In the KID household we listen to our fair share of crazy beats and madcap music, but we also like to mix in a healthy dose of laid back tunes with a bluesy flavour and a calming influence. Today I’d like to share a new album from Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta Music, called [...]]]>

In the KID household we listen to our fair share of crazy beats and madcap music, but we also like to mix in a healthy dose of laid back tunes with a bluesy flavour and a calming influence. Today I’d like to share a new album from Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta Music, called #1 Hits: Music for Growing Families.

A few of my top picks from Katherine’s CD include “The Goobaws” which has quickly become a new catchphrase around here… and tells the story of an unruly bunch who “turn into animals, when it’s time to eat…” I dig its funky melody, and it’s fun storyline which paints quite an amusing picture in your mind! I also love the song “Goosebumps”, which is fun for a sing-a-long, “Are We Ever Gonna Get There” and “Backseat” for car trips.

For chill-out time, I like the song “imagination” which is a lovely lullaby with a magical message. Lastly, I love the rockabilly beats of “Sheet “Shakin’ Bed Quakin’ Belly Achin’ Wide Awake Blues”.. in fact I think this one’s my favourite!

Katherine Dines has been creating children’s music since 1993 and has 11 CDs in her Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta Music series. Her songs have been featured on a Grammy award winning album, plus she has several other awards under her belt and clearly adores creating stories for kids.

You’ll find Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta Music #1 Hits: Music for Growing Families online at Katherine’s website where you can listen to some song samples.

Happy Monday! I’m in the mood for some silly stories and tall tales, and I couldn’t think of a better man for the job than the great Bill Harley. His new album is called HIGH DIVE and Other Things That Could Have Happened and it’s filled with stories that are [...]]]>

Happy Monday! I’m in the mood for some silly stories and tall tales, and I couldn’t think of a better man for the job than the great Bill Harley. His new album is called HIGH DIVE and Other Things That Could Have Happened and it’s filled with stories that are sure to give you a giggle or two.

The title track off Bill’s album is HIGH DIVE, which tells the story of a nine-year-old Bill at the community pool putting on his best “cool guy” moves… naming plummeting off the High Dive in order to impress his 17-year-old crush Kristi. It’s hormonal-hilarity.

The subtitle track is “Other Things That Could Happened”, which is one of my personal favourites, mainly because I’m a sucker for a chocolate cake and this is the first lyric… “I know you’re probably wondering, where’s that chocolate cake? The one with creamy icing, it took hours for you to bake. Well I did my best to save it when the circus came to town, but in just one bite that elephant, scarfed that whole thing down!”… you’ve gotta keep an eye out for the chocolate nabbing elephant, he gets around!

Also on this release is the story of the “Field Trip”, in which Bill and his friend Glenn unleash their signature brand of mayhem. This is a wonderful story for quiet time, a car trip, or even at bedtime. It’s a little audio book that I found myself just as tuned into as the kids!

Rounding out the album is the story of the Monster Valentine. Cool idea?… or will it all end in tears?

Bill Harley is a man of many talents. His songwriting and story telling has won him many awards from Grammys to the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities Lifetime Achievement Award. However, what he most often wins is the laughs, smiles and gasps of children from around the globe.

You can find HIGH DIVE and Other Things That Could Have Happened online at Bill Harley’s website where you can also listen to some sample tracks. It will be available from 14 February 2012 if you would like to add it to your story time collection.

I LOVE music, and tend to get a bit overly excited about new releases for kids. Today my fancy was tickled by a new music video from Groove Kid Nation with a quirky take on Humpty Dumpty. Not the traditional egg, but a somewhat egg-shaped bass playing cat… hit play!

Bill Harley has won two Grammy nominations and numerous awards for his storytelling and music. He’ll be releasing his next CD, High Dive and Other Things That Could Have Happened in February 2012. Today he’s here to tell us the story behind his song “Echo” from Down in [...]]]>

Bill Harley has won two Grammy nominations and numerous awards for his storytelling and music. He’ll be releasing his next CD, High Dive and Other Things That Could Have Happened in February 2012. Today he’s here to tell us the story behind his song “Echo” from Down in the Backpack. Echo is a song that makes me smile every time I listen to it…

Desperation is sometimes a necessary ingredient in the creative process. I wrote the song “Echo” years ago backstage before a show. Because I was desperate, I didn’t have much time to edit or criticize myself. As many people know, there is nothing like a deadline.

I had been hired to do some shows for a large performance venue. They were busing in several thousand elementary school kids for each show. It was a big formal theater. While I had enough material that I thought would work, I was worried about several things. I often teach school groups a song so we can all sing together. But this setting presented a couple of difficulties. First, the kids being bused in wouldn’t really know the rest of the audience they were sitting with – there were only one or two hundred kids from each school. I knew that when someone is in an unfamiliar setting, surrounded by people they don’t know, they are less likely to participate when asked.

