Ah, there's nothing quite like the purest form of kids' music, meaning music that kids' themselves create. It's strange and bizarre and sometimes totally nonsensical, but also brilliant and creative in cool ways.
Two years ago for Halloween, my Becca wrote this song: "Halloween Green Bean" (mp3) Her mommy helped her just a little bit with the phrasing for one of the lyric lines, and I arranged the music, but it was essentially very much her own creation.
In case you can't quite understand the lyrics, here they are:
I wanna be a Halloween green bean. I wanna be a Halloween bear. I wanna be a Halloween monster, so I can give you a scare. Boo!
Not bad for a three year-old. :o) Becca is five now and she's written a few other songs, including a melodic epic called "The Sun Goes Up", which has some beautiful lyric verses balanced by some really kooky lyric verses...
The sun goes up, and the moon goes down. The stars go down and the dark goes down. The apple says, "Hi". And we eat the apple. There's a freckle on my arm. There's a freckle on my leg. Etc.
I totally didn't see the apple/freckle lines coming. And that's kind of how it is with all of her songs... Wonderfully weird, with some unexpected turns. She's also been noodling a lot on the piano and coming up with several little riffs that she likes to play over and over. She has descriptions for each of them, too, like the spooky sounding one, which is apparently supposed to be the soundtrack for a movie she wants to make about circlemonsters. And her sister, Evee, is following right along in her path, banging away on the piano and drums and belting out her favorite songs.
People often ask me if my material is inspired by my kids... Certainly, some of it is, but before long I might be able to just have them create all of my material, themselves!
Pictured above... Evee and Becca with their pumpkins for this year, which they designed themselves (we did the carving).
With Halloween coming up, I thought I should gather all of the Halloween themed kids' CDs I've received since starting this blog and do a collective plug for them. Then I realized, um, wait a minute... I've only received one Halloween CD that I can recall. So that means that M. Ryan Taylor's Thirteen for Halloween gets all the attention, and deservedly so, because it's quite a nice collection of spooky Halloween tunes.
There have been a number of good Halloween songs by many different kids' artists, including Ralph's World, Monty Harper, The Hipwaders, etc. (here's a list that Stefan from Zooglobble and Bill from Spare the Rock compiled last year), and a great compilation CD could certainly be made from them. But many of those songs, fun as they are, are really just the same kind of pop/rock/folk as their creators' normal work, with a bit of spookiness or Halloween flavor added on top. And that's certainly to be expected, and the same thing would probably be said for my song, "The Cruelest Lullaby", a Halloween themed lullaby which is available as a bonus download from my Snail's Pace CD.
But what I love about M. Ryan Taylor's Thirteen for Halloween CD is that it is really its own thing, and it has a perfect sense of the creepy kind of atmosphere that really screams (and shrieks) Halloween. Of course, Halloween can encompass the goofy and funny as well as the genuinely spooky and macabre, and normally I'm all for goofy and funny stuff, but it's almost as though the genuinely creepy kind of Halloween songs have gotten short shrift lately. I suppose that the most famous Halloween song of all-time, "Monster Mash", kind of set the standard for the novelty/goofy and pop/rock aspect of Halloween songs, but for me growing up, Halloween was also about the Horror Sounds of the Night kinds of records, and it's nice to hear a new album of Halloween songs that is a bit more frightening in nature, while not being gory or gross or demonic or anything like that.
The album begins with the beautifully scary "Welcome, said the Spider", with its deliciously creaky doors, jangling harpshichord and chilling vocals. M. Ryan employs his operatic vocal range to great effect throughout the CD, ranging from the softly mysterious to the powerfully ominous, as on the Phantom of the Opera style organ song, "Three Little Ghostesses", or the wonderfully string-laden "Old Witch, Old Witch". The vocal effects, sound effects and arrangements are very nicely done throughout; creative and varied and not always what you expect, but also not overblown. He even finds a way to use a jaw harp in a spooky way on the mummy song, "We're Back". I gotta tell ya, that ain't easy...
