Ketchup Report, Road Trip Division
A couple artists are currently embarking on pretty remarkable journeys. Heidi Swedberg is currently in Haiti bringing to the Global Family Orphanage in Les Cayes not just a couple dozen ukuleles (offered cheaply by Kala Instruments and purchased by the St. Brendan's Ukulele Club via bake sales) but also ukulele technique. As Swedberg notes the ukes are "compact; a box of 12 can fly at the cost of a suitcase." Swedberg said her first song would be “Ton-ton Buki”, the Haitian version of “Freres Jacques” - I'm sure they're long past that by now...

Second, Minnesota's Okee Dokee Brothers are heading down the Mighty Mississippi as we speak, part of their album-writing/portaging experience. They've received a bunch of publicity for the concept (guess it was more newsworthy than that time I drove down I-35 from the Twin Cities and sang along to a bunch of songs on the radio). You can follow their Mississippi blog here. The link below features an interview and a live cut of "Auctioneer" and an in-development track "Can You Canoe?"

More videos, songs, and concerts after the jump...

Continue reading "The Ketchup Report, Vol. 9" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This video for "Auctioneer" off the Okee Dokee Brothers' album Take It Outside is every bit as rarin' to go as the song it's for. The animation by Kelli O'Keefe has a vaguely Richard-Scarry-like animals-pitching-in motif, though Scarry didn't tend to go in for twist endings.

The Okee Dokee Brothers - "Auctioneer" [YouTube]

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Okee Dokee Brothers may be only a month away from heading down the mighty Mississippi, but in their latest video, they visit the modern equivalent of the gathering spot the Mississippi was in the 19th century -- New York's Times Square. And for their video for "The Naked Truth" they come up with the genius idea of incorporating The Naked Cowboy, who definitely would've been chronicled by Mark Twain if he'd been around 125 or so years ago. This is joyous and totally safe for kids, but it's probably as close to a NSFW video as I get around here...

The Okee Dokee Brothers - "The Naked Truth" [YouTube]

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ah, Recess Monkey, look what you've done now. You've proven beyond all doubt that Mayor Monkey is indeed your secret weapon. Clearly the slightly bumbling and affable nature of Hizzoner is just a front, judging by the cover of the band's upcoming release FLYING!. That's a great photo, boys. (The rest of the album art is from Jarrett Krosoczka, creator of the Lunch Lady comics).

Tracklisting for the Tor Hyams-produced album, due out June 21 -- along with the listing of a gazillion guest stars -- is after the jump.

Continue reading "This Cover Art is FLYING!" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'd heard some time ago that the Twin Cities duo The Okee Dokee Brothers would be writing their next album as they traveled down the Mississippi River, and those plans finally appear to be taking shape. On June 1, canoes in hand (though I'm not sure they're actually portaging), Joe and Justin will spend thirty days going down the Mississippi. They tell me that they first came up with the idea for the trip way back in the summer of 2009, when they took a short road trip following the Mississippi River down from Minneapolis to Davenport, Iowa along the Great River Road. "We ended up camping along the river," they say...

"meeting incredibly interesting people, writing some songs, and conceptualizing the idea of an adventure album as we drove. We noticed that the river represented so much of what we stood for in our music; the Americana tradition, folk culture, community, adventure, nature, so we decided it would be the central theme of our next album."

As for the trip itself, Joe and Justin will be joined by a couple of "close friends with very creative minds" -- one, a wilderness expert who will "help [them] stay safe and sane on the river," the other, a photographer/videographer who will document the trip. They've set aside two hours each day for songwriting and six days for writing and research with museums, musicians and storytellers. (They're also visiting the Smithsonian archives in DC next week and meeting with a Folkways archivist to do some research on traditional river songs and hope to incorporate some public domain songs on the album.)

Finally, I asked them, "How do you deal with the 'Mark Twain Problem' -- meaning, do you directly write Huck Finn (or other Mark Twain-inspired) songs, or do you avoid them entirely?" Their response seems to me the appropriate one when faced with Huck Finn's overwhelming cultural influence:

"While we love Mark Twain, we're not going for a Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer angle on this album. We might mention them briefly in a song, but they are not our focus and we'd like to distance ourselves from that cliche a bit. The river is big enough for lots of characters and stories."

