tim, Captain Beefheart, OutKast and Weird Al Yankovic all claim themselves as fans of Fisher and Fritts…now you can find out why. “Cornstars - Rube Music in Swing Time: The Rise and Fall of Freddie Fisher and his Schnickelfritz Band…Stan Fritts and his Korn Kobblers…and the Hillbilly, Cornball, Novelty Jazz Music of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s” is a sweeping overview of American musical entertainment set in the later days of minstrelsy through the early days of television. Emmy Award winning author Jack Norton crafts a painstakingly detailed account told on vaudeville stages, over the airwaves of early radio stations, in the grooves of brittle old 78 rpm records and on the silver screens of Hollywood’s golden era. A treasure trove of Americana. They were bands with names like: Schnickelfritz, The Korn Kobblers, Spike Jones and his City Slickers, The Hoosier Hot Shots, Ezra Buzzington’s Rube Band, The Five Harmaniacs, Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers, The Kidoodlers, The Sweet Violet Boys, Pappy Trester and his Screwballs, The Cackle Sisters, Fiddle Bow Bill and his Dew Valley Acorns, The Crazy Tooters, Darrell Fischer and the Minnesota Log Jammers, The Zobo Band, The Nebraska Sandhill Billies and Mrs. O’Leary’s Famous Musical Cow. Their sound was usually centered around the “whiz-bang”, an intricate musical washboard, along with traditional Dixieland jazz band instrumentation augmented by highly visual, Rube Goldberg-like comedic creations such as: the tootaboot, the horse collar, the squeezarina, the horncycle, the oralhorn, the piperubhorn, the skoocherphone, the greasybell, the tuberina and the blow-chicken. Yes, the blow-chicken was the name of a real instrument used by these jazzmen in the 1930s and 1940s. And today these bands, instruments and the music they made are largely forgotten. Refreshingly, Norton’s spotlight focuses on two musicians: Freddie Fisher, an eccentric jazz clarinetist and impresario from Garnavillio, Iowa and his bandmate Stan Fritts, a gifted trombonist that gave up a career of farming corn in rural Lyons, Nebraska - so he could make musical corn on stages coast to coast, first in territorial jazz bands and eventually with his own band at the Metropolitan Opera House. Without realizing it, the author uncovered a true story of the American dream. From their humble beginnings playing rural barn dances in Winona, Minnesota to recording over 200 sides for Decca Records and earning a film contract with Warner Brothers Studios, readers will recognize a real-life Horatio Alger tale if there ever was one. Iconic legends of entertainment appear throughout this work including: Rudy Vallee, Jack Dempsey, The Warner Brothers, Max Fleischer, Jack Benny, Laurel and Hardy, Bing Crosby, Guy Lombardo, Captain Kangaroo, Busby Berkeley, Lawrence Welk and many other past stars and celebrities. Amidst the comedic cornball chaos of Fisher and Fritts emerged two spectacular musical groups: The Schnickelfritz Band and the Korn Kobblers. Norton details their meteoric rise and unprecedented fall, thanks to knowledge gleamed from the musicians’ personal scrapbooks, rare first-hand accounts from band members, friends and fans, and nearly two and half decades worth of personal research in dusty libraries and historic archives around the world. In the end, Norton’s book is over 180,000 words and includes more than 950 rare, never-before-scene photos which illuminate this illustrated edition. Chapters: 1. Freddie Fisher’s Idea of Jazz 2. Photo Gallery 3. Highway 61, Revisited 4. Stan the Man 5. Freddie the Little Rascal 6. Some Zobo Punks 7. The Birth of the Whiz Bang 8. Ezra Buzzington, Rube Superstar 9. The Five Harmaniacs 10. Laughing Songs and Kidoodlers 11. Schnickelfritz at the Sugar Loaf 12. Fisher and Fritts 13. Midway Gardens and Decca Records 14. Gold Diggers in Minnesota and Iowa 15. A Talking Picture for Warner Brothers 16. The Fall of 1939 17. Schnickel Splits, Korn Kobblers are Born 18. Corn Invades Tin Pan Alley 19. Sweet Violets…and Boys 20. Fisher’s Happy Hours 21. Corn on the Road 22. Marketing Madness 23. Korn Kobblers in the Big Apple 24. Fisher Flounders Out West 25. Darrell the Minnesota Log Jammer, Part 1 26. The Famous Musical Cow 27. Darrell the Minnesota Log Jammer, Part 2 28. Willie the Weeper, or Darrell the Minnesota Log Jammer, Part 3 29. Those Crazy Tooters 30. Cloned Cornstars 31. Kobb’s Korner: TV and Talking Pictures 32. A Captain Named Stubby 33. More Cloned Cornstars 34. The Nebraska Sandhill Billies 35. Stan’s Simple New Life 36. Fisher the Fixer in Aspen 37. Doowackadoodlers, Corn Redux 38. The Last Goodbye 39. Pappy’s Screwball Symphony 40. The End Times 41. Cornstars - Film, Soundtrack Album and Podcast 42. Recommended Books 43. Recommended Films 44. A Note on the Discographies 45. Discography - Freddie Fisher (The Schnickelfritz Band) 46. Discography - Stanley Fritts (The Korn Kobblers) 47. Discography - The Doowackadoodlers 48. Discography - Darrell Fischer 49. Discography - The Crazy Tooters 50. Discography - Roy King and the Komi Kings 51. Discography - The Kidoodlers 52. Discography - Sweet Violet Boys 53. Discography - Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers 54. Discography - Ezra Buzzington 55. Discography - The Five Harmaniacs 56. Discography - Maple City Four 57. Appendix 1 - References 58. Appendix 2 - Magazine Interview with Jack Norton 59. Appendix 3 - Schnickelfritz Lives Again 60. Appendix 4 - Schnickelfest Program Notes 61. Appendix 5 - Corn Comedy 62. Afterword: Can You Do Me a Favor? 63. About the Author 64. Disclaimer 65. Dedication 66. Copyright

