World Premiere: "Lishy Lou and Lucky Too" Theme Song

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It's been a very busy year for Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band.  Not only did they release the Spanish-language album Fantastico! earlier this year, they've got a second album, Lishy Lou and Lucky Too , set for release next week.

Oh, did I mention that the album is the aural, radio show analogue to a hoped-for Lishy Lou and Lucky Too TV show?

Like I said, very busy.

But although it's all coming out now, Alisha Gaddis -- AKA "Lishy Lou" -- says that she and Lucky "were quietly and crazily working on all this for over a year."

Although Gaddis that she does most of the funny writing in the family ("Lucky is always the head of songwriting and all things musical"), they had some help for the new album.  In addition to having Michael Farkas help Gaddis and Diaz out with songs for the album, writer Chris McGowan wrote the Laugh-In   bits for the album.  McGowan and write Rebecca Leib also wrote a lot of writing for their other project (the TV show).

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As for the TV show, Gaddis says they "really want to expose kids to the classic live action television that we grew up with - I Love Lucy, Pee Wee's Playhouse, The Monkees - but with a modern twist."  (The fantastical characters in the picture above are all introduced on the Lishy Lou and Lucky Too website.)  One reason for the TV show, she says, is that "We want to entertain the kids in the Midwest or the far Pacific Northwest (and all those places in between) that we don't get to see face to face otherwise."

Asked whether it's easier or harder to write comedy for children, Gaddis says: 

I think it is just as difficult to write comedy for children as it is for adults.  You must always play to an audience's strengths, integrity and intelligence (at least that is what we believe).  Kids are clever sponges who deserve the best.  That is what we really try to give them.

So here, then, is the world premiere of the video for the Lishy Lou and Lucky Too TV show.

Weekly Summary (9/16/13 - 9/22/13)

Radio Playlist: New Music September 2013

It's been four weeks since my August new music playlist, so time to post another Spotify update for new music (see the August playlist here).  As always, it's limited in that if an artist hasn't chosen to post a song on Spotify, I can't put it on the list, nor can I feature songs from as-yet-unreleased albums.  But I'm always keeping stuff in reserve for the next Spotify playlist.

Check out the list here or go right here if you're in Spotify.

**** New Music September 2013 (September 2013 Kindie Playlist) ****

Dan Zanes & Elizabeth Mitchell – Hot Weather Music
Kathy Kallick Band – Use a Napkin (Not Your Mom)
Kath Bee – Ygfoyf
Zannie – The Rain Kid
Hey Buster – I'm a Boy
Heidi Swedberg and the Sukey Jump Band – Al Tambor
Caspar Babypants – Here Comes the Sun
Trout Fishing in America – The Late, Great, Nate McTate
The Digits – Measuring Angles (Parody)

Mr. Palindrome – My Ability (The Pencil & Eraser Song)

The Watson Twins - Hello Hello

Video: "Brussels Sprout Shout" - Duke Otherwise

So glad to see that Duke Otherwise has a video for a song off his somewhat-under-the-radar-but-fun debut album Creepy Crawly Love.  It's for "Brussels Sprout Shout," and as you can imagine, there are several featured vegetables.

This is what I imagine Downton Abbey to be like All. The. Time.  Please don't tell me I'm wrong. 

Duke Otherwise - "Brussels Sprout Shout" [Vimeo] 

Itty-Bitty Review: Pioneer Lane - The Watson Twins

I love being surprised by new music I hadn't expected.  It doesn't happen as much as it used to -- the kindie scene has matured -- but it still happens.

I hadn't heard that the Watson Twins were recording an album of family-friendly folk-pop until Pioneer Lane was released this week.  I still remember one of their sets at SXSW a few years back as being fun, and, in the dimmed lights of a church sanctuary, somewhat mysterious.  On the basis of that set, I thought that the prospect of a kids music album from them could be promising.

This new album moves their folk/rock/alt-country sound out of the sanctuary and into a barn somewhere for a late-afternoon picnic that stretches into a moonlight night.  The whole effect is mesmerizing, the sisters' harmonies reverberating on both the slow and uptempo tracks.  The songs stay away from narratives that would restrict themselves to kids -- these are love songs, if in language more geared toward the kindergartener in your life.  Highlights include the uplifting "Stay True," the sun-drenched pop of "Hello Hello," the hypnotic "Sun Drips on Leaves," and the paddycake-based album closer "My Family."

The album is brief, clocking in at just over 22 minutes.  It's most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 7, but this is definitely one of those albums that the parents will mix into their own playlists.  Pioneer Lane  is a tiny jewel of an album that will give the listener a warm, fuzzy glow, proof that kids music can still surprise and delight. Definitely recommended.

Review: My Cup of Tea - Heidi Swedberg

On her first album Play!, Heidi Swedberg gave us a celebration of the ukulele, playing (for the most part) simple songs designed to get uke-enthusiasts to play along.  The songs and arrangements were playful to be sure, and definitely more than somebody strumming the ukulele, but its ambitions were modest.

Move forward three years, and her follow up My Cup of Tea reveals Swedberg's true ambition -- to be the vaudevillian Dan Zanes of family music.  Yes, that cover photo, with family and friends playing roles of Civil War reenactors, Frida Kahlo, and barechested strongmen (to name a few), is a nice visual complement to the album's contents.  From the Jazz Age zip of the original title track which leads off the disk with a good dozen instruments and nearly as many voices to Swedberg's vocally dramatic take on Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat," if you're looking for an album with a single, distinctive groove, please move along.

The songs here are varied, and not in the "one song reggae, one song rap" approach that kids albums sometimes take.  After that Edward Lear song, the traditional folk tune "Little Birdie," perhaps the simplest song on the album, segues into the uptempo Panamanian tune "Al Tambor."  And while on a lot of albums, "Duermete," a Spanish lullaby, might be the album closer, Swedberg's duet with Cesar Bauvallet subtly turns into a Cuban-tinged raveup.  It's in these wild leaps from song to song that Swedberg and her collaborators -- primarily Daniel Ward and John Bartlit -- shine instrumentally.

Of course, given the wide-ranging musical interests, not everything succeeds -- there is no love lost between me and "Boogie Man," which takes a cheesy boogie theme and cranks it up to the point of clicking fast-forward.  And while I liked her more dramatic takes on "The Owl and the Pussycat" and "Istanbul" (made famous once more by distant cousin John Linnell in They Might Be Giants), some listeners might be put off by that musical playacting.  YMMV.

In true Zanes-ian fashion, there is very little here that could be pegged at a specific (non-adult) age range, so I'll call it ages 3 and up.  You can hear a sampler here.

You can appreciate My Cup of Tea  as a straight-up album of music from folk and world traditions played with verve and imaginatively arranged.  But I think you'll get more out of it if you think of it as a variety show without the banter, skits, and sponsor thanks.  In fact, somebody please get Ms. Swedberg a gig hosting her own variety show, pronto.  Signed, the Universe.  Definitely recommended.

Note: I was given a copy of the album for possible review.