Photo courtesy of Alex Johnson.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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.

Continue reading "The Ketchup Report, Vol. 7" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I coulda sworn that I'd written something about "Antidisestablishmentarianism," one of the standout tracks on the Okee Dokee Brothers' fine Take It Outside album, being a perfect candidate for a Readeez video. So maybe I just trained my finely-honed telepathic skills on Joe, Justin, and Michael. But, really, why wouldn't you make a Readeez for a song celebrating the longest word in the English language?

The Okee Dokee Brothers - "Antidisestablishmentarianism" [YouTube]

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another Ketchup Report, slathering kids music news all across the internet with all-natural ingredients.

-- Bill Harley channels a little Dylan and Guthrie on his song "Enough Is a Feast," which he's now offering as a free download here through Thanksgiving. (If you want to contribute to or volunteer at a food bank at this time of year when food is maybe even more important than it usually is, Harley suggests finding one here.)

-- I'm a longtime fan of the Tricycle Music Fest, even after its cross-country move to San Francisco. Check out the videos from last month's edition here, including "Tricycle," of course, from Frances England and other videos from Charity Kahn and the Time Outs.

-- Twin Cities folks, heads up, Clementown, the Okee Dokee Brothers, and Adam Levy are playing a benefit show on Saturday, December 4 for friends of Clementown's, Krista and Terry, who've both been diagnosed with cancer. Great lineup, good cause. More details here.

-- I'm also a fan of the "Listen To Your Buds" campaign encouraging kids not to turn up their speakers (or headphones) to 11. This fall's performers? Oran Etkin, who's performing in Philadelphia public schools this week and Brady Rymer.

-- Gustafer Yellowgold, back on (off-)Broadway! Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity Sock will have a run of Saturday performances (11 AM and 1 PM) at the DR2 Theatre, 103 E. 15th St. New York City, from February 26 through April 2. It apparently will include the song "Wisconsin Poncho," which is "set in an all-cheese clothing store." This, friends, is why I love kids music.

-- The Kindiependent concert at the Seattle Public Library some of you may have heard about? 1,500 people, folks. Strength in numbers, that's what it's about. The group's got a couple new concert series coming up in the Seattle area starting this fall, too...

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Day 3s of music festivals, be it of the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival or something, tend to be be a little more laid back, if only because everybody's so d*** tired. Nothing against Day 1 and Day 2, of course, but being anywhere with 65,000 or more other folks for 8 hours at a time will tend to leave you a little tired.

In addition, because most of the acts at the AKL stage play two sets, if you've been there Friday and Saturday, you've seen most if not all of the acts perform once already. So you might be tempted to wander around a little bit more.

Unless, of course, your kids still want to play at the AKL stage. And, er, Elizabeth Mitchell is playing again. That was all perfectly fine by me. One of the advantages of Mitchell's comparatively deep catalog of music is that multiple sets don't have to be the same. She did play a couple new songs compared to her set on Saturday, and she also sang more in Spanish, certainly reflecting her excitement over her forthcoming album with Suni Paz. I also need to give special props to daughter Storey. During "School Days," you could hear another band's soundcheck coming through (presumably) the wireless mikes. It was totally odd and threw most of us in the audience for a loop. But Storey just kept on singing, seemingly unperturbed. It was interesting to me (as a parent) seeing her be so unflappable on stage and later on (and on Saturday) being like most other 9-year-olds, eagerly waiting her turn to sing at the video karaoke stage.

Continue reading "Austin Kiddie Limits (ACL Music Festival) 2010: Day 3 Report and Final Thoughts" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'll go ahead and say straight out that since I wrote some liner notes for Take It Outside, the second family album from Minnesota's Okee Dokee Brothers, I think you can guess that I like the album. I do, indeed.

