A few months back, I asked "Is kids music recession-proof?" (The answer: no, not entirely.)
Well, someone else has asked that question, and they have a video camera and an editor, too. More importantly, the folks at Film@11.tv asked Lloyd Miller from the Deedle Deedle Dees to talk about his business. It's odd -- I tend not to think about musicians as businessmen and women, even though we just talked about it at Kindiefest. But they are, of course, and Miller has a good grasp on what's stayed steady (the big gigs) and what hasn't (the birthday parties).
And, near the very end, he also provides an origin story for the band's name. Still can't tell if he's joking.
There's One More Austin Kiddie Limits 2010 Artist...
... it's just that nobody, not even the organizers, know who it is yet.
Remember yesterday, when I mentioned the 2010 Austin Kiddie Limits lineup and thought that that might not be the end of it?
Well, I was right. That's because you have a chance to win an Austin Kiddie Limits performing slot. Kidzapalooza producer Tor Hyams set up the contest, and the winner gets the opportunity to perform 2 20-minutes sets (par for the course there on the AKL stage), plus $1,000, all access/backstage pass, and free food. (I've seen the artists' catering -- it's pretty good.) Might not work for a full band flying in from out of state, but I bet some artists closer to the area could swing it. Entries due August 7.
(And if you're far away, perhaps you'd like to join in on a podcast with Tor.)88 Lines For 44 Kids Musicians
My last Kindiefest post, I promise.
I'd written the lines below as a spoof of the New Wave hit by the The Nails, "88 Lines for 44 Women," and had intended the spoof to be for the website. But for some reason I thought it might be appropriate for Kindiefest and the many multitudes of kids musicians gathered. The poobahs in charge agreed, and so that's how I came to be standing up on stage on Saturday night in between sets, iPod in hand, reading off 88 lines while Tor Hyams jammed on keys in the background.
Hyams didn't know the original song (see a live version here) well enough to play it, so instead we turned it into a beat poetry/spoken word/jazz thing. I'm a poor judge of how it turned out, but a couple other notes:
1) I like speaking in public, and I have no problem playing on stage in a quartet or an orchestra. But trying to be a lead singer and command an audience's attention is a hard, hard task. The whole experience for me was useful just to have that concept reinforced.
2) I was completely -- I mean totally -- oblivious to Anand Nayak from Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem joining in with some guitar jamming as they prepped for their showcase set, so focused was I on my lyrics. I was surprised later when people told me they joined in.
So clearly rock superstar is not in my immediate future. For visual proof, see below (thanks, Jeff!). But thanks to Tor, Bill, and Stephanie for letting me join in the fun.
And here are all the full lyrics
Austin Kiddie Limits 2010 Lineup Announced (Along With, Er, the Rest of Austin City Limits Fest)
Well, the lineup for the 2010 edition of the Austin City Limits Festival is out and there, in the tiny type at the end, is the initial set of bands for the Austin Kiddie Limits stage. I'd known about a few of these, but some -- The Verve Pipe! -- come as a big surprise to me (in a good way...)
The Verve Pipe
Frances England
The Jellydots
Elizabeth Mitchell
Okee Dokee Brothers
Tom Freund
Paul Green School of Rock
Q Brothers
Now, there were 10 acts total (plus guest artists) at last year's edition, so a couple more names could be added at some point, but even as it is that is one solid lineup.
As for the rest of the schedule (y'know, for the adults in the crowd), I'm underwhelmed by the names at the top of the card. I mean, they're OK, but I'm not geeked about them (like my Muse-obsessed neighbor would be). But there are enough folks on the undercard (LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, Sonic Youth, Robert Randolph, many more) that it should be an excellent three days...Kindiependent Ironically Not Independent At All
At Kindiefest a couple weeks ago, one of the few sustained conversations I had was with the guys from Recess Monkey. We talked about how the key with the kids music genre is the continued sharing -- rather than fighting over limited pieces of a pie, try to make that pie bigger so everybody gets more. Especially if it's pecan pie. Mmm, I love me some pecan pie.
But I digress.
Anyway, the guys in the band said they'd been working with some of the other Seattle kids music bands to try to cross-promote their shows and music, but they didn't reveal their secret weapon, which is the most awesome name: Kindiependent, which almost makes me like the whole "kindie" name which I've never fully been able to embrace. It's a Seattle kids music collective featuring Recess Monkey, Caspar Babypants, The Not-Its, Johnny Bregar, and the Central Services Board of Education.
Check out the cool poster art from Kate Endle (Chris Ballew's wife, who's also done both Caspar Babypants covers) -- with help from Johnny Bregar and Jack Forman -- for a show on June 13th. It's the record release party for RM's The Final Funktier -- apparently it's going to be one seamless set where each band's set overlaps with the one preceeding it.
So, yeah, Seattle's totally going all for one, one for all, 5 Musketeers-style. (And maybe more, once other Seattle folks get the word.) Other areas might be thinking the same thing, but Seattle's taken the visible step. And secured the website.Kindiefest 2010: Jon Samson
I feel like Jon Samson got the short end of my Kindiefest stick -- I was late getting back inside Littlefield to hear the beginning of his set, and midway through recording one of his songs on video, the batteries in my camera gave up the ghost.
So that's why you only get 1:45 of video, of the twisty (lyrically) "Right Now." Samson's music was by far the most overtly "educational" of any of the acts performing at Kindiefest, but he definitely knows his way around a melody and a hook and had a solid band backing him up. "Educational" music isn't necessarily for everyone's tastes, but you could do (you probably have done) far, far worse.
Samson's set was emblematic, even, of Kindiefest in general for me this year -- there was so much going on, with so many people, that it was completely impossible to hear everything or talk to everyone. Folks I spent significant amounts of time chatting with last year I barely talked to in passing. Luckily, others caught what I couldn't, so since I missed the last 3 acts of the Sunday showcase so I could hightail it back across the country, you can read, for example, Jeff Cohen's summary (and video) of Ralph Covert, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, and the Royal Order of Chords and Keys.
Enjoy, then, the last video from my collection....
Jon Samson (CoCreative Music) - "Right Now" (Live at Kindiefest 2010) [YouTube]
