Jonathan Sprout facts for kids

Jonathan Sprout was born on April 12, 1952, in Hightstown, New Jersey, USA. He is an American songwriter, performer, and recording artist from Pennsylvania. Jonathan is well-known for his twelve albums, especially those featuring children's music.

He has performed over 6,500 concerts and led more than 800 songwriting workshops across the United States. Starting in 1994, Jonathan spent 20 years researching and writing songs about American heroes. These songs led to four albums that won 26 national awards. One of his albums, American Heroes #3, was even nominated for a Grammy Award in 2010 for "Best Music for Children."

Jonathan Sprout's Early Life

Jonathan Sprout smiling in front of a stone wall.

Jonathan Sprout grew up in Hightstown, New Jersey. He went to high school at the Peddie School in Hightstown. Later, he studied at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. It was there that he became very interested in music.

At college, he was part of a fraternity and enjoyed competitive swimming. He also joined the campus theater group, Cap and Dagger. Jonathan graduated from Bucknell in 1974 with a degree in psychology.

After college, he performed regularly in ski resorts like Killington, Vermont. He also played in Estes Park, Colorado, and Lake Placid, New York. His first album, "Angel's Everywhere," came out in 1978. In 1979, he started a band called Light to share his new songs.

Jonathan lives in Bryn Gweled, a special community near Philadelphia. He is a member of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers. This group believes in living together with kindness and responsibility. Jonathan's home and studio use solar panels, and he drives a plug-in hybrid car. This helps him live and travel using very little energy from the main power grid.

Jonathan Sprout's Music Career

Starting His Music Journey

In 1986, Jonathan Sprout worked with recording engineer Leslie Chew. They created "On the Radio," which was one of the first rock music albums for children in America. In 1990, Sprout Recordings released "Lullabies for a New Age." This was the first album of original New Age music made for kids.

In 1991, Jonathan used his psychology degree to create "Kid Power." This album was designed to help children feel good about themselves. His album "Dr. Music" followed in 1994. The main song from this album was very popular on Radio AHHS, a radio station for children.

Songs About American Heroes

From 1994, Jonathan spent 20 years learning about and writing songs about important American heroes. These songs became four albums that won 26 national awards. One of these albums was even nominated for a Grammy Award!

Jonathan wrote a song about John Muir, a famous naturalist. This song is on his Grammy-nominated album, American Heroes #3. Another of his songs, "Interconnected," is about Rachel Carson, an environmentalist. You can find this song and an article about it at Kids Can Groove.

You can also find his American Heroes collection at Songs for Teaching.

Force For Good Music

In 2016, Jonathan Sprout started a project called Force For Good. He was inspired by the heroes he wrote about and wanted to help people. This project aims to bring people together and encourage them to be good citizens.

Jonathan worked with co-producer Joe Mennonna for two years to create 24 original music pieces. Then, he spent two more years making films for each song with filmmaker Rodney Whittenberg. The songs and films from Force For Good talk about important topics. These include sensible gun control, helping immigrants, climate change, and equal rights for everyone.

Force For Good started releasing one film each month in January 2020. The first film, "Ice," was about melting ice caps and climate change. The audio CD "Passions" came out in February 2020, and "Innocence" followed in February 2021. The "Passions" CD was very popular, reaching #2 on the March Top 100 charts. The film "Safe," which is about gun regulation, was a finalist in the Independent Shorts Awards.

Kathy Parsons from Mainly Piano interviewed Jonathan about his Force For Good Music and his career.

Jonathan Sprout's Discography

Music Albums

• Angels Everywhere (Green Mount Records, 1978)
• A Light in the Night (Sprout Recordings, 1984)
• On the Radio (Sprout Records, 1986)
• Lullabies for a New Age (Sprout Recordings, 1991)
• Kid Power (Sprout Recordings, 1991)
• Dr. Music (Sprout Recordings, 1994)
• More American Heroes (Sprout Records, 2000)
• American Heroes (Sprout Records, 2006)
• American Heroes #3 (Sprout Recordings, 2009)
• American Heroes #4 (Sprout Recordings, 2014)
• Passions (Sprout Recordings, 2020)
• Innocence (Sprout Recordings, 2021)

You can find more about his albums here: Discogs.

Short Films

• Ice - [1]
• Harmony - [2]
• Courage - [3]
• Solar - [4]
• Refuge - [5]
• Community - [6]
• Safe - [7]
• Happiness - [8]
• Grace - [9]
• Hope - [10]
• Mountains - [11]
• Organic - [12]
• Exceptional - [13]
• Homeless - [14]
• Natural - [15]
• Adirondack - [16]
• Wilderness - [17]
• Vinyasa - [18]
• Reverence - [19]
• Plastic - [20]
• Wind Energy - [21]
• Oceans - [22]
• Uplifters - [23]
• Hunger - [24]

The film "Hunger" is used by the Warminster, PA Food Bank on their website. Jonathan also volunteers at the food bank.