Some of the songs are reworkings of traditional tunes like "Mactavish is Dead" and many are originals (including "We're Back", "Welcome, said the Spider" and the pirate counterpoint number, "The Ghost Ship"), or folk songs with original lyrics and arrangements. There are a few bonafide startles and there is a very authentically nail-biting atmosphere throughout the CD, so some parental discretion is advised as far as who should listen.
Now that he's tackled one of the major holidays so well, I'd like to see what M. Ryan Taylor can do with other major holidays, like National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day (Dec. 16) or Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (Jan. 29). I'm sure he's hard at work on those as we speak.
It's been about four years now since my first kids' CD came out. I'm grateful that it was received so well (it's hard to say for sure if I'd still be doing this if that was a flop), but I never would have imagined that one of the tracks, which was the first real kids' song I ever wrote, "The Elephant Song", would still be going strong years later.
I've had many people tell me how their family has adapted "The Elephant Song" in some way... a clothes version, a food version, a toy version, etc. I performed my own Halloween version ("Vampires, I like vampires", etc.) at an event last year. We've got The Elephant Book in the works, and there's been the new recording featuring my girls on my recent Snail's Pace CD. And we might still do a new version of the video at some point (the video as it is was only ever supposed to be a demo). It's been really nice that so many people have appreciated that song so much, and it's sort of taken on a life of its own.
For example, nothing could have prepared me for the tip off I received this morning about the video above, made by Meeko of Hakkar. Wow! Or should I say "WoW"? It's definitely a unique interpretation, and I had to laugh out loud at some parts, like where I say, "They don't? Well, what am I thinking of?" and at the end where the minotaur scratches his bottom and then bursts into tears. Okay, the donkey is a horse, but you gotta give him credit because you can tell he put a lot of work into it and it was a very funny idea.
If you ever wonder how an independent children's music performer books a tour... well... so do I. :o) In my experience over the past few years doing this full-time, a lot of the more substantial trips have been built around whatever comes up first. For example, two years ago a school in Utah wanted me to come and perform there. They couldn't fly me in so it wasn't really practical to go all the way there just for that one school. But I took a chance and booked the assembly anyway, and then thankfully was able to hook up with another 20 gigs or so in the same general area (or on the way there and back) to correspond with that time frame. It was definitely worth the effort and most of those places have since asked me back, but it was quite a lot of work to coordinate all of that in the first place.
Well, thinking back on that, it feels like a piece of cake compared to what I'm looking at right now. Back in 2006, I was booked in advance for several libraries in the Baton Rouge area for June of 2008. I knew the day was coming when Roseann and I would have to plan for that trip and plot a course there and back. That day has come... The good news is that I've had a number of inquiries from schools and other events in places like L.A., San Diego, Kansas City, Phoenix and elsewhere, so we have a bit of a head start to include those places in the path for this trip. The bad news is, well, gosh, it's an enormous amount of area and population to cover. It will no doubt be an incredible amount of e-mailing, phone calling, postcard mailing, faxing and other means of contacting people in these areas.
So to answer the original question about how an independent children's musician books a tour (at least this independent children's musician, for this tour)... he asks for help.
I know there are a lot of people who read this blog who have kids in elementary school, and there might even be a few who know booking agents in some of these areas. If you live in or near the target areas (see below) and have any contacts at elementary schools, libraries, day cares, parks & recreation departments, churches, corporate events, festivals, fairs, etc., please let me know and let your contacts there know that I'll be coming through. Any contacts you can share with me or plugs you can pass on will be very much appreciated. There are printable PDF flyers at this page with some basic information about what I offer. They can be passed on to your school's principal or PTA/PTO members or to your local children's librarian or to your parks department's event coordinator, etc.