Do you dream of making a six-figure income with your music? Would you like to leave your job and be a full-time, touring musician? This book will show you how. I spent almost three decades making my living as a professional musician - playing over 300 shows a year. I make a very comfortable living - well into the six figures - every year, and have for over a decade now. I do not have a record label, a manager or an agent. I am 100% independent and run my entire business from my laptop, my phone and with my guitar. I am a master at booking great paying gigs - and I will teach you all the tips and tricks you need to know. This book is for any musician in any genre of music. Beyond the money - which is awesome - I am able to live the life of my dreams! I can not guarantee that this book will make you famous. I am definitely not famous. This is not a "get rich quick" scheme. This takes hard work. However, if you follow the steps in this book, I can absolutely guarantee that you will make money. Good money. And if you are really serious about your craft and about your business, I can guarantee without a shadow of a doubt, that you will make GREAT money by following the methods I outline in this book. Here are just a few things you will learn in this book: • How to easily book 300+ great paying shows a year! • How to earn a six-figure income from your music! • How to develop yourself as a marketable artist • How to send emails that will get results...gig bookings! • How to find gigs and contact venues successfully • How to form a "brand bible" around yourself • How to create a fan base and impressive social media stats • How to manipulate reality to be taken more seriously as an artist • How to focus on your true goals, desires and dreams • How to "give birth to a star"...you! • How to build an impressive team - from agent to record label • How to have an awesome website with the essentials to get gigs • How to build a website for almost no money • How to build a database of awesome gigs and leads • How to always get repeat bookings ...and so much more! This book includes multiple email templates which I have used successfully for the past decade to book gigs...you can copy and paste them to start booking your own shows immediately. Oh! Be sure to look for the two companion books - Tour Europe and The Contract - both are a nice addition to The Successful Musician Mindset. Testimony from G.R., a reader of this book: “I purchased your Successful Musician Mindset book and was extremely impressed! Honestly the best book on the practical application of the music business I have ever read! I have read your book twice and, I have to say again, the information you gave was absolutely golden! I have been looking EVERYWHERE for a practical music business book discussing how to book a national tour step by step and you delivered a phenomenal amount of information in the most specific manner.”