Second, I knew that an audience that large isn’t very nimble. You can’t give them a lot of words to sing, or sing too quickly, because it will all get jumbled up and the audience will just hear a bunch of mush. And so will I. It’s part of my job to build a community there, and that involves people hearing each other sing together.

So, it had to be simple and fun and invite participation. And I decided to do something about it half an hour before the show. No problem!  (I’m kidding – it was a problem) I said to myself, “Write something they can echo back. Just a few words.”

And in that thought was the answer to what the song was about. An echo.

Click play to listen to “Echo”…

Of course, I didn’t “write” it. We call it song writing, and eventually you do write things down, but first you just play an instrument and make stuff up. To a very simple chord progression I sang;

“Hello
Yoo hoo
Echo
Is that you?
Can you hear me
Call you
Echo
You who”

…leaving a space after each line for them to respond.

Quickly, with fifteen minutes to show time, I came up with three simple verses, about morning, afternoon and evening.

I had the song. I came out and taped the words to the mike stand so I wouldn’t forget them. I told the audience  I wasn’t going to tell them their part, they would figure it out.

They did. Halfway through the first chorus, they were all singing.

But by the end of the second chorus, I could sense some antsiness on the part of the more rambunctious ones. It was a sweet song – a nine year old boy can only be sweet so long. So, on the spot, I improvised a new echo part (once again, nothing like desperation)…

Hello! (Hello)
Hey you! (Hey you!)
Stop yelling! (Stop yelling!)
Right Now! (Right Now!)
I mean it! (I mean it!)
Very funny! (Very funny!)
Ha ha ha! (Ha ha ha!)
Owooooooo! (Owooo!)

You’ve got to love two thousand elementary school kids howling. I did the last verse and they all sang out. It was a big success, and I’ve been singing it ever since.

Although, maybe because of the howling, I was never invited back to that theater.

But that’s a small price to pay for a good song.

A big warm thank you to Bill from the {KID} independent crew for sharing some insight into “echo”… you’re clearly a man that works well under pressure! You can find all of Bill’s albums online at his website, or join him on facebook for all the latest happenings.

Hey folks! Today it’s my absolute pleasure to introduce the creative and quirky Lloyd Miller; front man of the The Deedle Deedle Dees, an educational rock band from Brooklyn, NY. Their new CD, Strange Dees, Indeed is making several “Best of 2011″ lists, and is one of my personal favourites [...]]]>

Hey folks! Today it’s my absolute pleasure to introduce the creative and quirky Lloyd Miller; front man of the The Deedle Deedle Dees, an educational rock band from Brooklyn, NY. Their new CD, Strange Dees, Indeed is making several “Best of 2011″ lists, and is one of my personal favourites from the year-gone-by. It was recently reviewed here. Thanks Lloyd… take it away!

In our house, the right music makes the difference between a really bad morning and one that’s sort of tolerable. Responding to cereal demands (my son, for example, always wants a blend of two different kinds — say Gorilla Munch and Puffins — and it has to be in the Buzz Lightyear bowl), making lunches, getting my kids to sit on the toilet before school (why are they so resistant to this?) and the many other necessary morning parent tasks are hard enough without having to listen to music that’s not awesome.

My kids (ages 3 and 6) naturally have different definitions of what “awesome” means so I’m always trying to figure out ways to trick them into listening to the music I think we should be enjoying as a family. Later in the day this is nearly impossible because they’re tired / wired after school and full of ideas about which tunes will constitute the best dance party for them and their friends (Unfortunately a recent trip to a “hip hop” birthday at a local dance studio has my kids asking / ordering me to play lots of Black Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga.) In the morning, though, my little ones are usually groggy enough at the breakfast table to be willing to accept nearly any playlist I design — and this is when (I delude myself) that I present my most brilliant lessons in music appreciation and expose my children to the best tunes this planet has to offer.

I’d like to share some of our family breakfast table favorites with you. The list is long, longer than any reasonable person would want to read, so I’m going to tease with five songs related to Strange Dees, Indeed, the album my band the Deedle Deedle Dees recently released. Related how? Well, I guess you could say these songs helped inspire our compositions and the wide range of styles (Bollywood, klezmer, swing, hip hop) that they attempt, imitate, butcher, and stumble through. My kids actually do like all the songs on this list. I’ve observed them dancing, drumming along, chewing contentedly as these songs play. I’ve seen their eyes open wide and ask “What’s this music?” But however your kids react to this music (should you choose to try out some of it out on your own family) I guarantee you these tunes will help you, dad / mom / parent, siphon off a little bit of those “where’s the ice pack for my daughter’s lunch box?!” blues. Or don’t you get those?

Note: All the “recommended if you like” notes below refer to songs on Strange Dees, Indeed.