It's a big step forward for Justin Lansing and Joe Mailander, who are neither brothers nor from Oklahoma, but who do share a big ol' grin behind their band's genial name. Their first album Kids With Beards was pretty good, but this one is stronger in every way -- musically, lyrically, and sonically. "Neighbors" sounds like they've packed everybody in their neighborhood into the studio for parts of the chorus. "Hero" features a soaring chorus and guitar work from the Honeydogs'/Bunny Clogs' Adam Levy. And midway through the bouncy "Antidisestablishmentarianism," they decide that "now we're going to spell for you / 'Cause that's what kids musicians do" and proceed to do just that. (Their joy mounts as they continue to sing as they provide a frequency distribution, for example, of the letters in the word, capped by the definition and a gleeful "what's that supposed to mean?" followed by "Who caaaaares".) They do reflective OK, as on "What We Got" and "Sweet Dreams," but their strength is silly and/or goofy.

Kids ages 5 through 10 will most appreciate the lyrical themes and humor, while their Americana/bluegrass take on pop-rock, polished to a nice sheen by producer Tor Hyams will have a fairly broad appeal. You can listen to samples at the album's CD Baby page. Take It Outside has an outdoorsy theme, but even more so it speaks to an engagement with the rest of the world. With good humor and heart, the Okee Dokee Brothers have produced a CD for even the most curmudgeonly recluse and the kids who just want them to play a little bit. Definitely recommended.

[Disclosure: I was provided a copy of the album for possible review. Though that's pretty obvious, I think, given this particular album.]

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I would not have expected the 39-second "Water Balloon" to be the first song to get a video from The Okee Dokee Brothers' upcoming (Aug. 3) release Take It Outside, but, hey, I guess there's pretty much just one concept you can go with for the song, and they did. (Read on below the video for one more piece of news about the album.)

The Okee Dokee Brothers - "Water Balloon" [YouTube]

I don't believe I've mentioned this here, but I'm on the album. Or, to be more specific, in the album. Writing some liner notes, to be specific. So I think you can probably guess how I feel about the disk.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The release date for the new Okee Dokee Brothers Take It Outside -- August 3rd -- is approaching and the public's now starting to hear the album. The band's offering a free download of "The Naked Truth," one of the album's 13 tracks. You may or may not be able to hide your smile at listening to the resolution of the bouncy song's story, but you'll know on which side the Brothers fall regarding that question...

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As noted before, the Twin Cities' Okee Dokee Brothers have a new album coming out in early August -- Take It Outside -- and so they're starting to road-test the material, most recently at this weekend's Bunny Clogs concert. Adam Levy helps 'em out here on a soulful, organ-drenched track called "What We Got." And by "organ-drenched," I don't mean there were Hammond B-3's falling from the sky. 'Cause that would probably hurt. This, though, is nice.

The Okee Dokee Brothers - "What We Got" (Live) [YouTube]

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First Jim Cosgrove, then Matt Clark, and now the Twin Cities' Okee Dokee Brothers are hopping on the crowdfunding bandwagon.

Unlike the other two, the Brothers have gone ahead and recorded their new album Take It Outside (and paid for it) ahead of requesting folks to help them out. So it's really not "crowdfunding" as much as it is a massive pre-order campaign with "rewards" ($150 gets you a CD, book, t-shirt, and a liner-note shout-out). Still, with Tor Hyams producing and Adam Levy from Bunny Clogs helping out, the August release is one to be anticipated. Details here or donate straight away below...

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, it's simple, with low-grade production values.

But.

It's the Muppets, with a nice arrangement of the classic "Mahna Mahna." I love the goofy angles from the Okee Dokee Brothers. So I think it's worth the minute or so runtime.

Okee Dokee Brothers - "Mahna Mahna" [YouTube]

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Twin Cities-based Okee Dokee Brothers' Kids With Beards is one of the better kids music albums I never got around to reviewing -- a solid, occasionally odd, but often quite enjoyable collection of tunes released in 2008. You've never heard banjos and disco mix quite like this.

Well, Joe and Justin have some new tunes, and they're trying them out live. More importantly for the audiovisual needs of your friendly kids music blogger, they're also posting them to YouTube. Fun stuff, plus banjos. Banjos go a long way with me, as do gratuitous mid-'80s references. I think they'll go a fair way with your kids, too.

The Okee Dokee Brothers - "Wash Your Face" [YouTube]

One more live video after the jump. Lots of fun wordplay in this one.

Continue reading "Video: "Wash Your Face" (Live) - The Okee Dokee Brothers" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)