Live Video: AudraRox

AudraRox.jpg At the very start of KindieFest (nee StinkFest) 2009, Audra Tsanos introduced herself by saying "Welcome to my hood." And Tsanos, the force behind AudraRox, wasn't kidding. She lives just a few blocks from Jalopy, she was one of the most gregarious folks in the place, and, heck, her husband's art was hanging on the walls. Not only that, but she not only knew the showcase before it was KindieFest, she knew it before it was StinkFest. (Hootenanny, anyone?) One of my favorite parts of the non-showcase portion of KindieFest was talking with Audra about the compromises associated with dealing with the corporate world. For all of the talk about trying to find additional opportunities for kids music to break through into a higher national consciousness, Audra's experiences with Jack's Big Music Show and Sesame Street show that working with entities designed to create more mass-market entertainment can force compromises you may not be entirely comfortable with. Be careful what you wish for... But those thoughts were pushed aside when AudraRox took the stage, seven strong, led Audra's and Jen's powerful vocals. They played a bunch of cuts from their upcoming album. At the start of the song embedded below, "You Can't Crawl in a Dress," my first reaction was "Flute? Really?," but by the end of the song, with multi-hair-colored and tattooed Tsanos bending backwards to belt out the notes, I figured that Tsanos knew exactly where she was going with her music. (Yeah, the flute rocked, too.) AudraRox - "You Can't Crawl in a Dress" (Live at KindieFest 2009) A couple more pictures and another new cut after the jump...

Listen To This: "High Roller" - Hullabaloo (plus a shot at fame if not fortune)

San Diego-area band Hullabaloo has been particularly prolific over the past few years, releasing 3 albums in about 3 years, plus a DVD. Now they're prepping they're latest disk, High Roller, and they've posted the title track at their music page. It's an appealing 2-minute country/folk track with a hint of blues thrown in that includes the phrase "rolling on 3-point-5 inch wheels," which made me laugh. Besides the track itself, you also have the chance to have your wee one's face grace the new album cover. Go here for instructions on how to enter, but the gist of it is that you'll submit a picture of your kid to the band's Facebook page. Then I, along with Warren and Ryan Loyko (Rattle-N-Roll birth announcements), will each pick a semi-finalist face from all the entries, leading to an online vote to pick the winner. Entries are due May 15th. Will it be as iconic as Paul Simonon slamming his guitar on the London Calling cover? We shall see....

Live Video: Lunch Money

LunchMoneyJalopy.jpgLunch Money might have been the least-assuming of all the artists at this weekend's KindieFest (aka StinkFest 2009). Songwriter Molly Ledford spent a not small amount of time playing with the few kids while Jay Barry was pretty quiet (compared to a Chatty Cathy like me). And J.P. Stephens spent most of the day taking pictures. (He's not so talented that he can take pictures of the band while he's playing so all pictures here are mine.) When they finally took the Jalopy stage, the last of the nine bands to play the showcase, Tor Hyams introduced the trio and pointed out that you can hear Ledford's smile when she sings, which goes a long way, I think, to explaining the band's appeal. The folks that had stuck around for this final set were rewarded with a setlist that featured both Lunch Money classics and new stuff. The band rocked, the crowd danced, and as Lunch Money played, Molly grinned. On the video below, hear a new Lunch Money track, "I Want to Push Buttons." (Since I started recording in the middle of the banter, what Ledford is recounting is that when she was growing up she wanted to be one of two things...) Lunch Money - "I Want To Push Buttons" One more picture and one more video after the jump...

Does The CDC Have a Kids Music Division?

I guess that since technically speaking we could still call the whole H1N1 flu virus thing a near-pandemic, I'm not actually late with this. And, hey, washing your hands never goes out of style. So, yeah, head on over to David Tobocman's site to pick up the jaunty "Brush Your Teeth" as a free download. Yeah, yeah, I know -- the flu doesn't appear to have spread due to a lack of proper dental hygeine, but the song does have a few hand-washing references. And besides, it's a cute, free song. Of course, having started down this public health path, there is the painfully obvious (if very, very cool) video selection...

Live Video: Secret Agent 23 Skidoo

SA23Skidoo.jpgThe next entry in a series of posts from this weekend's StinkFest 2009. More to come! As a reminder, J.P. Stephens from the band Lunch Money has given me his permission to use his photos. All photos here are his unless otherwise noted; and if you want to see more of his work, visit him at Lumos Studio. Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, aka Cactus, rolled through Jalopy like he owned the place. His attitude was one of the more relaxed ones during the weekend. But he also made some of the more direct points of the day -- for example, why couldn't people figure out a way to have kids music concerts during the week when lots of kids went to see the new Hannah Montana movie during the week, too? SA23Skidoo might've turned down a good paying gig in his hometown of Asheville, NC to come up to Brooklyn to play a free gig, but Asheville's loss was KindieFest's gain. Along with his friend William Sharp on vocals and KindieFest co-producer Tor Hyams doing whatever weird dancing he was doing, Skidoo turned in a dynamic set that had the crowd, which at this point had been there for close to 12 hours and had already heard 7 other acts, on their feet. "Gotta Be Me," that anthem of individuality and self-acceptance, might've been the overall high point, but the single most gratifying song for me was probably "I Like Fruit," a collaboration with Jeff Fuller from the LA band Egg, who flew in just to perform this one song. The combination of East Coast rapper and West Coast folk/pop-rocker seemed entirely natural in this new kids music world. Secret Agent 23 Skidoo with Jeff Fuller (Egg) - "I Like Fruit" More pictures and one more video after the jump...

Billy Jonas Loves Your Ears, Too.

BillyJonasBudsConcert.jpgWell, Justin Roberts already played his concert on behalf of the Listen To Your Buds initiative, which basically encourages kids to turn down that damn music. Or, er, to please turn down the volume on the music they listen to, particularly on their headphones. I just liked this picture of Billy Jonas, who played the most recent "Listen To Your Buds" concert last week in DC, kicking off (a couple days early) Better Hearing and Speech Month, which is held annually in May. He's there with Sirius-XM Kids Place Live's Mindy Thomas, who's bangin' on a can...