Kindiefest 2011: Brooklyn as Kindie Epicenter

After a wild 2010, Kindiefest is back for another weekend of margaritas, dancing, and heart-to-heart chats. No, Kindiefest is not a college reunion, though it clearly felt like it at times. (There were even afterparties.) What it is, of course, is a conference for musicians, writers, producers, and others interested in the family music genre. I've already written a lot about my experiences at the conference the past couple years. And I still go back to the idea of "owning your stuff" that I first wrote about last year. Registration for Kindiefest 2011 is now open. It's scheduled for April 29 through May 1 once again at Littlefield NYC in Brooklyn. If you're at all local to NYC, then attending the conference shouldn't really even be a question. At less than $100 for the conference (if you register now), it's pretty reasonable price-wise. And while the panels are good, the real value I think is in the opportunity to spend time with other folks doing the same thing you are. All of a sudden, this thing that you have to explain to people about what you do becomes the norm. You move way past that stage and into sharing experiences and advice. As for those of you who live a distance from NYC, I understand totally, because I'm one of you. You have to add transportation and/or lodging costs to the budget. It's no longer cheap. But for those folks the face-to-face contact is even more important. For example, I had a phone conversation just today with a couple folks I met at Kindiefest. And I think that a lot of out-of-town attendees will say that they made valuable connections with artists and presenters in other cities, connections that helped serve them as they tried to expand their own base of operations. As I have not yet tired of saying, the genre still needs to focus on growing the pie rather than having each artist figure out how to get a bigger share of a smaller pie. Kindiefest is one step towards doing so. Finally, for those parents/fans who've made it this far, don't worry, tickets for a public Sunday show will be available soon. It was a great value last year and I expect it to be so again this year.

Itty-Bitty Review: Wacky's Tackle - The Hollow Trees

Always a little bit under the radar, Los Angeles' The Hollow Trees were brave (or foolish) enough to release a non-holiday-themed disk in the month of December. Now that it's January and our trees and candles are packed away, we can turn our attention back to anthropomorphized animals bringing joy kids everywhere. I'm talking, of course, about the residents of Nelsonville, the headquarters of a whole bunch of cartoon animals, who make their third appearance on the recently-released Wacky's Tackle. The mythology of Nelsonville has never been particularly overt on the Hollow Trees' albums, and I think you probably could've wiped all traces of Nelsonville from the packaging and not really be confused. What you'd be left with is another nifty collection of folk tunes, some original, some more classic, from the large group of musicians Greg McIlvaine and Laure Steenberge have pulled together. I like their energetic take on the classics "The More We Are Together" (first made popular by Raffi) and "Funiculi Funicula," both full of life. At other times, such as on "Free Little Bird," they employ a bluegrass sound. And every so often they range further afield -- my two favorite tracks are the missing Beach Boys track "Barefoot Beach" (if it isn't, it should've been) and a very jazzy "Boll Weevil." The album is most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 7. You can hear samples of all the tracks at the album's CD Baby page or hear/download selected tracks here. Wacky's Tackle is another solid album from a group who themselves have flown a bit under the radar. I hope it doesn't stay that way, and the new album deserves a bit of a spotlight. Recommended.

Video: "What a Big Wide World" - Essie Jain

My favorite lullaby album of 2010 now has a video to accompany it. That's right, Essie Jain's released a video for "What a Big Wide World" from Until the Light of Morning, and the result is a gorgeous piece of animation from Carolina Melis. We try not to watch TV or other screens before bedtime, but I think we might make an exception for this. Essie Jain - "What a Big Wide World" [Vimeo]

Yo Gabba Gabba Premiere Week. Again. (The Killers, Band of Horses, Jem, Dean & Britta)

I know some Yo Gabba Gabba! fans are frustrated with the pace of the airing of episodes from the show's third season, but 4 more shows are coming their way next month. The musical guests on this go-round? The Killers (though you'd never know that by the clip, as they're introduced by individual first names), Band of Horses, Jem, and Dean & Britta. All shows air at 1:00 p.m. ET/PT. Links to videos, including The Killers' "Spaceship Adventure" and episode summaries via Nick, are below. (Can I say "The Killers" again?) Monday, Feb. 7 “Adventure” Muno and friends go on an Indiana Jones style adventure! [Ed.: Hopefully it's one of the first couple adventures, you know, the fun ones.] They travel through a jungle under Gabbaland and find a golden treasure. The Killers - “Spaceship Adventure” [Fliqz]

(OK, if you want the whole thing, just search it out on YouTube.)

Video: "Cinderella" - Debbie and Friends

When I heard about the "twist" Debbie Cavalier (AKA Debbie and Friends was considering for the video for her new song, "Cinderella," I thought it might end up being cheesy. But now that I've seen the final product, bada boom, bada bing, I think it turned out pretty funny and ends up elevating the rest of the video just enough to not drive away the parents. The song is an uptempo, 5-minute retelling of the myth with touches of Death Cab for Cutie. Debbie and Friends - "Cinderella" [YouTube] More D&F videos after the jump.

What Are You Worth?

Maybe the weather was particularly bad throughout much of the country Saturday, because what started as a humorous Facebook comment from Out With the Kids' Jeff Bogle turned into a full-on thrashing of music award sites, both by Jeff and others in the family music business. [Note: I've edited this post with some additional comments, noted in italics.] Now, the weather in Phoenix was lovely on Saturday, and we were tired from hosting a large party the night before, so we spent a lot of time being lazy or being outside. Not, in other words, in front of computer. But I thought I'd add my two cents' worth to the debate. The first thought I had was, "this isn't new." If you read through the Facebook comments, you'll see more than one person reference always-good-for-a-money-quote Kathy O'Connell, who at the 2009 edition of Kindiefest called programs that give awards out to good CDs, "sticker scams," based on the fact that winning CDs receive (or get to buy) rolls of stickers that the artists can put on their CDs. But unease in the kindie world predates Kathy's two-word distillation. Nearly three years ago, I discussed these types of awards, programs such as the Parents' Choice Awards, who currently charge $250 for an audio entry (not to mention fees for use of the seal and their stickers). I didn't take a strong view one way or another other than to say such awards are useless to folks like myself who've heard just about everything they'd be considering. My purpose in publishing the post was more to solicit opinions from musicians and others on the value of such awards. People willing to respond had a more negative view of the process, but that could be just as much due to people's tendency to complain rather than to comment, "yeah, it seems fine to me." I would also note that even I wasn't the first -- Amy Davis tackled the issue way more than four years ago.