OK, it's no "Tricycle," but it's nice to see Frances England post some live video, if only because I'd heard about the slide show she was bringing out for some of her shows. Here she is doing the mellow "Animal Inside You" with Jeff Koch on drums and Tim Thurman on guitar at the July CD release party for her fine, fine Family Tree CD. And lots of animal pictures.
Frances England - "Animal Inside You" (Live)
That's not all...
So I've been getting newsletters from Elizabeth Mitchell on a regular basis talking about her late summer tour of the West Coast. I knew, therefore, that she was going to be singing with Renee & Jeremy earlier this month (Suni Paz in LA was a surprise) and Frances England and Charity Kahn this past weekend. I even knew (I think) that she was going to sing with Justin Roberts last month. (They sang the Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning.")
What I didn't expect is that nobody was going to upload any video to the Internet. C'mon, people! I don't have one of those fancy iPhones or other cell phones with a camera in them, but somebody out there must've gone to the show with one in hand.
And now I hear that the lads from Recess Monkey are going to be joining Elizabeth on stage for their shows in Seattle this Saturday.
Seattle -- you can do it! Video! Video! Video! (Hey, I gave you, like, fiveRecess Monkey videos.)
(Note: Unless, of course, recording is expressly prohibited by the terms and conditions of the ticket entry. Then, er, forget I ever asked.)
It's not like the Bay Area's Hipwaders haven't done their fair share of covers -- one check of their Myspace or YouTube pages will find any number of Disney or cartoon covers by the band.
But recently they've started doing something new -- covering their contemporaries.
First, they posted "What Am I Gonna Do?" on their Myspace page and gave much love to the song's creators, Austin's Telephone Company. I agree with Tito -- it's about time that the Company's long-unreleased album Panda Brain change that status. The Hipwaders' version is really, really cool, giving it a cool guitar line to go with the slightly surreal lyrics.
Then, today they posted "The Books I Like To Read," from fellow Bay Area artist Frances England, off her first CD, Fascinating Creatures. It's a live video from about a month ago, and while the Hipwaders don't do any major alterations to the uptempo song in their cover, it's just interesting -- and refreshing -- to hear kids' artists cover their contemporaries.
The Hipwaders - "The Books I Like To Read" (Frances England cover)
Perhaps it's too late for you to burn a list of songs for your dad for Father's Day onto CD. Well, then, Frances England has come to the rescue, providing an e-card to send to your favorite Daddy-ish guys. The music on the e-card? England's "Daddy-O," of course. (And file away "Best Friends Forever" and "Thinking of You" cards for future use.)
But if you're like me -- you know, a dad -- and you feel a little weird sending yourself a Father's Day e-card, you'll feel much less weird reading a whole bunch of dad-related interviews over at Yosi's Indie Kids Rock blog. Lots of kids music dads join in the fun, including Ralph Covert, the guys from Hot Peas 'n' Butter, Mr. RAY, Robbie Schaefer, Ernie & Neal, and ScribbleJim (whose submitted family photo I think is a hoot). Worth a couple minutes of your time, even if you're not a dad.
San Francisco's Frances England was a Zooglobble first -- the first-ever artist interview on this site. Since that time, England's debut Fascinating Creatures continued to win universal acclaim and England herself added a second child to her family. Two years later, her even-stronger follow-up Family Tree (review) seems certain to attract even more acclaim.
England recently answered some questions about what she's been doing the past couple years, how life has changed for her, and how it hasn't. Read on for Frances' trick to overcoming stage nervousness, the inspiration for "Animal Friends," and her plans for live shows.
Zooglobble: When we last talked 2 years ago, Fascinating Creatures was just beginning to get noticed in the world at large. Can you pinpoint a certain moment at which you said to yourself, "Oh, my, something really big is going on here"?
Frances England: Well, in the wide world of music I don’t know how big this all really is but definitely for me, what happened with Fascinating Creatures was shocking - probably because I had no expectations. Not too long after I began selling the CD online, I remember getting these emails saying that random people in Hong Kong were buying it, then it was Australia, and New Zealand and all these far away places.
And it was just really weird to think about how far this little homespun CD had gone, especially considering where it all got started – in our bathroom. (I wrote all of the songs for FC while my first son, Liam, was taking baths). I was also really blown away to be named the sole winner of the 2007 Oppenheim Award. As a mom, I’ve used that very recognizable seal of theirs to scout out quality products for years, so I was really honored by that.
How did life change for you as a result of Fascinating Creatures' success?
