Last night on Kids Place Live, "re-percussionist" Billy Jonas made an appearance plugging his upcoming family CD Happy Accidents (due out next month). And for those of you who find "What Kind of Cat Are You?" ridiculously compelling ("Kat..hmandu"), you're in luck -- there's a sequel.
"What Kind of Dog Are You" makes an appearance, and on the radio, Jonas went through a whole list of animals (e.g., cows), not just dogs. Clearly, Jonas has stumbled upon a song format which he'll probably be playing for, like, the next 20 years.
In case this confuses you, watch (OK, just listen) to this:
Video: "The Alphabet Song" - Big Don
One of the very few disappointments of this year's trek to the Austin City Limits Festival is that I didn't get to see Austin's own Big Don perform at the Austin Kiddie Limits stage. I hear he had a nice crowd, as the local act usually draws well.
Anyway, he just posted a video for his "The Alphabet Song" track. It's a simply produced video and the song goes on maybe 30 seconds long, perhaps, but it's one of the better alphabet-based songs I've heard, and for an ex-Austinite, it's got some nice shots of the Austin skyline (taken, if I judge my directions correctly, not too far away from the Austin City Limits Fest stages...
Big Don - "The Alphabet Song"
This Was My Saturday
Wake up.
Eat breakfast, make sure the posts for the 2008 Fids and Kamily Awards are posting.
They're not, curse time zone issues, get those straightened out.
And congratulations to Justin Roberts, who took top prize (for the second time in three years) for the fabulous Pop Fly!. Congratulations, too, to the rest of the Top 10, the 10 honorable mentions, and all the nominated albums. (And thanks to Bill and Amy and all the judges for their help.)
Then it was off to soccer...
Back From the Tall Tree: Zooglobble on Kids Place Live
So that was fun. If you're hearing after hearing me talking with Robbie Schaefer on Kids Place Live, thanks for stopping by. Lots of stuff 'round these parts, feel free to dig in. If you're looking for more info on what we talked about (and listened to) tonight, here are some pointers...
-- First we talked about Scribblemonster and played "The Song of LIFE" from their new album Songs With No Character (review).
-- Then we played the awesome Yo Gabba Gabba track from the Roots, "Lovely, Love My Family".
-- Next up was a brief talk about Randy Kaplan -- we played "No Nothing" from his new album Loquat Rooftop (review).
-- Finally, we wrapped up with a brief talk about the Fids and Kamily Awards, whose 2008 list of the year's best kids and family music will be broadcast this Saturday morning on Spare the Rock.
'Twas lots of fun, and I think I'll be back on soon. Not, like, tomorrow night, but before, say, 2009.
On a related note (especially for you radio programmers out there)...
Radio Reminder
Whether you like to hear me live or taped on the radio, you can do so in both ways...
First, in less than an hour, you can hear me make my first appearance (so to speak) on Sirius/XM's Kids Place Live at around 8 PM Eastern.
Second, this weekend be sure to turn in to Spare The Rock, Spoil The Child where you can hear the announcement of the winners in the 2008 Fids and Kamily Awards.
You can find something good on the radio!
Listen To This: "The Water Tower" - Doug Snyder (The Jellydots)
I know Doug Snyder of The Jellydots is recording tracks for the next album, but in the meantime, he's involved a project called Friends of Niko.
It's a project started by Friend-of-Doug Loreta Boskovic, whose son Niko developed autism at some point after he turned 3 years old. To raise funds to provide some expensive therapy for her son, Boskovic wrote some pretty heartfelt lyrics and then turned to Doug to create some music to go with it. The result, "The Water Tower," has some fairly personal lyrics that are difficult to listen to if you're not in that situation, but the chorus (one line: "And you, forever in our minds / Like a water tower / That I don't notice driving by"), matched with a swooping chorus, fairly well soars.
Listen to the song below, but make sure you check out the website and Niko's story, and donate if possible.
Doug Snyder (The Jellydots) - "The Water Tower"
