Well, when you're Gustafer Yellowgold, why, yes, you can. Morgan Taylor credited the writing of "Mint Green Bee" to the yellow dude with the mellow 'tude (except, of course, as pertaining to cheese or cake), and now Gustafer's won Session I of the Children's Division of the 2008 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Go there to download a copy of the song and congratulations to him for joining other previous Grand Prize Winners such as Joe McDermott, Kristen Andreassen, Thaddeus Rex, and Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer.
Product Review: First Act Discovery Instruments
As I've mentioned many times here, I'm a big fan not just of kids music, but also of making music with kids. As in, families making music together. Not in any Partridge Family-like way, but just adults and kids singing and playing together.
We've got a basket of instruments we keep in our living room that we pull out a lot, along with the ukelele and (occasionally) my violin. I might be the only one in the family with any significant musical training, but even if we're just marching around the house in a musical parade, it's important to me that my kids see music-making as something they can do at any point in their lives. I could care less if they ever get paid for making music, but it would be nice if, assuming they become parents at some point, they don't feel at all self-conscious about singing songs and rockin' the egg shaker with their kids.
Having said all that, that basket of instruments we have is really dependent on rhythm instruments -- egg shakers, sticks, bells. So when First Act asked if I was interested in having our family test out some of their First Act Discovery line of instruments, I was ready...A Thousand Thanks
A little over 4 years ago, already starting to weary of writing a blog devoted to a team that would go on to lose 111 games that season, I decided to indulge a small interest of mine in kids music (OK, technically speaking, I did it here originally):
Welcome to Zooglobble! It's my hope that this blog/website will become a reference site for great kids' music that parents can enjoy as well. If you like Ralph's World, Laurie Berkner, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Justin Roberts, among others, stop by on a regular basis for news, reviews, and goodness knows what else. It might take some time, but we'll build this up to something worth your time. Thanks in advance for your time and patience.It then took me another two months before I wrote another entry. (Patience, no kidding -- I only wrote another 20 posts throughout the next year.) Well, I did write that baseball blog for more than another year (turns out writing about a miserable team is pretty easy compared to writing about an average one), but that's nothing, for this is the 1,000th post on Zooglobble. A thousand thanks, then to: -- the musicians who devote some or all of their working lives to making music and entertainment for and with kids; -- the other people in the kids music genre - the publicists and promoters and the like - who are fairly tireless advocates for the genre; -- you, dear readers, for reading, commenting, and occasionally sending me nice e-mails; and -- my family, for putting up with an interest that sometimes far exceeds theirs. I'd like to think that I've accomplished what I set out to do more than 4 years ago and along the way met some pretty cool people. Let's see what the next 4 years brings (and, no, I'm not going anywhere)...
Video: The Nields and "Rock All Day, Rock All Night"
I've been spinning The Nields' new 2-CD family album Rock All Day, Rock All Night for a little while now, and since I think you'll be hearing more about the album throughout the fall, I thought it'd be worth mining YouTube for a few cuts from the album...
One track, "Superhero Soup," dates all the way back to the Nields' first album, 66 Hoxsey Street, from 1992. It's a goofy little track, which in this version is interrupted by the introduction of the band, but it's from just a few weeks ago...
The Nields - "Superhero Soup"
Three more clips to enjoy following the jump...
Dan Zanes' Morning Hair
Way back in June (June 17, to be exact), Dan Zanes and Friends played on the CBS Early Show. With Zanes' crazy hair, I almost wondered if his "morning hair" was boring and looked like mine, but no such luck.
Anyway, this version of "Colas" off of Nueva York! is particularly energetic and well worth a look-see, though you'd never know it by looking at the audience of kids and families who must've been told that standing up would, you know, screw up the sightlines. If nobody dances at a Dan Zanes performance, did it really happen?
Dan Zanes - "Colas" (Live on the CBS Early Show)
Family Music Meltdown 2: Return of the Poster
Everybody loves cupcakes, blowing out the birthday candle, and most of all, great music.
Jay from Lunch Money outdoes himself (last year's poster) with this, the poster for this year's Family Music Meltdown. (Though the type is sorta hard to read in this JPG version, it looks awesome in its 18 MB glory.)
Saturday, Sept. 27th -- doors at 5, show at 6, and tickets just $5 (infants free). With Super Pal Universe, Joe McDermott and the Smart Little Creatures, Laura Freeman, Telephone Company, and Family Music Meltdown name-creator Mr. Leebot. (And who knows who else might show up?)
Woo. Hoo.