Here is the list of target dates and areas (subject to a little bit of adjustment):
Seattle: March 24-27
Portland: March 29 - April 1
Medford/Redding: April 4-5
Bay Area: April 9-15
L.A./San Diego: April 18-25
Las Vegas: April 29 - May 2
Phoenix/Tucson: May 6-10
El Paso: May 14-16
San Antonio/Austin: May 21-23
Houston: May 27-30
Baton Rouge: June 2-19 (already booked for several shows)
Dallas: June 21-25
Oklahoma City/Tulsa: June 27-28
Branson/Springfield: June 29 - July 6
Kansas City: July 8-11
Colorado Springs: July 15-18
Denver: July 19-23
Salt Lake City: July 26-31
Ogden/Logan: August 1-2
Boise: August 5-6
Tri-Cities, WA: August 7
Seattle, Portland, Spokane, Boise, Tri-Cities, etc.: The rest of August and September
If you have any inquiries or information to share, please contact me. I'll be glad to send out promo materials as needed.
It's also helpful to know if anyone can offer us a safe place to park our RV for the night in any of those areas. And if so, your kids might end up getting an impromptu Eric Herman concert in your living room.
The Hipwaders are one of the best kid rock bands to emerge in recent years, and their latest CD is called Educated Kid.
In my previous feature about The Hipwaders, I mentioned how much I liked the songs on their debut CD, but that their influences often seemed too obvious, so that it sometimes sounded like a Beatles tribute band performing original kids' songs. Thankfully, on Educated Kid, the band seems to have largely shed the need to wear their influences so prominently and are sounding more like a very unique band that blends a variety of sounds and musical approaches with clever lyrics and stories. There are still some sound-alike parts here and there; the "baa baa" sections of "Little Baby Brother" and "You've Got to Move" that sound a lot like "Let's Spend the Night Together" as if sung by The Monkees; and the Proclaimers joined by John Mellencamp "uh huh, uh huh, uh huh" of the title track. But even in those cases, the integration into the songs is more transparent than it seemed on their first album.
Speaking of the title track, wow, it's absolutely incredible. A really cool tremolo guitar riff, a great verse leading to a greater pre-chorus leading to a perfect hook, and a poignant message about how your education, no matter how or where you get it (clown college, beauty school, home school, researching on your own, etc.), can help you to achieve great things in life. It doesn't get much better than this in kids' music, and Tito Uquillas and Co. have definitely got their biggest hit so far with this song.
With the "Educated Kid" song as great as it is, it's a tough act to follow for the rest of the album. After a few listens through the whole CD, the other songs haven't grabbed me as well as that title track, or as well as some of the songs on their first CD (regardless of the sound-alike thing), but it's hard to compare the other songs fairly with "Educated Kid" on there. There's a whole lot to love on this album, to be sure, and without the benchmark of the title track, I'm sure the other songs would stand perfectly well on their own. Other favorite tracks of mine include the chunky reggae of "You've Got to Move", the frenzied rock of "Art Car", featuring some awesome drumming by Nick Baca (see video below), and the spacey trip through the ages of the Earth called "The History of Declan Rae". Befitting the title, The Hipwaders seem to have skewed more heavily toward educational subjects on this disc, and the obvious comparisons will be to Schoolhouse Rock! But it can be very difficult to craft an informative message about things like paleontology, geometry or the Dewey Decimal System into a memorable and captivating song. On Educated Kid, sometimes the attempts work really well and sometimes they don't quite. "Dewey Decimal System", for example, kind of meanders through several different musical stages, so for the most part I would put it into the "doesn't quite work" category. But then it does score some big points for the funky part where the title is repeated. Give the words "Dewey Decimal System" to a hundred different songwriters and I doubt any could make them sound as cool as Tito did with that chorus. So with this type of material, I don't think they've yet reached the level of accessibility and "all-time classic" feel as Schoolhouse Rock!, but they're certainly in the right neighborhood and show terrific potential to create a cool new brand of educational songs in addition to the other fun songs in their catalog.