It's safe to say the path San Francisco artist Frances England took to get to Family Tree, her second album, has not been often duplicated. England, who had never been a working musician, recorded her first album, Fascinating Creatures, as her contribution to her son's preschool fundraiser. And then somehow others heard the CD and soon enough England began sending copies of it, as she puts it in the liner notes of the new CD, "half way around the world." She was no longer a secret, as those of us who first heard her described England. But while Fascinating Creatures was certainly a fine album (with all the accolades to prove it), the question remained -- could she duplicate her success?
The answer is yes.
In many ways, Family Tree sounds a lot like its predecessor -- a melding of folk and lo-fi indie pop originals that stands out from most of the kids music world in its sound and centeredness, for lack of a better word. England's disks have a way of conjuring musical worlds that start with the security of home life and look outward, all the while sounding like Yo La Tengo or Elizabeth Mitchell or Tanya Donnelly. The debut had songs about tricycles, pancakes, and books we've all read as families; this new CD has songs about ice cream ("I Scream, You Scream"), grandparents ("Fast Train To Grandma's"), and playing with restless energy ("Free To Be Me").
But in other ways, this album shows growth from the debut. For one thing, England broadens her musical palette here, playing with a full band (Tim Thurman and Jeff Koch doing a lot of the work) on the majority of tracks. On the slightly-slow leadoff title track, for example, she offers up banjo while Dog on Fleas' Dean Jones guests on horn. "Best Friends," which also features England on banjo, may as well be a Sufjan Stevens knockoff, but in a good way. Elsewhere England rocks out ("Free To Be Me"), does country (the chugging "Fast Train to Grandma's," with nifty guitar work by Jay Heiselmann), and writes a classic folk song ("Spring Has Sprung").
In addition to the music, England is also challenging herself lyrically, writing a little more indirectly. "Tugboat" (which also features the Jellydots' Doug Snyder) is a sweet little song about how both the child and the parent -- exactly who is not clear -- will be the tugboat that always helps push the other back home. "Tea Party" is a fanciful story of a girl's (and boy's) tea party which includes a bird's commentary on the action. I think England's musical sensibility is still ahead of her lyrical skills (the directness of "Animal Friends," which encourages saving endangered animals, comes off a little flat, for example), but both have grown in the past couple years, no doubt.
Kids ages 3 through 7 will most appreciate the themes here. You can listen to tracks from the album at its CDBaby page. The album is officially released Tuesday, but CDBaby already has copies ready to ship. I should also note the lovely packaging which features (according to England) cut paper and acrylic paint using a roller to give it texture.
With Family Tree, Frances England continues on the promise of her debut, creating a musical world both adventurous and safe. Fans of Fascinating Creatures will thoroughly enjoy the new disk. And there are still lots more people out there who should be her fans. Goodness gracious, this is fabulous; I can hardly wait for disk #3. Definitely recommended.
That's right, Frances England has announced an album title -- Family Tree -- and a release date -- spring 2008 -- for her 2nd CD. OK, "spring 2008" isn't really a release date (release season, perhaps?), but I know Frances has been working on the album for a while now, and to see her publicly commit to a title and release timeframe makes me happy.
I think artists in this genre tend to be more willing to have deadlines slip if only because many of them, unsurprisingly, have young kids. I'll be interested to hear what subjects England, whose own family tree is larger than when she released Fascinating Creatures, tackles now...
Well, I've finally gotten around to picking winners in a couple of recent contests and just want to share the results. Both the East and West Coasts represent.
First, in the contest to win the New York-based Deedle Deedle Dees' excellent new album, Freedom in a Box (review) for a local school or library, I randomly selected longtime reader and West Coast resident Katy, who offered four historical personages her family would love a Deedle Deedle Dees song about: Amelia Earhart, Abigail Adams, Benny Benson, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Lloyd Miller (Ulysses Dee) will actually record a song for Katy and her family using those people. No word yet on whether Lloyd will choose one or create his own historical mash-up of multiple characters. Anyway, thanks very much to Lloyd on that item.
Second, in our contest related to the KidVid Tournament 2007 final, the randomly-selected voter was East Coast resident Christine, a big fan of the Portland (Oregon)-based Captain Bogg & Salty and voted for "Pieces of 8ight." Because she already has all three of the band's albums (including Pegleg Tango), she asked for a copy of San Francisco-based Frances England's Fascinating Creatures CD. Thanks both to Captain Bogg and his crew and to Frances for offering their CDs as prizes. (I'm sure I will have another opportunity to give the Bogg CD away.)