Emmy Award winning artist Kitty Norton found success while still in high school as a session vocalist at Prince's Paisley Park Studios, and was signed to a recording contract before she graduated. What looked to be a promising career in pop music was cut short by a debilitating car accident. Bedridden for over a year, the former cheerleader and model had ballooned to 515 pounds. Yes, 515 pounds. How did this disabled, stay-at-home, self-employed, and depressed lady lose 345 pounds... completely naturally - without any gimmicks, surgeries, pills or fad diets? This raw and inspiring memoir invites readers, while giving practical steps, to have a better body and life, too!

Warning: reading this book has been known to cause eye rolls, sighs of disgust and severe allergic reactions to those with a distaste for corn. Sit back, relax and get ready to laugh your butt off at this horribly bad collection of dad jokes, redneck puns and classic one liners. You’ll be the coolest dad at the barbeque, the silliest guy in the office or the most loved (hated?) neighbor on the block if you use these jokes in your everyday life. By the way, what do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?

Do you want to take back your life and be more safe and secure? Do you dream of having strong privacy online and in your everyday life? This book will show you how. The Successful Privacy Mindset is for anyone that has ever felt watched, ever felt that their privacy has been compromised or for anyone that has ever felt less than safe and secure. You deserve to feel safe at all times! If you are a survivor of an assault, rape, mugging, stalker, identity theft, home invasion or any other ugliness - there will be ideas in this book that will make you feel safe. One of the most troubling things about crime is that the victim can feel the scars for years and years afterwards. My goal for readers of this book is to help switch you out of the victim mindset and into the survivor mindset. Take back your life. I know you can. You deserve to feel safe at all times! After dealing with a stalker who tormented me for several years I finally decided enough was enough! I made a vow I would take back my life and that started with my privacy. Over the years I became an expert and made a new life for myself - one built on the principals of privacy and security. I used many of the same secret techniques used in the Witness Protection Program as well as additional precautions so I would never be a victim again. In this book I will teach you all the tips and tricks you need to know to stay safe and regain your privacy. These tools will keep you invisible from potential stalkers and criminals. I am not in law enforcement nor do I have a military background. I am simply a law abiding citizen that wanted to take control of their life - so I became a warrior for my freedom. I learned how to be a master of privacy both online and in my everyday life, and now I will show you what to do to stay safe too. Every tip in this book may not apply to every reader, but I can guarantee that if you follow even a few of the simple steps I have outlined here, you will be safer than 99% of your peers. Here are just a few of the chapters in this book: • Safety In The Shadows - The Ultimate Goal: Invisibility • Privacy Is Freedom • The Levels Of Privacy • Anonymity Is Essential • Basic Privacy Tips • Stalkers Are Sick, Assume The Worst • The Gray Rock Always Wins - You Must Be Forgettable • How To Build The New You • Predictability Is The Enemy • Document The Threat You Are Under • Consider Your Proof Of Life • Your Future Depends On Your Past • Privacy Tips For Banking And Finances • Privacy Tips For Housing And Utilities • Privacy Tips For Transportation • Your New Digital Life • Privacy Tips For Phones, Computers And More • Privacy Tips For Social Media • How To Beat Facial Recognition • Privacy Tips For Email, Physical Mail And A Ghost Address • Build Your Own Safe-house • Sanctuary In Deception • Consider Multiple Identities • Practical Preparedness: Be Ready At All Times • On Person Essentials • Your Everyday Carry Kit • Your Bug Out Back • Making Money Anonymously • Building A Secret Business • Tips To Create A Secret LLC • Streams Flow Into Rivers: Money Sources ...and so much more! This book makes a great gift as well.

"The heart of David Weinstein's book examines DuMont's programs and personalities, including Dennis James, Captain Video, Morey Amsterdam, Jackie Gleason and The Honeymooners, Ernie Kovacs, and Rocky King, Detective. Weinstein uses rare kinescopes, archival photographs, exclusive interviews, trade journal articles, and corporate documents to tell the story of a "forgotten network" that helped invent the very business of network television."--Jacket.