Contest: Win Tickets to Dan Zanes' Holiday House Party!

DZandFriends.jpgIf you've been reading your Dan Zanes newsletters (and, really, why aren't you?), you know that Dan Zanes has announced his Holiday House Party set of concerts. He's going to San Francisco Nov. 29/30; Davis, CA Dec. 2; and Seattle Dec. 6/7 before heading back to New York City for a long run at the New Victory Theatre Dec. 19 through Jan. 4. For those of you who haven't been reading the e-mails, let's let the folks at Festival Five describe it...
Take a seat in the theatrical living room of Grammy winners Dan Zanes and Friends, America’s premier family music band, for a 21st century all-ages holiday celebration. If you feel that the festivities of the season are incomplete without disco Hanukkah rave-ups, raucous Arabic worship songs, a Korean new years anthem, high octane Mexican fiddling, tap dancing, shadow puppetry, snow, laughter, and the occasional Christmas carol, than this is your party. Everyone is invited and now that includes you. The New York Times says “concerts by Dan Zanes are always a cause for celebration” and the Holiday House Party may just be the wildest concert of them all.
Now, I know what you're saying, you're saying, Stefan, how am I supposed to believe the hype? (I'm personally most interested in the Korean new years anthem. I'm totally serious.) Well, thanks to Festival Five, we here at Zooglobble are happy to give away a set of 4 tickets to one show in each of San Francisco (Sunday Nov. 30th @ 5 pm), Seattle (Sunday Dec. 7th @ 4 pm), and Nueva York City (Wednesday Dec. 31st @ noon) for you, loyal readers. How, you might ask?

You'll Be Spinning (Lunch Money): "Dizzy" Track Listing

DizzyCover1.jpgA Fids and Kamily voter told me that 2008 "might've been the best year yet for kids-music album art," and while I'm inclined to agree, 2009 looks like it might be even better. I told you before about Brandon Reese and his nascent career as a kids music illustrator. Well, it continues as he's posted all his artwork for the new album Dizzy (OK, they didn't take any of your suggestions), set for official release in January by Lunch Money. Woo. Hoo. The album cover is here (with Molly's permission.) Go here to see all the details -- sketches, etc. And, yes, Brandon, you did do them right. Track listing follows...

"Glycerine" Is Really A Kids Song: Gavin Rossdale on "Rock Star Dads"

OK, not really. Gavin Rossdale, the former lead singer for Bush, who's now a solo artist and parent with Gwen Stefani, chatted with NPR's Rob Sachs on being a "rock star dad." Best quote: When Sachs asks Rossdale what he does when his son asks about the dicier lyrics in his tunes, he says "sometimes I'll tell him in Spanish." I'm amused mostly by the idea that "what music would you play for your kids" is a decision that is somehow dangerous enough that it's for a blog devoted to "life's most trying dilemmas, but not those life-or-death dilemmas, more the quandaries we face every day... the personal territory others fear to tread." Um, not really. I spend a lot of time thinking and listening to kids music and music with kids, but it's not something worth overthinking for, like, the rest of the world. Not to mention pretty easy.

I Don't Recall My Elementary School(s) Rocking Like This

Nor were the faculty or guest musical artists nearly so nattily attired. Nascent Seattle band The Not-Its! played a set at an elementary school in Seattle recently (one of their members, Tom Baisden, teaches at the school) and preserved a couple of the performances on video for posterity. In general (not just here), I'm really digging their crunchy power-poppy goodness and lyrics for the under 4-foot set. And here, they make the kids go all boppity. Here's the band running through their theme song, "We Are The Not-Its!" One more video...

Kevin Bacon Is A Kids' Musician, Too

Nell Minow is known online as The Movie Mom, a role in which she's basically doing what I do for kids' music, except she does it for movies and has done it for at least twice as long as I have. Anyway, she doesn't just watch movies; late last week Nell was nice enough to include me in her list of Top 10 Family Entertainment Blogs. And sure Warren was on her list as well, but I feel pretty sure that Warren isn't two degrees of separation away from Minow, as I (and she) discovered after chatting via e-mail. Small world, I guess.