Little Boy Blue, Come Play Your Drums

Drums_Set.jpgIf this were a movie, the prologue would be set about thirty years ago, with an elementary-aged boy (not to give too much away, but it's me) playing an organ. It's an electronic organ -- not anything funky like a Hammond B-3, but a full-fledged organ with two rows of keys, pedals, stops, and foot pedals for the volume. What makes this scene slightly more remarkable is that I'm doing it at home on an organ that my dad built. That's right, my dad built an organ. It was from a kit, and I don't remember much of its construction. But I remember taking lessons, all the way through high school and three cross-country moves. At some point -- probably after I went off to college and my family was prepping for a fourth long-distance move -- we donated it to a church and aside from staying in the sanctuary until the organist finishes the postlude and an irrational appreciation of Saint-Saens' Symphony #3, I don't travel much in the organ world anymore. And I never picked up much of my dad's engineering skills. (His graduate degree = nuclear physics. Mine = not.) Roll opening credits, flash forward thirty years. We've noticed that Little Boy Blue spends a lot of time drumming. With his silverware at the dinner table, with his toothbrushes in the bathroom. (It's not for nothing that we put "D Is For Drums" on his birthday playlist.) "Let's get him a drum set for his birthday," I say. "You should make him one," my wife says. Now perhaps this sprang from having recently seen Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem in concert here in town. Rani's husband, drummer Scott Kessel, doesn't play on a standard trap kit -- he calls his set the "Drumship Enterprise" and it's entirely made of recycled materials. You can watch them in concert at Kindiefest here -- yes, that's a suitcase being used as the kick drum. It sounds pretty awesome, actually. Or maybe we were just trying to save money and find something that wouldn't echo through the house like a full-fledged set would. I don't know, but in any case, I started collecting boxes and other recycled materials for use as a drum set.

Video: "Water Balloon" - The Okee Dokee Brothers

I would not have expected the 39-second "Water Balloon" to be the first song to get a video from The Okee Dokee Brothers' upcoming (Aug. 3) release Take It Outside, but, hey, I guess there's pretty much just one concept you can go with for the song, and they did. (Read on below the video for one more piece of news about the album.) The Okee Dokee Brothers - "Water Balloon" [YouTube] I don't believe I've mentioned this here, but I'm on the album. Or, to be more specific, in the album. Writing some liner notes, to be specific. So I think you can probably guess how I feel about the disk.

Play List: Little Boy Blue's Birthday Mix (The Sequel)

Last year at about this time I made a mix CD for Little Boy Blue's birthday. Since Little Boy Blue recently had another birthday party, I went back and made another mix CD for the guests (and him). I gather last year's was popular -- one of the return attendees said that last year's mix saved them during their vacation road trip. (And it was popular with Little Boy Blue, too.) Anyway, here's this year's result, with some YouTubery to help you play along at home. Hail! Hail! The Gang's All Here! - Dean Jones featuring the Felice Brothers (Rock Paper Scissors) Light It Up - Caspar Babypants (More Please!) When I'm Five - We Are The Not Its (We Are The Not Its) [YouTube] High Five! - They Might Be Giants (Here Come the 123s!) [YouTube] Sunny Day Rainy Day Anytime Band - Ralph Covert (At the Bottom Of The Sea) [YouTube] D Is For Drums - They Might Be Giants (Here Come The ABCs) [YouTube] F & G - The Pop Ups (Outside Voices) Favorite Names - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke (Rise And Shine) [YouTube] I'm A Monkey - Candy Band (High Five) They All Ask'd For You - Daisy Mayhem (Ranky Tanky) [YouTube] Sodeo - Raffi (More Singable Songs) Evens and Odds - Gwendolyn And The Good Time Gang (Clap Your Hands) Moon Boots - Recess Monkey (The Final Funktier) [YouTube] We Go Duck - Justin Roberts (Jungle Gym) Look Both Ways - Egg/Secret Agent 23 Skidoo (Look Both Ways) Cars And Trucks - Sugar Free Allstars (Funky Fresh And Sugar Free) Every Day Is A Summer Day - Keith Munslow (Homemade Fun) Watermelon Song - The Biscuit Brothers (Musical Farm) I Like Cacti - Randy Kaplan (The Kids Are All Id) Bring 'em In - The Deedle Deedle Dees (American History + Rock-n-Roll = The Deedle Deedle Dees) Take Me To Show and Tell - Sarah Lee Guthrie and Family (Go Waggaloo) violet - Jeremy Messersmith (The Reluctant Graveyard) [YouTube] Nice 'N' Clean - Chromeo (Yo Gabba Gabba! Music Is Awesome) [YouTube] Queremos Bailar - Dan Zanes & Friends (House Party) Sing With Me - Haley Bonar (Sing With Me) Mama Papa Love - Renee & Jeremy (C'mon) Happy Doesn't Have To Have An Ending - They Might Be Giants (Bed Bed Bed) [YouTube] Inchworm - The Leisure Society (Sing Me To Sleep - Indie Lullabies) [YouTube] Stay Awake - The Innocence Mission (Now The Day Is Over)