After a furious day and a half of voting from more than 100 readers, we have a winner in our first (and probably not last) KidVid Tournament:
PIECES OF 8IGHT! from Captain Bogg & Salty
Frances England's "Tricycle" put up a good fight, but when you've got one of that video's stars, England's son Liam, voting for the competition, well, you know you're facing an unstoppable force.
So the heartiest of congratulations from this landlubber to Captain Bogg's crew and to all the artists whose videos have amused us here the past few weeks. You have acquitted yourself admirably. I cannot offer you pieces of 8ight, but I can offer you my admiration.
I will be randomly selecting a winner from the voters in the final and asking which CD they'd like to receive.
Now, for one last time, your KidVid Tournament 2007 champion, "Pieces of 8ight," from Captain Bogg & Salty:
(And because what tournament would be complete without "One Shining Moment"?)
If you haven't voted yet (and, frankly, with the number of times I've posted this, how could you not), go here and do so.
Lots of pirate talk, lots of tricycles, and a relative minimum of trash talk. (Heck, Frances and Captain Bogg voted for each other's videos, so, really, no put-downs needed.) Plus, you could win a free copy of one of the finalists' CDs.
Avoid scurvy, win the Tour de France in your underpants, and vote now.
Well, we're down to the final contest of KidVid Tournament 2007: "Pieces of 8ight" from Captain Bogg & Salty up against "Tricycle" from Frances England.
I'm really looking forward how these two fun (but completely different) videos do when pitted against one another.
Now, I'm expecting more than 100 comments below based on the response these videos generated previously. One of those lucky voters will get their choice of the CD from which these songs are drawn, courtesy of the artists themselves. (Thanks, artists themselves!) The randomly-selected voter will get to choose, and you're not restricted to the band you voted for -- perhaps you're a huge Captain Bogg & Salty fan and want to see what all the Frances England fuss is about.
Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Tuesday 11 PM-ish East Coast time.
And remember, this contest is for entertainment purposes only. Please -- no wagering.
"Pieces of 8ight" - Captain Bogg & Salty
This video, directed by Vince Malone, is from the band's fund second album, Pegleg Tango. It's got a sly sense of humor ("Go Bobcats.") and captures the band's energy and sense of play.
"Tricycle" - Frances England
This video is for a song off of England's fabulous debut CD, Fascinating Creatures. The video's director, Jane Holland, says that they "shot and produced the simple little video from a child's eye view." It's simple, but the approach fits the song quite well.
Our second semi-final for KidVid Tournament 2007 is the underdog side of the bracket -- two artists that knocked off #1 seeds. We've got a #2 seed, "Tricycle" from Frances England, going against "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox, the #3 seed. These are both cute videos, but for completely different reasons. Another tough call.
Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Friday 11 PM-ish East Coast time.
[Note: As I've said before, sorry about just showing links instead of embedding the videos. I'm trying to keep the playing field relatively level here -- if I can't show both videos here (i.e., they're not both on YouTube and clearly placed there at the artists' request) I'm only going to show the links for both of 'em.]
"Tricycle" - Frances England
To view this video, click on the YouTubed version here.
"I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox
To view this video, head to Jack's Big Music Show player. Roll over the picture of a red-hair-streaked Audra on the right, kid on the left.
Round 1 wasn't enough -- now the popular videos start going head-to-head.
Round 2 of KidVid Tournament 2007 kicks off with the final in the Lead Belly Region, pitting the #1 seed "I Hog The Ground (Groundhog Song)" from Steve Burns and Steven Drozd against the #2 seed, "Tricycle" from Frances England.
Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Thursday 11 PM-ish East Coast time.
[Note: As always, sorry about just showing links instead of embedding the videos. I'm trying to keep the playing field relatively level here -- if I can't show both videos here (i.e., they're not both on YouTube and clearly placed there at the artists' request) I'm only going to show the links for both of 'em.]
"I Hog The Ground (Groundhog Song)" - Steve Burns and Steven Drozd
When the more-accessible version inevitably gets removed (again), go to Jack's Big Music Show player to watch. Currently it's the video that plays whenever you go to the page, but if it's not the case later, just roll over the picture of a balding guy with the "I [Heart] Ground" shirt and click.
"Tricycle" - Frances England
To view this video, click on the YouTubed version here.
