New Eric Herman On Its Way...

News from Eric Herman that he's wrapping up work on his next album of all-new material, titled What A Ride!. Eric is a longtime friend of Zooglobble, and it sounds like he's put the time he spent writing Cool Tunes For Kids as the new album will feature...

"Tito from the Hipwaders, Mr. Billy, Chris Wiser from Sugar Free Allstars, Robbi K, Eric Ode, Glenn Colton and David Tobocman... [as well as] Gwendolyn Sanford from the amazing Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang."

It's not quite like Santana's Supernatural (and he forgot to mention James Dague from ScribbleMonster), but it's a pretty good collection of folks nonetheless. His newsletter (sign up at the website) featured a clip of "Come Play," on which Herman and Gwendolyn's voices blend really well together. (The other clip, for a tune, called "Heartbeat," was even better, believe it or not.) In any case, look for the album June 9...

Interview: Chris Ballew (Caspar Babypants)

Chris Ballew is probably most familiar to folks of my generation as one of the guys behind the Presidents of the United States of America, who came out of the Pacific Northwest and had a number of alternative rock hits in the mid-'90s. And while the Presidents are still going strong (Ballew answered these questions in the midst of a European tour with the Presidents), he's turning some of his attention to making music for the younger set via Caspar Babypants. If the giddiness of his debut Here I Am! album or his series of YouTube videos hasn't convinced you how excited Ballew is by his efforts in the family music genre, this interview will. Zooglobble: What did you listen to or play instrument-wise growing up? Chris Ballew: I guess I was a bit of a piano wonder kid. I started with a pro teacher when I was 4 and went until I was 14 and discovered the awesome power and majesty of the ELECTRIC GUITAR! Then it all changed focus but I still have the piano in my bones. What artists influenced you as a musician in the Presidents? The Beatles, Boston, Lenny Kravitz, The Stooges, and Weird Al. I wanted to make a Frankenstein’s monster of all those artists and I think I actually did it. So it has the love and peace intent of the Beatles, the arena rock swagger (it's in there!) of Boston, the clean articulate simple production of Lenny Kravitz (the early stuff), the fuzz and scrape of the Stooges, and the oddball lyrics of Weird Al.

Listen To This: Tres Leches

The wave of lullaby albums that swept over us last year has receded, but there are still a few albums coming out. One that I have hopes for is the upcoming debut kids' CD from New York a capella trio Tres Leches, Tres Leches: Songs, Chants & Lullabies for All Our Relations. I prefer the album's alternate (older) title -- Zzzz: Lullabies and Music to Wind Down To -- the name (if not the music) is zippier and gives a better indication of why you and your family might give it a spin. The music on their myspace page features English-language and non-English-language tracks and for those of you who are looking to add to their collection of Ellipsis Arts and Planet Sleeps lullaby disks, I think you'll want to keep your eyes open (or closed) for this.

Yo Gabba Gabba Gabba: YGG Set For a Third Season

Word from Nickelodeon this morning that they've picked up of a third season of Yo Gabba Gabba!. The network will commence production on 13 new half-hour episodes in August for its NOGGIN channel. No word yet on guest stars (though I'm thinking that Seth Rogan is waaaaaay overdue, man) or musical partners in crime. (I wonder what the fact that they're bringing it back for just 13 shows means given that Season Two had 20 shows.) I'm also reminded that they've started a live show gig down in Australia, which makes me wonder why in the world they're not doing that here first. Northern Hemisphere not good enough for Brobee?

Contest: Win Trout Fishing in America's New Book/CD

I already told you about the new book/CD set from Trout Fishing in America, My Name is Chicken Joe. (The set is now set to be released April 21.) Well, now you have a chance to win a copy, courtesy of The Secret Mountain. That's right, one lucky Zooglobble reader will get to curl up with the hardcover book while listening to the 11-song CD featuring tracks from Trout's many kids' CDs. (Or one or the other -- I'm not that prescriptive on what you do with it if you win.) All you need to do is enter a comment below with the craziest (or un-craziest) name for a pet you ever had. One winner will be selected at random; all entries due by midnight east coast time Thursday night. One entry per family, please. And good luck!

It's My Week To Catchup - Cybils Winner Announced. Seven Weeks Ago.

Many ~~weeks~~ months ago, I let you know that nominations were open for the Cybils awards, which does for children's literature what Fids and Kamily does for children's and family music. I was sitting on the Fiction Picture Book judges committee, helped select the winner, and did I let you know what it was? No! I'm a total loser. Mid-February was waaaay busy for me. Anyway, better late than never -- the Fiction Picture Book winner was How To Heal a Broken Wing, written and illustrated by Bob Graham. It's a lovely book, which tells its story with few words but excess grace. Worth tracking down, even seven weeks later.