Children's Grammy Nominations: A Nation Reacts!

OK, a nation isn't really reacting, but the nominees are. Some thoughts from some of the nominees... (Ed: Now with bonus Brady Rymer thoughts!) The prize for wittiest reaction goes Richard Perlmutter, the guy behind the oft-nominated Beethoven's Wig series:
The greatest composers on high Looked down from their perch in the sky "Who's Perlmutter?" Bach said Mozart just shook his head Then Beethoven said, "One lucky guy!

Interview: Brandon Reese

This interview almost didn't happen. I mean, I clearly think that the illustrations of Brandon Reese are awesome -- just see my comments on his illustrations for the Jellydots' Changing Skies and the forthcoming Lunch Money album Dizzy. But I wasn't thinking interview. Until I was shoe shopping with my kids this weekend and a card game near the register caught my eye. Whimsical, joyful art that looked like, yes, another eeBoo product from Reese. And then I thought -- man, I've got to interview this guy. I really, really like this interview. Read on to find out how Reese became an illustrator, stories behind the art for those two albums, and what bad kids music album art entails. ****** brandy_age5_sm.jpgZooglobble: How did you become an illustrator (e.g., what did you draw growing up? where did you get your training, etc.?) Brandon Reese: I think I always drew. My mom and brother are a big reason for that. When my brother and I were little, my mom read somewhere that in order to foster creativity in your children, you shouldn't give them coloring books but blank pieces of paper instead. My brother always drew and I wanted to be as good as him, so I was constantly practicing. As far as training, the first formal art class I'd ever taken was in college. Reason being, I went to small private schools my whole life, none of which really had any arts programs. I'm sure if you could find my old school books you'd see doodles on most of the pages. I distinctly remember getting in trouble in the 6th grade for drawing in my textbook and my teacher calling me "morbid." (I was really into skulls and skeletons back then.) (chicken- by Brandy, age 5)

Just In Case You Think The Muppets Are Bummed About the Lack of a Grammy Nomination

Kermit the Frog won't win the Grammy this year, but he's moved into covering some more recent, adult tunes. This will be amusing only if you're familiar with the song (and only of marginal interest to your kids), but I swear that if you are familiar with it, you must must must watch this all the way through. (Hat tip: Idolator.) I'm not a huge fan of this song , but the album it closes, Sound of Silver, is pretty awesome. And if you're not familiar with that song, you can always go back and watch this more familiar cover. Ed: It's up on YouTube!

51st Grammy Nominations Announced

So the nominations for the 51st Grammy Awards have been announced, and for those of you who remember the push for membership, I think you'll be pretty pleased. I mean, your favorite CD of the year might not have been nominated, but there aren't any stinkers in there... Best Musical Album For Children (For albums consisting of predominantly music or song vs. spoken word.) Beethoven's Wig 4: Dance Along Symphonies - Beethoven's Wig [Rounder Records] Big Round World - Trout Fishing In America [Trout Records] Here Come The 123s - They Might Be Giants [Disney Sound] Here Comes Brady Rymer And The Little Band That Could - Brady Rymer And The Little Band That Could [Bumblin' Bee Records] The Shoe Bird - Gerard Schwarz Conducting The Seattle Symphony [Brilliance Audio] Best Spoken Word Album For Children (For albums consisting of predominantly spoken word vs. music or song.) Around The Campfire - Buck Howdy With BB [Prairie Dog Entertainment] The Big One-Oh - Dean Pitchford [Random House Audio/Listening Library] Brown Bear And Friends - Gwyneth Paltrow [Macmillan Audio] The Cricket In Times Square - Tony Shalhoub [Macmillan Audio] Yes To Running! Bill Harley Live - Bill Harley [Round River Records]

Dee-mos, er, Demos from the Deedle Deedle Dees

One Myspace page isn't enough for Brooklyn's Deedle Deedle Dees, as they've set up a new page for demos for their upcoming album. They're set to record tracks for Dee-mocracy soon, but you can hear Lloyd Miller's (er, Ulysses Dee's) solo demos at Deedle Deedle Dee-mos. If you're a long-time reader, some of the historically-inspired tracks (or at least their stories) will sound familiar -- "Bring 'Em In," "Little Red Airplane," and the Bill Childs-inspired "Susan B. Anthony." But there are a couple new (to me) tracks -- "Tubtubtubman" and "Growl Growl Alaska." I especially like Miller's falsetto on the latter track. The chorus on the former's pretty catchy, too... I'm also highly amused by the random picture of a Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback -- Vinny Testaverde? -- as the artist photo on the page. Perhaps there's a song about them losing their first 26 regular season games. (Ed.: Just noticed that Lloyd said it was Trent Dilfer. The retro uni confused me.) Which reminds me, and I know I'm off on a tangent here, but those initially hapless Bucs are the source for possibly my favorite sports quotation of all time. It was uttered by their first head coach, John McKay. After one of those first 26 losses, McKay was asked by a reporter what he thought of his team's execution. McKay's reply: "I think it's a good idea."