Well, Day 2 of Zooglobble's KidVid Tournament 2007 is also in the books. Frances England's "Tricycle" (#2 seed) beat out Sir Jerry's "Bees, Butterflies and Bugs" (#3 seed), while in a small upset (a phrase I'd use with caution considering the relative lack of thought that went into the these) #3 seed AudraRox with "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" trumped Gustafer Yellowgold's "I'm From the Sun."
Thanks to everyone who's voted so far. The next set of matchups will be posted Monday midday.
And if you haven't yet voted for the as-yet-unfilled 16th video slot, go here and do so before Monday night. The competition is heating up.
The other matchup on the second day of KidVid Tournament 2007 pits the #2 seed in the Lead BellyRegion, "Tricycle" from Frances England against the #3 seed, "Bees, Butterflies and Bugs" from Sir Jerry.
Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Saturday noon-ish East Coast time.
[Note: Sorry about just showing links instead of embedding the videos. I'm trying to keep the playing field relatively level here -- if I can't show both videos here (i.e., they're not both on YouTube and clearly placed there at the artists' request) I'm only going to show the links for both of 'em.]
"Tricycle" - Frances England
To view this video, click on the YouTubed version here.
"Bees, Butterflies and Bugs" - Sir Jerry
To view this video, head to Sir Jerry's website. After clicking to "Enter the Website" and the website loads, click on the blue-skied landscape in the lower-right-hand corner. You want the video, not the live clip.
Why, yes, yes it would. Frances England's got herself a spiffied-up website and a video and slideshow to boot. Now if only Lunch Money and the Jellydots would jump in with videos for their awesome three- and two-wheeled songs...
Those East Coast and Midwestern bloggers beat me to the punch, but congratulations to Frances England for winning a Oppenheim Platinum award for her fabulous debut Fascinating Creatures.
(And, on a completely unrelated note, every time I hear about the Oppenheim awards, I keep on wanting to call it the Oppenheimer awards, thanks mostly to the Old 97's, who had a great track by that name off their 1999 CD Fight Songs. Unfortunately, that track's not available at their website, but you can hear samples from that album and others here.
Welcome to those of you finding us because of the Salon article on "kindie rockers". (Welcome also, as always, to people looking for downloads of and lyrics to "Great Big World," from Hoodwinked. I still can't help you with those, despite your insistent pleas.) Thanks, Salon, for the link, and for posting some fabulous mp3s from said rockers. (Scott Lamb's article is worth sitting through the Honda ad non-subscribers will have to watch in order to read the article -- it's a nice summing up of the current state of kids' music.)
If you're new to the site, I encourage you to look around -- links to other kids'-music-related blogs as well as to every full album review (including Justin Roberts, Dan Zanes, Laurie Berkner, and Milkshake) can be found on the right. If you're wondering what to get that 4-year-old nephew for his birthday, check out my page of album recommendations by age. I treat kids' music the way any parent who really likes music would -- with my own set of interests but with an understanding that perhaps not every song off Spoon's Gimme Fiction is going to appeal to my 5-year-old (let alone my 1-year-old).
There's so much great kids' music being made, and not just by the rockers mentioned in the article who have made their way to kids' TV screens. Dig in -- you're bound to find something you and the kids in your life will really like.
Saturday AM edit: You know, I could actually help readers "dig in" if I specifically mentioned a few artists and albums that readers might not be familiar with if they're only sticking to the TV/Noggin crowd. No disrespect meant to the Noggin crowd -- Zanes, Roberts, and TMBG, in particular, are all among my favorites kids' artists -- but these four albums are tremendous, too.
Silly Reflection, by Lunch Money (review)
If You Ever See An Owl, by the Terrible Twos (review)
Fascinating Creatures, by Francis England (review)
Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World DVD, by Morgan Taylor (review)
This week at Zooglobble, we're going from LA to New York (with a review of Dan Zanes' Catch That Train!) and back again. See -- we exhibit both East Coast and West Coast Bias! (I can do the Chicago thing -- Justin Roberts and Ralph's World -- only so often. Though there are more reviews coming from those two, too.)
Also, it's been just over a month since the NPR interview that sent many of you here. Thanks again to everyone who's read, commented, e-mailed, or linked here. Also, many thanks to all the artists who have sent me their CD or DVD. I'm still working my way through them all, and while I won't review all of them here, I've got a lot of reviews (and other things) lined up in the weeks ahead.
Finally, here are links to a few posts in case you missed 'em the first time around.
