This new video from Matt Clark for his song "Everybody's Got a Name" is fine and all -- it's got simple animation by Jessica Cornelius, simple tune, two Uncle Craigs and a cat called Puddin' Tain.
But it still doesn't resolve the ultimate question -- what's the name of the guy at the grocery store!?!
Matt Clark - "Everybody's Got a Name" [YouTube]
First there was the idea -- pick a few artists, give 'em a title to base a song, and set 'em free to do what they do best. Then there was the picking of the title.
Now, it's time for the album. It's called Green Beans Everywhere, and it features five fun songs from (in geographical order): Hullabaloo (San Diego), The Hollow Trees (Los Angeles), Charity and the JAMband (San Francisco), Matt Clark (Portland), and Johnny Bregar (Seattle).
Some of the artists took a pretty simple approach (similar to what you might see at a typical songrwiting club night), some fancied it up a bit, but all the artists rose to the challenge of creating something out of the barest germ of an idea.
Thanks to all the artists for participating. And, for a limited time (at least until we run out of free downloads), you can download the 5-song EP for free. Even if your kids (or you) don't like green beans, and even if one of these songs don't change their (or your) mind, you'll enjoy the album anyway.
It's time for the next stage in the first go-round of the Kindie Songwriting Club. As noted before, Hullabaloo's Steve Denyes went up and down the West Coast and picked these five fine songwriters (going up the coast from south to north):
Steve Denyes from Hullabaloo (San Diego)
Gregory Hollow Tree from The Hollow Trees (Los Angeles)
Charity Kahn from Charity and the JAMband (San Francisco)
Matt Clark (Portland)
Johnny Bregar (Seattle)
Readers e-mailed/commented/Facebooked their suggestion(s), and now I have three for you, loyal readers, to choose from. Here are the three song titles:
1) "There's Dirt in My Bed"
2) "Crunchy Munchy"
3) "Green Beans Everywhere"
Your task is to pick your favorite via the voting widget below. All votes are due by 9 PM Friday night West Coast time (of course). One vote per day, please. The winning title will then have not one but FIVE songs written using that as inspiration. Such a deal. Go forth and vote!
Recently, Steve Denyes, the hardworking songwriter behind the Southern California duo Hullabaloo, came to me with a suggestion. He said that he'd participated in songwriting clubs where a group of musicians are given a song title or phrase and use that as a jumping-off point for writing a song. And, given my big interest in collaboration, he was wondering whether or not I'd be interested in hosting a songwriting club for family musicians.
I think you probably can guess my answer.
So I'm excited to announce the creation of the Kindie Songwriting Club and the first set of participants. Denyes went up and down the West Coast, picking some of his favorite songwriters and making some new friends, resulting in these five fine songwriters (going up the coast from south to north):
Steve Denyes from Hullabaloo (San Diego)
Gregory Hollow Tree from The Hollow Trees (Los Angeles)
Charity Kahn from Charity and the JAMband (San Francisco)
Matt Clark (Portland)
Johnny Bregar (Seattle)
The basic concept of the KSC is this:
1) Readers suggest a song title. Or two. Or twenty. Go ahead, stuff the ballot box!
2) I pick 3, then readers vote on their favorite.
3) The favorite having been chosen, the songwriters craft a song using that song title as inspiration.
4) They record that song however they'd like (though this isn't intended to require fancy studio time).
5) The songs get posted for your enjoyment.
6) World peace is achieved. (OK, probably not. But I'm not ruling it out.)
So it's time for the first step -- your suggested song titles. Post 'em here in the comments, on Facebook, or even send me an e-mail (ksc AT zooglobble DOT com). Suggestions for this first round are due by Tuesday, May 31.
And stay tuned for further details (voting on your favorite title, hearing the final results). Should be a blast.
This new Matt Clark song is mostly a lark, but what a fun lark it is. It's called "Shoes Had Laces," and it's an amusing take on the "when I was your age" genre. Leaves out the grumpiness of "I walked uphill both ways, in the snow," leaves in an old guy singing along with a bunch of kids (including Clark's older son) who are unfamiliar with "phones plugged in to the wall." That would be the Clubbard Clarmac Family Singers who are formally credited with the song. The recording's a little ragged vocally, but that just adds to the charm. Pick it up here.
I see a lot of stuff. I don't always have time for a separate post. Here, then, is a collection of random pieces of information -- videos, downloads, news -- that never made it into its own neatly-titled post.
