KidVid 2014 Tournament Champion: Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck"

It went from my list of favorite kids music videos of 2013 to voting for the initial stage of the 2014 edition of the KidVid Tournament to voting in Semifinal #1 and Semifinal #2 to a championship match, but during the entire week, the eventual winner seemed to be pretty clear: Karen K and the Jitterbugs' "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck."

The Boston-based band had the loudest (or click-iest) fans in this year's contest, supporting this sitcom-esque (in more ways than one) video featuring a firefighter-themed cumulative song.

So, congratulations, Karen K and the Jitterbugs!  Don't let your KidVid 2014 title go to your heads!

Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck" [YouTube]

Listen To This: Follow Me - Little Miss Ann

Oh, look, it's a new album from Chicago's Little Miss Ann.  It's Follow Me, and although it's officially released May 1, she's put it up for the world to stream.  The album, pushed out into the world courtesy of a Kickstarter campaign, features some sprightly originals like the title track and "Can You Make a Circle?," not to mention the classic "Bushel and a Peck" from Guys and Dolls.  Worth some time to check out.

Little Miss Ann - Follow Me [Bandcamp]

KidVid 2014 Tournament Final: Karen K and the Jitterbugs vs. Frances England

It went from my list of favorite kids music videos of 2013 to voting for the initial stage of the 2014 edition of the KidVid Tournament to voting in Semifinal #1 and Semifinal #2, and now we're at the final two: Karen K and the Jitterbugs and Frances England.

Karen K and the Jitterbugs' '70s-sitcom-aping video for "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck " from Big Ol' Truck crushed (in a kindly, kindie way) Duke Otherwise on Friday.  That video faces off against Frances England's stop-motion collage video (from Antonina Clarke) for "Day You Were Born" from Blink of an Eye, which had to go to overtime to defeat Alison Krauss (singing a Sandra Boynton tune).

Well, why wait any longer to vote?  As always, the rules are brief and simple:

1) One vote per family.

2) Deadline to vote is 8 PM Monday night West Coast time.

3) Be nice, play fair, have fun, don't get obsessed with it.

With that, watch both videos and vote!

Frances England - "Day You Were Born" [YouTube]

Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck" [YouTube]

Weekly Summary (3/31/14 - 4/6/14)

KidVid 2014 Tournament Semifinal #2: Karen K and the Jitterbugs vs. Duke Otherwise

As noted yesterday, the voting for the initial stage of the 2014 edition of the KidVid Tournament from my list of favorite kids music videos of 2013 has ended and the top vote-getters are (alphabetically)...

Duke Otherwise - "Brussels Sprout Shout!"

Frances England - "Day You Were Born"

Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck"

Alison Krauss (via Sandra Boynton) - "End of a Summer Storm"

Yesterday featured England v. Krauss.  Today's Semifinal #2 features Karen K and the Jitterbugs' '70s-sitcom-aping video for "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck " from Big Ol' Truck facing off against a dinner party dressed as if they might do some jitterbugging later in Duke Otherwise's video for "Brussels Sprout Shout!" from Creepy Crawly Love.

As always, the rules are brief and simple:

1) One vote per family.

2) Deadline to vote is 8 PM Friday night West Coast time.

3) Be nice, play fair, have fun, don't get obsessed with it.

With that, watch both videos and vote!

Duke Otherwise - "Brussels Sprout Shout!" [YouTube]

Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck" [YouTube]

Listen To This: We're a Club in the Woods - Bears and Lions

I've already talked about how Florida's Bears and Lions strode into Kindiefest 2013 and knocked us all over with their slightly anarchic energy.

Well, it's taken nearly a year, but their debut album We're a Club in the Woods can now be streamed so everyone can hear for themselves their gloriously goofy stories about pancakes and dogs and much more.  (Official album release is in mid-May.)

At the very least, give "Pancakes" (the first track) a spin with your kids and tell me at least one of you isn't shouting "PAN-CAKE SWEEP-STAKES" by the end.