“Old Brooklyn” – Andy Statman

Andy plays both the mandolin and the clarinet at the highest level of virtuosity. This is the opening track from his category-defying new album of the same name, a song that just destroys everything in its path including everything I thought I knew about Andy Statman, a guy who’s always categorized as a “klezmer” or “bluegrass” performer but who actually doesn’t fit neatly into either category. Expect kid gasps when the Stat starts his mando solo.

*Recommended if you like “The Golem”

 ”1…2…3…Baby” – Asha Bhosle & Mahendra Kapoor

Do your kids love Bollywood music? Well, why not? Haven’t you been blasting it in your house throughout their young lives? If the answer is no, please put this track on repeat and then gradually work up to a full-on family dance party complete with leaps off the couch (onto pillows, of course), somersaults (away from the china cabinet), sword fights (with Nerf products), and overwrought hands-to-the-heart emoting.

*Recommended if you like “Ah Ahimsa”

“Bourbon Street Parade” by Red Hook Ramblers

Kids respond to the music of 1920s and 30s New Orleans in immediate physical ways. I used to play this music in my toddler music and movement classes and, man, those kids would jerk their heads to attention and start grooving. The Ramblers have the aforementioned Chris Johnson playing banjo and piano for them and although I’m very biased I can say without hesitation that they’re the very best band playing this kind of music today.

*Recommended if you like “Mayor LaGuardia’s Stomach”

“I’m Crazy ‘Bout My Baby (And My Baby’s Crazy ‘Bout Me)” – Fats Waller

If Fats Waller were alive today, I’m certain he would be conscripted as a guest star on “Yo Gabba Gabba.” There’d be a segment called “Freeze Dance with Fats” or something similar. People just get smiley when Fats is rocking our kitchen.

*Recommended if you like “Penny Farthing,” a song featuring the vocals of Chris Johnson AKA Booker Dee, a man deep in the spell of Mr. Waller

“Astronomy (8th Light)” -  Black Star

When my kids were babies, I used to have a big rap dance party almost every time my wife left the house. Notorious B.I.G., 2Pac, DMX, Eminem — nothing was off limits because I figured: they can’t understand the lyrics, it won’t hurt, right? Once each child in turn began to imitate words and — soon after — entire sentences that they heard spoken around them I stopped these uncensored sessions and began to choose the hip hop I played for the whole family more carefully. Much of Black Star’s work is profanity free and full of poetic phrases (How can you go wrong with a group that references the Appalachian folk ballad “Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair?) that you won’t mind your kids parroting back.

*Recommended if you like “Phineas Gage Has Something to Tell These People”

Sending a HUGE thanks to Lloyd for sharing some off his favourite tunes with us today. I’m off to snap up some albums from Red Hook Ramblers… *swoon*!

Note to Lloyd… we’d love to see you down under in Australia for a concert!  A 21 hour flight’s nothin’.. right?

Today on the turntables we’re spinning the second album from children’s music quartet, The Chickadees! These guys have a Parent’s Choice Award under their belts, an environmental message in their hearts, and an Americana twang in their vocals… read on to learn more, and for your chance to snag a [...]]]>

Today on the turntables we’re spinning the second album from children’s music quartet, The Chickadees! These guys have a Parent’s Choice Award under their belts, an environmental message in their hearts, and an Americana twang in their vocals… read on to learn more, and for your chance to snag a copy of the CD!

The Froggy Hop by The Chickadees aims to bring you educational and inspirational information and stories in a musical manner that transcends the normal boredom that kids associate with learning. For example, the first track on the album, “Tadpole Wiggle and the Froggy Hop” teaches you about the lifecycle of a frog. Whilst the last track on the album “Planet Protectors” educates kids about conserving energy and resources.

My favourite track on the album is “Hibernation”, which was a learning experience for me just as much as it was for the kids. For example, did you know that turtles, toads, frogs, possums and skunks all hibernate? It also has an awesome melody and sound.

The kids favourite song on the album is “Animal Babies” which is due in part to the fact that they’re animal mad, and in part to the lyric that says… “cubs are baby bears, fawns and does are baby deer… my little brother has a stinky rear” and has them in stitches every time I play it! My other top picks are “Noctural” and “Reduce, Recycle & Reuse” which has a lovely environmental message but is also wonderfully whimsical with it’s “1950s-TV-sitcom” intro. Classic!

You can view some videos, or purchase “The Froggy Hop” online at The Chickadees website.

Congratulations to our winner, Sarah A.

Would you like to win a copy of The Froggy Hop by The Chickadees for Christmas? To enter, simply tell us in the comments section below how your family reduces, recycles and reuses! A winner will be drawn on 15 December, 2011. You can also score extra entries into the draw for sharing this giveaway on facebook, twitter, or your blog!