Interview: Ziggy Marley

ZiggyHouse.jpgZiggy Marley comes from a large and very musical family. The son of Bob Marley, Ziggy's had a solid musical career of his own as part his siblings' band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers as well as with a solo career. So it's not so surprising perhaps that Marley's first album for kids and families is called Family Time. The album is set to be released next week on Marley's own label Tuff Gong Worldwide. Marley recently took a few minutes to chat about music in his everyday life, why Paul Simon and Willie Nelson joined him on the album, and his hopes for the record. Zooglobble: What do you remember singing or playing growing up? Ziggy Marley: We sang a lot of Jamaican folk songs, but we had a lot of different records. I remember we had Glen Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy," and the Jackson Five, too. We sang "Rockin' Robin'"... What do you sing or play with your kids? I make up stuff, songs about whatever we're doing. Like at dinnertime, my son will ask me to "sing me something." Or brushing teeth -- "brush up, brush to your left, brush to your right." Hey, I have that song, too! So why a family album now?

Austin Kiddie Limits 2009 Lineup Announced

The lineup for the 2009 Austin City Limits Festival (Oct. 2-4) has been announced, including the Austin Kiddie Limits stage... Ralph's World Milkshake Q Brothers Telephone Company Lunch Money ... are definitely there. It's unclear whether Quinn Sullivan, Palm School Elementary, and Loose Cannons are playing the AKL stage or one of the other stages. Secret Agent 23 Skidoo is also listed (at his site) as performing at AKL, so I'm kinda thinking there are a couple more acts to be added. Top of the bill is a little OK, not great (Pearl Jam, Dave Mathews, Beastie Boys); it's the undercard, as always, that's where it's at (Levon Helm, Sonic Youth, Lily Allen, Blitzen Trapper, etc.) And for those of you looking for (potential) kids stage cameos, look no further than Medeski Martin & Wood, Terri Hendrix, and Andrew Bird...

B Is For Bob, G Is For Grammy, so Z...

... must be for Ziggy. It's a lousy Scrabble hand, but a busy spring for Ziggy Marley. His Family Time album comes out May 5th, then a month later, Marley's playing Club Nokia on Saturday, June 6th as part of the GRAMMY Museum's monthly "Musical Explorations" program for families. It's Marley's first family-specific concert along with Rhythm Child and unsurprisingly, it's for the "What Is Reggae?" show. And if that wasn't enough, on June 23rd Marley will release B Is For Bob. As previously reported, the album features Ziggy tackling his father's catalog, remixing, adding some tracks, reimagining, as it were, some classic Bob Marley tracks. The album cover art and track listing after the jump...

New Duplex Album (Yes, Album) Worser On Its Way...

For months -- years, even -- I've been checking the website of Veda Hille, the mastermind behind Duplex, who a few years back released the delightfully odd and incredibly tuneful Ablum (yes, that's how you spell it -- read the review here). Every time, no new news except for the occasional one-off Duplex live show. And then Bill notices an entry -- a month old at that -- that says Duplex will be releasing their new album next month. That's right, Worser will be released May 7th June (updated info). Bad news/good news -- bad news (for me) that I missed the announcement of a new Duplex album. Good news: The announcement of a new Duplex album.