It's now officially spring, so we can now officially be happy about the sun. Lucky Diaz has just the song for these bright new mornings. It's called "Here Comes the Sun," and, no, it's not the Beatles, but it's catchy in its own right. It's from the LA pop-ster's first full-length album, Oh Lucky Day!, set to be released May 10th. Listen to the song here. For the price of an e-mail, you can download the track for free.
It's the second day of second round voting for KidVid Tournament 2011 (there's something synchronistic in that, right?) features the Woody Guthrie Regional. It's the matchup between the Bazillions' "Preposition" (a #1 seed) vs. Debbie and Friends and the #2 seed "Cinderella." Vote over at Gooney Bird Kids today and today only. Vote here.
I was a little worried that the gorgeous weekend weather here in Phoenix would dampen attendance at the shows at the Children's Museum of Phoenix, but I needn't have worried. Turns out both shows from Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band were pretty packed. Diaz and his bandmate/fiancee Alisha Gaddis (their drummer didn't make it for this gig) made for a nice compare-and-contrast duo -- Diaz laid back, Gaddis energetic. (Indeed, she was the one who led most of the preschool crowd interactive stuff.)
I was probably the only person in the audience who knew that the duo was giving us a treat -- some songs from their sweet EP of last year mixed in with new songs from their upcoming album. I've got a couple of new tracks here along with an oldie-but-goodie. And, even though we were inside, if ever a room was sun-dappled, it was this one...
Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band - "Quite Like You" [YouTube]
More videos (and pictures) after the jump...
I know, it's almost the end of the day, but I did want to highlight that the first day of second round voting for KidVid Tournament 2011 starts today with the matchup in the Pete Seeger Regional. It features Keller Williams and his #1 seeded video "Hula Hoop to Da Loop" up against #2 seed Recess Monkey and "Black Hole in My Room." All the action (OK, the videos and the poll) can be found over at Ages 3 and Up! right here.
I'd heard some time ago that the Twin Cities duo The Okee Dokee Brothers would be writing their next album as they traveled down the Mississippi River, and those plans finally appear to be taking shape. On June 1, canoes in hand (though I'm not sure they're actually portaging), Joe and Justin will spend thirty days going down the Mississippi. They tell me that they first came up with the idea for the trip way back in the summer of 2009, when they took a short road trip following the Mississippi River down from Minneapolis to Davenport, Iowa along the Great River Road. "We ended up camping along the river," they say...
"meeting incredibly interesting people, writing some songs, and conceptualizing the idea of an adventure album as we drove. We noticed that the river represented so much of what we stood for in our music; the Americana tradition, folk culture, community, adventure, nature, so we decided it would be the central theme of our next album."
The duo is partnering with Wilderness Inquiry, a Minnsota-based non-profit, who's outfitting the trip with canoes, paddles, life jackets, camping gear, etc and have applied for a couple other grants. [Unrelated and self-interested note: I used to live down the street from the Inquiry offices.]
As for the trip itself, Joe and Justin will be joined by a couple of "close friends with very creative minds" -- one, a wilderness expert who will "help [them] stay safe and sane on the river," the other, a photographer/videographer who will document the trip. They've set aside two hours each day for songwriting and six days for writing and research with museums, musicians and storytellers. (They're also visiting the Smithsonian archives in DC next week and meeting with a Folkways archivist to do some research on traditional river songs and hope to incorporate some public domain songs on the album.)
Finally, I asked them, "How do you deal with the 'Mark Twain Problem' -- meaning, do you directly write Huck Finn (or other Mark Twain-inspired) songs, or do you avoid them entirely?" Their response seems to me the appropriate one when faced with Huck Finn's overwhelming cultural influence:
"While we love Mark Twain, we're not going for a Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer angle on this album. We might mention them briefly in a song, but they are not our focus and we'd like to distance ourselves from that cliche a bit. The river is big enough for lots of characters and stories."
Day 1 of Day 3 of second round voting for KidVid Tournament 2011 and it's time for the Ella Jenkins Regional. This regional final features The Not-Its' and their video for "Green Light, Go!" (a #2 seed) facing Sugar Free Allstars, the only #4 seed to make it out of the first round. Watch both and vote over at Out with the Kids today and today only. Vote here.
It's now officially spring, so we can now officially be happy about the sun. 
I was a little worried that the gorgeous weekend weather here in Phoenix would dampen attendance at the shows at the 
I'd heard some time ago that the Twin Cities duo 