-- Aaron Nigel Smith is offering up a free mp3 of his song "In a Book," a slow reggae jam not featured on his forthcoming Let's Pretend album. Pick it up here.
-- I'd read somewhere -- probably a comment on its Facebook page -- that there was going to be a Kidzapalooza in Chile this year. That struck me as odd, but sure enough, yes, there is. April 2nd and 3rd, while Lollapalooza entertains a whole bunch of folks in Santiago, acts such as Achú, Cuchara, Fractal + Joe Vanconcellos, Los Pulentos, Los Plumabits, and Magictwins will be rocking the Kidza stage (though in the case of the Magictwins, I'm not sure "rock" is the word, even though they rock... magically). Kidzapalooza co-founder Tor Hyams reports he is indeed making the trek down to South America to produce the stage, a trek which makes the cross-country flights folks like Hyams and myself will make for Kindiefest seem like small potatoes.
And, Tor, please see what you can do about bringing Los Plumabits -- featured on a Chilean kids' TV show which seems to be somewhat analagous to Yo Gabba Gabba! -- to the States.
Los Plumabits - "Disco Laser" [YouTube]
More -- much more -- after the jump.
Lots of interesting stuff crosses my (virtual) desk. Sometimes it grabs my attention and feels worthy of a full post all by itself and I have time and I write a post. Boom.
But sometimes it's just interesting, or I don't get to it immediately, or I don't have time to write something long and witty. (Or at least long.)
So I'm going to start what I'm calling "The Ketchup Report." Why ketchup? It's because it's for things you (or I) should catch up on. Get it? (I could have also called it, all apologies to Justin Roberts, the Mustard Report for things that must be heard. Ach, I'm having a meltdown.) Expect it semi-regularly.
-- Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer are celebrating more than 25 years in the family music business with a new 3-song EP, Triple Play -- preview and buy it here. They also have their 25th Annual Family Music Party -- when Ella Jenkins chooses to show up for a party, you know you've got it made.
-- Jamie Broza has a new album out soon -- I Want a Dog! -- and he's also got a Halloween-themed single "Trick or Treat" which, until Halloween 2010 can be downloaded here for free.
-- Matt Clark joined the illustrious group of musicians who've submitted their music to Click and Clack's "Dean of Auto-Music and heard their tune on Car Talk. A snippet from "Car Seat Blues," a song from his first album, was included on last weekend's show.
-- Finally, this video (and song) from DidiPop is the best bagel-related video since, well, this one.
A few weeks back, I highlighted the attempt by Portland, Oregon's Matt Clark to use Kickstarter, a "crowd-sourcing" site which puts folks under a deadline to raise funds from fans for a wide variety of projects. Matt's project was to record the follow-up to Clark's debut, Funny Little Fella -- he was looking for $3,000 for mixing, mastering, and duplicating.
Well, as you can see from the fancy widget below, Clark made his goal. I'm posting this for two reasons:
1) Yay, Matt.
2) For other musicians considering this route, the details on how people chose to fund the project -- i.e., at what levels -- I think are useful reading. You'll actually have to click on the widget below to see that, but I found it interesting that folks bypassed the cheaper reward levels and were only interested in the higher levels. In other words, if you're gonna get somebody invested in you... make 'em invest.
Two or three weeks ago, Jim Cosgrove, AKA Mr. Stinky Feet made a splash in the kids music world by announcing he was "crowdfunding" his next album by asking for supporters to pledge money toward the costs of recording, producing, and distributing the next album. Cosgrove's views on why he went this route are essential reading for kids musicians. He also noted that he hadn't previously heard of Kickstarter, a site which helps musicians (and countless others) do the same thing.
One major difference, though, between Cosgrove's approach and Kickstarter's is that Cosgrove's going through with the project regardless. (In fact, I'm pretty sure he's starting recording this week.) But if a person seeking Kickstarter help doesn't reach the required amount, they receive squat.
So let's hear it for Portland, Oregon's Matt Clark, who's established the first genuine kids music Kickstarter project. That's right, if you go here, you can be part of another crowdfunding experiment. $3 gets you 1 mp3; $5 gets you 2, and so on. My favorite level -- $50 gets you (among other things) 3 chances to name the new disk.
Clark's debut, Funny Little Fella, was a nice little disk -- here's hoping he gets the $3,000 to have round 2 see the light of day.
