Roger Day

I was thrilled recently to see that one of my favorite kids' music artists, Roger Day, would be performing out in Kent, WA, not too far from where I'd be that same morning in Seattle. I think I can count on one hand the number of other kids' music performers who I've actually seen perform live. It often seems that even when I'm performing the same day at the same event as someone else that I'd like to see, that there is some conflict as far as where I need to be the next day, or something I need to take care of, which necessitates leaving too early to catch them. But this time it looked like it would work out. So I marked the calendar and got the directions ready for the park in Kent where Roger would be. As it turned out, though, I left from my show that morning later than expected, and we got caught in some nasty Seattle traffic (which was expected), and so we ended up missing the first half of Roger's show.

Regardless, what we saw was terrific. I had essentially seen Roger's show before from his live DVD, and I knew I would enjoy it, but I was particularly eager to have my girls see him as I knew they'd have a great time. They danced and sang and followed along with his many hand signals and had a lot of fun. I think Roger is one of the very best in this field, especially for the younger range of kids. His songs are instantly accessible and easy to learn and play along with (I defy anyone to listen to "Parachute Girl" and not have that refrain stuck in your head, in the best way), and he has a really strong and unique voice with a great delivery. He's also got a fun sense of humor, evident on songs like "Mosquito Burrito" and "Helicopter Harry". Though we missed some favorites of mine like "Mosquito Burrito" and "Open Up the Coconut", it was cool that we did catch two new songs from his upcoming CD. "Roly Poly" and "Elephunk" (or "Elefunk"... he's not sure yet how to spell it) are both fun songs in the great Roger Day vein. I thought we had missed his great rock anthem "Monster Face" but apparently he didn't perform it, having some difficulties with his wireless mic or something. So he had to play several songs with just guitar and a stage mic instead of with his supporting tracks, but it didn't matter, as he did just fine and kept everyone engaged throughout.

We had the chance to spend some time with Roger and his daughter Marjorie (the "Parachute Girl" herself) afterwards, and I really appreciated the opportunity to meet and talk with them for a while and share some of our experiences working in the kids' music field. If you have a chance to see a Roger Day show (or even just half a show), definitely make the effort. Or the next best thing, pick up his live DVD. And get ready to cook up some mosquito burritos... Yum!

Roger Day website












Review of Roger Day's Dream Big CD