How did your collaboration with Sharon and Bram come about?
I grew up listening to their Elephant Show Record, their show was on in Canada, then aired on Nick a few years after... The love and joy in their face was mesmerizing. I continued collecting their albums [as I got older].
[In 2011] Needtobreathe was touring with Taylor Swift and played in Toronto for the first time. I wanted to reach out to them and invite them or their grandkids to the Taylor Swift concert. Sharon couldn't make it, but we met for coffee the next morning, and we talked for 3 hours. My son is named Henry Bram, so they're important to me.
When I started working on this project, it was kind of accidental. I knew what I liked, and I'd think [about a song], "Would this work on a Sharon, Lois & Bram record? A Raffi record?" This song "Sing a Song For Me" has a line that references Woody and Pete, and I thought "That's so Bram."
They are legends in their market, but they're also very kind people. They're very aware of how they're perceived by kids, or by parents.
I'm so glad I had the opportunity, and we're planning on doing some events together for the album release.
What's it like to do things with your heroes? Not just random things, but the very thing that those heroes did and inspired you to do those same types of things.
It's insane. I've been doing this for so long, and when you meet a legendary person, [it's nice to be able to] talk to them as a peer, find a common thread.
With this album, I got to do things with friends, who said, we can do something for you.
A song can change someone's life... and I want to live moments that are going to outlive me.
What do you hope families get out of the album?
The album started as a conversation with my kids, and introduces genres.
This music can be enjoyed together -- these days, people have iPhone or iPod personal playlist. But it's a human experience, being together, and as a parent, [I know] that parents all want something they can do together.
Sharon would say that the biggest compliment they'd get [for their music] is when somebody would put on [their music] when dropping the kids off at school, then leave it on afterwards.
We're doing an album release show in Knoxville, and I plan to do some shows, not a lot. I want to sing, hear the crowd singing back.