Frances England's Fascinating Creatures -- review, interview
Lunch Money's Silly Reflection -- review
Bruce Springsteen's We Shall Overcome (The Seeger Sessions) -- review
Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World DVD -- review
Anne Hathaway's "Great Big World", from the Hoodwinked Soundtrack -- review. Goodness, there are lots of people wanting lyrics and mp3s for that song. (Too bad I don't actually have the lyrics or mp3s.)
Thanks again for reading.
After listening to Frances England's debut album Fascinating Creatures, I thought she would be a great artist to kick off an occasional series of interviews here on the website. I wanted to find out more about one of the most unique children's music albums I've heard in quite some time and the artist behind it.
England graciously agreed to the interview, even admitting that it was a "great excuse to stop studying." (Hey, anything I can do to help. I remember my own graduate school days.) Thank you very much, Frances.
This is a long interview, but worth your time.
*********************
What sort of musical background or experience did you have prior to recording the CD?
I started playing the violin when I was young but slowly gave it up as I hit my teens and started playing guitar in college. I’ve never been in a formal band but have always enjoyed sitting around singing and playing music with people (mostly around campfires or at small parties and get-togethers).
What led you to recording Fascinating Creatures?
A couple of different things. After my son was born I started collecting kid’s music and for the most part was pretty disappointed in what I was finding (this is of course before I knew about cool blogs like yours that shine a bright, guiding light on this genre of music). [Ed. note: I swear, I made no request for such a comment.] Slowly, I started replacing the stuff I loved listening to – indie artists and bands like the Postal Service, Sufjan Stevens, M. Ward – with the Wiggles and Raffi. Don’t get me wrong, I know there is value in some of that stuff and Liam is a huge Wiggles fan but it wasn’t the type of music we could genuinely enjoy together. So I started writing songs that I hoped would appeal to both of us...
I initially approached Frances England's 2006 debut album Fascinating Creatures as if I were playing a game of "spot-the-influence." Did I hear Elizabeth Mitchell (who recorded a low-key and lo-fi debut CD a number of years ago)? Did I hear Cat Power or Yo La Tengo, a couple artists England herself cites an influences?
And after a couple spin-throughs, I thought that to play that game was unfair to England, who has recorded one of the most adventurous children's music albums in some time, quite unlike anything out there at the moment.
England wrote all 13 songs on the album and recorded it with her husband's cousin Billy Riggs. Lyrically, England covers the 4-year-old waterfront -- tricycles ("Tricycle"); trains, trucks, boats and airplanes ("Where Do They Go?"); and the fun of a blueberry pancake breakfast ("Blueberry Pancakes") -- without talking down to the listener. These aren't new topics for children's music, but lines like "Tell me where do all the big boats go? / As they crash against the wild, dark sea / With containers stacked both high and low / The captain steers towards land and safety" aren't a typical children's music lyric.
Musically, the first half of the CD is a low-key affair, primarily acoustic guitars and light percussion. But on "Charlie Parker," the middle song on the album, that the album kicks into a higher gear, adding electric guitar and drums. It's a little odd to hear a rock song about jazz greats (albeit with some scat singing), but it works. The next song, "Digging in the Dirt," about gardening (natch), is an even fuzzier rock song. Eventually the CD winds down again, returning to acoustic guitar and England's voice.
Although England's voice reminds me a little bit of the nasally twang of folksinger Iris DeMent (particularly on "Where Do They Go?"), it wasn't until I heard England rock out that I figured out who she reminded me most of -- Tanya Donnelly in her Belly years, alternative rock in which Donnelly's voice was used as another instrument along with the wall of guitar sound. England yodels, yips, and in general provides the musical variation on the simple instrumental backup.
The album isn't perfect -- the mix of instruments on the rock songs sounded a bit muddied to my ears, for example. And England can sometimes try to fit too many syllables into a lyric. (One of my favorite songs on the CD, the closer "Little Bright Star," doesn't do that, and shines -- pun unintended -- for it.)
But that's quibbling. Fascinating Creatures is a good album, a very promising debut. (My wife likes it, and she's a much harsher critic of these kids CDs than I am.) It's probably best for kids age 2 through 7. Right now the CD is available through CD Baby, where you can hear samples of each track.
Finally, the copy I received was attractively packaged in a slimline case and burned on a nicely printed CDR, which may or may not be the version available for purchase. Those of you looking for a more complete package as with CDs from more established artists may be surprised. But what my copy lacked in heft it more than made up for in the feeling that here was something that I could say was the start of something big, like it was a little secret known to only a few. But I don't think this CD or Ms. England will stay secret for long. Recommended.