That's right, less than two weeks until the premiere of The Fresh Beat Band, the new show from Nickelodeon that everybody has an opinion on.
The live-action show will premiere with back-to-back episodes on Monday, August 24, at noon ET/PT, followed by two weeks of new episodes Tuesday, August 25—Thursday, August 27, and Monday, August 31—Thursday, September 3, at noon ET/PT. You can already watch some videos at the Nick Jr. site, in the remote chance that your child isn't seeing enough promos on your actual TV. (Though they don't currently have "Stuck On You," a song which is almost tolerable for repeated adult listening. By "repeated," I mean twice. I have limits.)
Don't say I didn't warn you. Please plan accordingly.
Video: Yuto Miyazawa and Band of Horses (Live @ Kidzapalooza)
Not at the same time. OK, so it's a 9-year-old playing a 40-year-old song, but at least we're getting a little closer to seeing a family music act on video from Kidzapalooza 2009.
Yuto Miyazawa - "Purple Haze" (Live at Lollapalooza Kidzapalooza stage 2009)
OK, here's the Band of Horses song from Saturday. No word if they started 20 minutes late because Care Bears on Fire ran long (inside joke)...
Video: Joshua James Live @ Kidzapalooza 2009
Y'know, those iPhones have video cameras now and the Flips are easy to use (I should know). I'm with Tito, it shouldn't be this difficult to have any of the other folks who make music on a more regular basis for kids (or the kids themselves) captured on camera. This sounds like a nice cut (I'm unable to figure out which one specifically) from Joshua James, Sunday's special guest at Lolla's Kidzapalooza stage. But I know there was a lot more that brought down this house this weekend...
Joshua James live at Kidzapalooza stage, Lollapalooza 2009.
If Only Somebody Had Done This Better...
I have no idea whether Da Jammies is destined for a network or will be lost in straight-to-DVD purgatory.
All I know is that I watch the video above, listen to the songs at their Myspace page, and read the description of the show, an
"animated series that follows five kids from the Suburbs who attend a Performing Arts school. These kids sing, dance and rap, all with a dream of becoming famous as they each are on a mission to make it in the music biz"and I wish that it had been done better. Oh, yeah, it had: OK, there's no actual animation, but it's a waaaay cool song. Ironically, Class of 3000 is itself subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit.
Video: "Don't Touch My Stuff" (Live @ Kidzapalooza) - Zach Gill
I love the fact that people are recording some stuff on the Kidzapalooza stage at this year's Lollapalooza festival, such as Zach Gill -- I just wish some folks also felt compelled to record the more traditional kids' acts. (Hello, 23 Skidoo? Frances England? Lunch Money?)
Zach Gill - "Don't Touch My Stuff" (Live @ Lollapalooza 2009)
In Memoriam: Mike Seeger
Musician and folklorist Mike Seeger died from cancer Friday night at the age of 75. His importance to the kids music world is relatively minor compared to his half-brother Pete, but not without significance. He will be remembered much more for his musical output as a solo artist and with the New Lost City Ramblers, his collecting of traditional music, and his discovery of forgotten traditional musicians. But his mother was Ruth Crawford Seeger, who wrote one of the first important books of children's music, and he recorded a couple kids' albums, including American Folk Songs for Children with his sister Peggy.
Here's a clip of him playing "John Henry" a couple years ago. One of these days I'm going to learn myself some banjo...