What Can You Find? Frances England's "All The Things I've Found" Contest

I'm a looooongtime fan of Frances England dating all the way back to her debut album Fascinating Creatures, which is now 10 years old. (Wow! Really!) Her new album Explorer of the World is set to be released on April 1, and if you've heard any of it -- try "City Don't Sleep" -- you'll understand why it's one of the most eagerly anticipated kids' albums of the year.

From my perspective, one of the most exciting things about the album isn't even the album itself, it's the Art + Observation activity book England made to accompany the album. Filled with activities that encourage discovery of the world next door by kids of all ages, it dovetails perfectly with the exploration theme of the album itself. (Fans of the books of Keri Smith and Lynda Barry's Syllabus, among others, will be particularly enamored of England's small book.)

To promote the upcoming album, England's been creating a series of short promotional videos, and I'm pleased to premiere the latest, which features a bit of "All The Things I've Found," one of the songs on the album. Unsurprisingly, the visuals accompanying the clip show some of the amazing patterns around us if we spend a little time looking for them.

Frances and I have a little assignment for you, too -- we're looking for patterns that you or your kids find in your everyday life. Post a picture of such a pattern here or on the Facebook post for this, and I'll randomly select one entry to receive a free copy of the album! I don't do contests often here, but I think that the chance to win this album is worth you taking the time out of your day to find an interesting pattern. Actually, I think it's worth you taking the time to find an interesting pattern regardless, but a chance to win the album is a sweet bonus. All entries for the contest are due by Monday at 7 PM West Coast time. Thanks and good luck!

Interview: Steve Denyes

One of the things I admire about musicians who've been musicians for awhile is just that -- they've been musicians for awhile. It's difficult enough to have the same job for a number of years, but when that job is primarily one which generates creative products as an output, keeping things fresh over a long period of time is particularly difficult.

Which is one reason I wanted to talk with Steve Denyes of the band Hullabaloo. Their brand new album I Chew features songs mostly written last year when the San Diego-based Denyes set himself the goal to write and record one song a day for nearly a month. Anyone who wants to challenge himself that way has figured out how to keep things fresh and wants to try new things.

And indeed, when I suggested that instead of doing an interview over Skype to record it, rather than by phone or over e-mail, Denyes was game to sign himself up for Skype and tackle this interview in a slightly different manner.

So in just a shade under 30 minutes you can listen to his thoughts on the growth of his band, the origins of I Chew, and how surfing helps him be a musician.

Photo credit: Natalie Chiles

Video: "Cosmic Vacation" - Michael and the Rockness Monsters (World Premiere!)

It's super-cute-video time!

The self-titled debut album from Michael and the Rockness Monsters got its official release yesterday (you can get it from iTunes and Amazon if you're so inclined), and to celebrate they've released an adorable video for the song "Cosmic Vacation."

Seriously, this computer-animated trip around the solar system (and back) is candy-colored and super-sweet and will captivate the nearest preschooler at hand. So I'm happy to be world premiere-ing here today.

Michael and the Rockness Monsters - "Cosmic Vacation" [YouTube]

Monday Morning Smile: "Upside Down & Inside Out" - OK Go

Let's face it, OK Go aren't the unofficial video band for adults on Zooglobble... they're pretty much the official video for adults on Zooglobble.

You probably saw their latest video a dozen times on Facebook. If you didn't, or if your kids didn't, you really should see this. Filming a video in zero gravity could be a gimmick. Or it could be brilliant. This is brilliant.

OK Go - "Upside Down & Inside Out" [Facebook]

Video: "Ice Skates" - Jazzy Ash feat. Jennifer Gasoi (World Premiere!)

Maybe some of you don't need another reminder that it's still winter, but since it reached 90 degrees this week here in Phoenix -- that is waaaaaay too early (it set a record for the earliest the thermometer reached that point) -- I could use a few more reminders of winter.

So that's one reason why I'm happy to be premiering this brand new video from Jazzy Ash. It's for the song "Ice Skates" off her fine album Bon Voyage and features lots of shots of Jazzy Ash and Jennifer Gasoi walking around the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal and skating on natural pond ice. Ahhhh... cold weather! (and Canada!)

Another reason is that they have two of the loveliest voices in kids music and it's a treat to hear them trading verses and singing together on this simple, jazzy ode to ice skating. It might be more seasonlly appropriate now, but you might want to have this in your back pocket when the temperature reaches 85 and the humidity is even higher.

Jazzy Ash - "Ice Skates" (feat. Jennifer Gasoi) [YouTube]

Tim Kubart, Kids Music Grammy Winner, First Among Equals

In the insular world of kids music, news that Tim Kubart won at the 58th Grammys the award for Best Children's Album for his album Home spread quickly and was met with universal acclaim.

In part, it's because Home is a really good album, filled with as many big pop hooks as you might find on a Taylor Swift album.

But there were lots of good albums nominated (the Fids and Kamily Awards agreed with my own assessment), and this was a year in which I would have been satisfied with whichever of the five nominees -- which also included Molly Ledford and Billy Kelly, Lori Henriques, Gustafer Yellowgold, and Jose-Luis Orozco -- won this year's award.

Now, outside the kids music world, well, I'm going to assume that that outside world is pretty big judging by the number of hits my site's received in the past 18 hours or so on pages such as that Home album review up there and my rundown of the list of nominees.

That's why it's what Tim did after his name was called and he and his bandmates jogged down to the stage to accept the award is what will endear him for a looooong time to the rest of us who've spent years in this genre.

58th Children's Music Grammy nominees at Lucky Strike Live

In his speech, which you can view here, Tim thanks a kajillion people in the many different roles he plays -- at one point, after thanking the "Tambourine Army," Kubart says, "I know a lot of this doesn't make sense, but it does to a lot of people." Simply by naming his fellow nominees by name and giving a shout-out to the fact that they were all independent artists (and first-time Grammy nominees, to boot), Kubart gave a boost to the genre. I'm sure that the other four nominees were disappointed that they didn't win, but Kubart's good-hearted nature and generous speech made it easy for them on social media to congratulate Tim. (As somebody noted on Facebook in a status update, "my thumbs are broken from hitting 'Like' so much.") It was really a "first among equals" sort of moment, and while kids music has many good ambassadors, and needs them all (and more) to reach that wide world still unaware of the excellence in this field, there are few I can think of who wear that suit as well and as gracefully as Tim.

Jose-Luis Orozco and band at Lucky Strike Live, Feb. 13, 2016

I should note that, yes, I did party with Grammy nominees on Saturday. The five nominees all played 3-song sets in Hollywood at Lucky Strike Live for an audience of bouncing kids.

I hung out at the back for the most part, listening to musicians I'd known for many years. While I hesitate to call them "friends" because I respect the distance and perspective necessary to observe and critique the genre, these are musicians whose effort I respect and whose company is worth having. That photo I took above with the nominees all together? I saw similar photos from the ceremony itself on Monday. While I've had lots of mixed thoughts over the years about the Grammy Awards and their value, if they can bring together artists once a year on the West Coast to party and celebrate what they do, then in my book, they've done enough.