Elizabeth Mitchell's Sunny Day Tracklisting. Just Because I Want To.

SunnyDay.jpgYeah, I know, I already mentioned the video and mp3 for "Oh, John the Rabbit" by Elizabeth Mitchell with an assist from Daniel and Storey Littleton. And that Mitchell's new album Sunny Day is coming out on Oct. 5 on the venerable Smithsonian Folkways label. And that posting track listings is one of the laziest music-site-writer's tricks in the book. So what. 1. Sunny Day (written by Storey Littleton) 2. Shoo Lie Loo 3. Mr. Rabbit [yay! another rabbit tune!] 4. Ooki Na Kuri No Ki No Shita De (Under the Big Chestnut Tree) 5. Keep on the Sunny Side (with Levon Helm, Amy Helm, Larry Campbell, and Teresa Williams) 6. Lovely Day 7. Reggae in the Fields 8. Ong Tal Sam (Little Spring) 9. Tell It Again 10. Green, Green Rocky Road (with Dan Zanes) 11. School Days (with Levon Helm and Chris Wood) 12. Mystery Train (with Levon Helm) 13. Oh, John the Rabbit 14. David’s Mandolin 15. This Little Light of Mine (with the Children of Agape Choir) 16. Fairy Tale Lullaby 17. Elephants All Over the World (again, by Storey Littleton) 18. Little Buckaroo (with Jon Langford) 19. Tsuki (Moon)

Creativity Comes in Many Forms

SS_100Creatives.jpgCreativity comes in many forms -- a lawyer can be just as creative as an artist -- so I'll wear my nomination to the Phoenix New Times' "100 Creatives" list as the badge of honor it should be. It's a list of the folks who are making the Valley of the Sun a vibrant place, and I'm glad to be in such good company. If you go to my interview, you can read all about my inspirations. Inspirations this month, at least. Except number 1, of course. That one doesn't change.

Live Video: "Your Fairground" - J.P., Chrissie and the Fairground Boys (Lollapalooza)

How's this for the progress of family music? One of the first shows J.P., Chrissie and the Fairground Boys, featuring Chrissie Hynde, plays is at Lollapalooza... at the Kidzapalooza stage. Here they are playing "Your Fairground" from their album Fidelity!. Nice stuff, though not necessarily kid-focused in any way. (Kinda wish the YouTube doesn't cut out when it does because it looks like Hynde's about to make a point there...) J.P., Chrissie, and the Fairground Boys - "Your Fairground" (Live at Lollapalooza/Kidzapalooza) [YouTube]

Dinosaurs Love Kickstarter

The latest attempt to scale the Kickstarter wall in the family music world? It comes from Connecticut's Cretaceous Quintet, "New Haven’s premiere dinosaur-themed children’s wind quintet." That tongue-in-cheek (though I'm sure totally accurate) description comes from the Quintet's founder, Brian Robinson, who's written an entire album of dinosaur-themed music to be titled Roar!. Now he's looking to crowd-fund the album's production, offering rewards such as the opportunity to have you and your child's roar make the album and sheet music. After the widget (and the jump), the first video featured on Zooglobble to be filmed in Turkey. Yeah. Turkey.

Listen To This: "You Are Here" - Lunch Money (from Many Hands)

ManyHands.jpgWhen I was given the opportunity to share with you a track from Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti, the hardest part was picking the track. There are lots of great songs on the compilation put together by Dog on Fleas and Bill Childs to benefit a variety of Haiti efforts, limiting myself to just one was hard work. (But in a good way.) I picked this track from Lunch Money because in a couple ways it exemplifies the album as a whole -- 1) the benefit compilation itself is the first I can think of that consists primarily of family musicians performing (as opposed to adult artists performing kids' tracks), and 2) its theme of connecting with people elsewhere in the world fits well within the album's underlying intention to connect this part of the world with another part of the world -- nearby geographically, but far away in other ways. Also, 3) it's just a really fun and sweet track. Many Hands: Family Music from Haiti is officially released next week, Aug. 10. (You can preorder the album at Amazon, among other places.) Until then, courtesy of Dean and Bill and Lunch Money, stream this track. [Ed: But only for a limited time. The album's out today...]