Video: "Music In You" - Heidi Hutchence

I can't say that I'm a huge fan of this song from London-based artist Heidi Hutchence, though I think it'd be pretty effective as a wind down song in a preschool classroom. But, man, this video looks splendid. Though the song's a couple years old, the video's new. Mmmmm.... dancing, computer-animated felt trees. Heidi Hutchence - "Music In You" [Vimeo] (YouTube version after the jump)

Music in you from Heidi Hutchence on Vimeo.

So What Are You Doing After Kindiefest? (The Unofficial Party Thread)

I'm excited, of course, to be attending and moderating at Kindiefest in just a couple weeks (April 30-May 2), but since coming back from SXSW, I understand better that no music conference is complete without unofficial side parties and concerts. This post, friends, is for those of you attending Kindiefest and feeling like there's not quite enough kids music (or kids music socializing) going on, and needing more. (It's also for you lucky ducks living in Brooklyn who want more than the official Sunday concert, which kicks off at noon.) Right now there are two events I know of -- if you're playing a gig in NYC that weekend, shoot me an e-mail or post something in the comments and I'll be happy to expand the list. See below for more! Anyway, Renee Stahl and Jeremy Toback are playing a Renee and Jeremy show of sorts -- they promise their solo music along with some R&J tunes. There are probably plenty of folks who play Renee & Jeremy tunes late at night -- it's just usually recorded, and in the nursery. Anyway, though details are scant on the Sullivan Hall website, it appears they're playing at 10:30 PM at the Greenwich Village venue. Tickets $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Secondly, Frances England, who's playing the industry showcase at Kindiefest Saturday night, will also be playing a public show at the 92nd Y Tribeca on Sunday, May 2 at 11 AM. NYC folks, if you can't make it to Brooklyn (or if your kids are very easy-going) -- this is a rare opportunity. Tickets are $15. NEW: Ralph Covert (Ralph's World) is doing a solo performance/signing at the Borders on Columbus Circle, Friday the 30th at 4 PM. Details here. NEW: Rhythm Child is taping a Kids Place Live Rumpus Room concert at 2 PM Friday. Send an e-mail to Mindy Thomas (Mindy AT siriusxm DOT com) for details. Also, here are a few things going on if you're not actually attending KindieFest... NEW: AudraRox will be playing the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, May 1 at 4 PM, presumably at the street fair. NEW: Lloyd Miller of the Deedle Deedle Dees is leading musical nature workshops for kids in Brooklyn's Prospect Park as part of NYC Wildflower Week, including Saturday morning at 10 AM for the preschoolers, 11 AM for the grade schoolers (details here). NEW Princess Katie and Racer Steve are playing the Luke's Rock 'N' Stroll fundraiser from 8:30 - 11:30 (or so) Saturday morning. Like I said, if you're performing in NYC that weekend, let me know...

Crowdfunding, Part 3: Matt Clark Does It...

A few weeks back, I highlighted the attempt by Portland, Oregon's Matt Clark to use Kickstarter, a "crowd-sourcing" site which puts folks under a deadline to raise funds from fans for a wide variety of projects. Matt's project was to record the follow-up to Clark's debut, Funny Little Fella -- he was looking for $3,000 for mixing, mastering, and duplicating. Well, as you can see from the fancy widget below, Clark made his goal. I'm posting this for two reasons: 1) Yay, Matt. 2) For other musicians considering this route, the details on how people chose to fund the project -- i.e., at what levels -- I think are useful reading. You'll actually have to click on the widget below to see that, but I found it interesting that folks bypassed the cheaper reward levels and were only interested in the higher levels. In other words, if you're gonna get somebody invested in you... make 'em invest.

Songs For Gardening and Farming

Today they’re breaking ground on the south lawn of the White House for a vegetable garden, per Michelle Obama, and involving local school children in the planting, maintaining and harvesting: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/19/white-house-kitchen-garde_n_177121.html This garden will grow organic produce to be used in the White House kitchen. How cool is that??? Obviously, they are trying to set a national example for all of us to follow. I was thinking it might be nice if you opened a list of garden-related or veggie-related or good-food related songs for today, or some day, in celebration of spring and this new direction. Songs I can think of off the top o’ my head: The Lonely Tomato—Central Services Board of Education Hey All You Farmers—Johnny Bregar, Hootenanny From Scratch—Justin Roberts, Pop Fly Mr. Bell’s Garden—Raffi, Bananaphone Snacktime—BNL Poetry in Nature: One last plug... Springtime is when local farmers need sign ups for their summer CSA programs. Our CSA farm share (we sign up to get a bag of fresh, organic veggies every week) is one of the things I most look forward to in the summer. If you're in Maine, please take a moment to check out my friend Reba's organic CSA. If you're in another part of the country and want to find a farm share, or if you just want to learn about how CSAs work, please check out my recent blog post about Community Supported Agriculture.

Share: "There Is No Away" - Uncle Rock

I don't talk a lot about Earth Day here at Zooglobble, not because I hate the Earth ("dude, what a loser planet that is") but because much of the Earth Day-related music that crosses my desk is dull, tuneless, and/or unbearably preachy. One of the exceptions is Uncle Rock's "There Is No Away," a graceful waltz about the permanence of trash featuring stringed accompaniment and Elizabeth Mitchell. I suppose Robert could sing the classifieds accompanied by strings and Elizabeth Mitchell and and I'd probably write about it here, but the gracefulness of the song helps keep it away from the "unbearably preachy" camp. (It fits well within the big picture of the latest Uncle Rock album, er, The Big Picture, which has a few more songs with an environmental awareness.) Even better, for a limited time, you can download the mp3 for free from Uncle Rock's homepage. Mp3s are mostly waste-free after all (more so, I suppose, if you're solar-powered).

Imagination Movers Season 3 Set! (For, er, 2011, Maybe?)

It was a little dicey there for awhile -- you could tell from Facebook that the fans at least were getting restless (and nervous) -- but it's official -- Season 3 of the Imagination Movers' self-titled Disney Channel show is going to happen. Here's an article from Variety discussing the move -- it notes that production will start back up in New Orleans in June and that the production order includes a concert special, a first for the band on Disney. (And, yeah, there's another album coming out on June 8.) Even though Seasons 1 and 2 started in the fall of 2008 and 2009, with a June production start, I'm guessing that fall 2010 may be hard to accomplish. What the article doesn't mention is Nancy Kanter (Senior VP of Programming for Playhouse Disney) saying (in the press release) that Season Three "will expand the Movers world beyond the Idea Warehouse and will include more surprise visitors and guest stars." So there you go -- perhaps they'll start going the Yo Gabba Gabba! route and inviting a whole bunch of guest stars from the real world. Come to think of it, maybe the Movers should challenge the folks at YGG -- which just started its third season -- to a friendly rumble. Or maybe a pickup basketball game. I think the guys have the moves, but Brobee et al. got height, and you can't teach height.