Monty Harper / Kickstarter

Sounds like a Billy Joel rhyme, doesn't it? Nope, it's just the latest volley in kids music crowd-funding, this time from Oklahoma musician (and longtime friend of Zooglobble) Monty Harper, who's looking to raise $9,000 for his latest project, Songs from the Science Frontier. Harper promises songs about "phototaxic bacteria, stress hormones, wheat genomics, bacterial biofilms, bat taxonomy, wind energy, acrocanthosaurus neural spines, x-ray crystallography, and luminescence dating!" (Take that, TMBG! You pikers!) For those who don't know what half those things are [raises hand], you may also be interested to note that fellow Oklahoman Sugar Free Allstars' Chris Wiser is slated to produce. The prize levels are fairly standard (though I love the cheap joke of the $160 level), but perhaps the most innovative promise is the final one.
The fundraising deadline for this project, August 21, also happens to be my birthday! If we reach the $9,000 goal before that date, I will throw an online birthday bash for all my backers via live video feed, during which my wife, Lisa, has promised to smoosh a chocolate cake in my face! You want to see that! You know you do!

Caspar Babypants Duets with Paul the Octopus!

THIS_IS_FUN_lower_res.jpgWell, not really, but c'mon, check out that cover art for This Is Fun!, the next album from Chris Ballew AKA Caspar Babypants. (Paul the Octopus predicts the album will be lots of fun!) The cover art, as was the case with the first two CB albums, is by Kate Endle (Chris Ballew's wife). As previously noted, the November 2 release will feature appearances by Elizabeth Mitchell, Charlie Hope, and Krist Novoselic. Track list after the jump:

Interview: Haley Bonar

HaleyBonar.jpgHaley Bonar's late 2009 kids' EP Sing With Me was one of the most surprising and gratifying (and too brief) releases of the year, heartfelt and featuring Bonar's clear and beautiful voice. It's a combination that worked just as well on her most recent album for adults, 2008's Big Star. I'm always interested in getting a wide range of perspectives on the family music scene, from those who have been in it for many years to those who've only peered in the window just a little bit. I also like talking with cool musicians. So this interview meets both those standards. Bonar talked with me a couple weeks ago as she was on the road, moving back to Minneapolis from Portland, Oregon, sharing with me musical stories of growing up, life sharing music as a nanny, and the beauty of awkward dancing. Zooglobble: What are your musical memories growing up? Haley Bonar: I conducted a lot of plays. We had a Schoenhut piano. I would make my mom play while I danced in a circle. We weren't super-musical, but we listened to it a lot. I never shut up. When did you decide to become a musician, to make it a career? Hmmm.... I didn't really know that it was a real career. A career means making money and I don't make money. Of course, now I'm super-rich [chuckles]. No, there wasn't a single defining moment. You worked as a nanny -- how would you work music into your daily life?