Overall, Educated Kid continues to highlight what an incredibly creative and tight band The Hipwaders are and what a fantastic voice for kids' music Tito Uquillas has, both as a singer and a songwriter. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go play that title track about ten more times... Oh, yeah... I'm just an educated kid... uh huh, uh huh, uh huh...
When I first decided to make the plunge into doing music for kids back when I lived in Buffalo, people from the area kept telling me, "Oh, you mean like Glenn Colton?" or "Oh, you should go see Glenn Colton." Recently, a musician I know from Buffalo named Matt Suroweic contacted me to ask some advice about his own foray into doing music for kids, and so of course I had to say, "Go see Glenn Colton!"
Suffice it to say that Glenn Colton is without a doubt the first name in children's music in the greater Western New York area. A quick scan of his schedule and you can see how popular he is as a performer, and many of the venues where he performs have him back year after year after year. That's not surprising, as Glenn writes very memorable songs for kids and performs them in very interactive and involving shows that are a lot of fun, and he provides a wide variety of school assembly programs that cater very well to what a lot of schools want to offer for their students. After heeding the advice of those who said to me, "Go see Glenn Colton," I went to one of his park concerts and one of his school assemblies, and was inspired by how well a one-man-band performer could entertain a large group of kids. I had one of those "that's what I'd like to do with my life!" kind of feelings (not a moment too soon, considering I was about 33 at the time). Glenn made it look so easy and fun (of course, I hadn't seen the many years of experience he already had up to that point) and his use of conga lines, limbo sticks and other various props and jokes was also inspiring for the kind of fun shows I wanted to offer kids and families. If you saw a show with me and Glenn on a bill together (hopefully we'll put that together sometime when I'm out in Western New York again), you would probably notice a difference in some of the styles of material and humor that we each employ, and yet, you might also recognize that Glenn was a big influence on me as a children's performer, and so I would expect that you might find both shows to be highly entertaining and fun in their own unique ways.
When I first met him, Glenn was generous about sharing some tips to get me going in the right direction, and I really appreciated that. We've been friends ever since, and so when I was back in Buffalo recently, I thought, why not do an interview with him, since I've been meaning to feature him here at some point? Glenn invited me over and he shared a lot of great insights into his musical approach and how he's achieved and maintained his success performing music for children. The interview is split up into two parts below...
Alkelda the Gleeful has 1) a really cool nickname 2) a really great family, which she affectionately calls The House of Glee 3) a really funny song called "Superhero Tea Party" 4) many wonderful stories, story ideas and thoughts about performing as a children's storyteller that she shares on 5) a really great blog called Saints and Spinners, which today features an interview with a guy named Eric Herman.
My own "RV of Silliness" got to meet The House of Glee at a show of mine near Seattle this summer, and we really enjoyed sharing some tasty ice cream and good conversation with them afterward. Her blog has become a favorite of mine and I'm always eager to click the link when I see a new post from there pop up on my Google Reader. I want to thank Alkelda for sharing her time and talents with us all, and for not digging out too many skeletons in her interview with me. We hope to see her perform sometime when we're out that way again.
Scribblemonster is a super-cool kids' band from the Chicago area. In my article about John Hadfield, I mentioned how his music seemed to have a sharp dichotomy between two different styles. Well, Scribblemonster performs several different styles of music, but they seem to have an even more dramatic distinction when it comes to the overall sound they have. The first two songs on their second album, Chocolate Milk, are a perfect demonstration of that.
The first song, the title track, is a power chord anthem which almost seems like a style parody of Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll". Jumping right out at you through the speakers is the voice of ScribbleMonster, which is indeed very "monstery", sounding something like Dave Mustaine, Harvey Fierstein and MacGruff the Crime Dog if they all gargled with turpentine. It probably is a bit scary of a voice for the youngest or most timid of kids, but then again, if you're putting on a CD called "Scribblemonster", you should probably expect a scary monster voice, and this certainly delivers that along with a heavy dose of crunchy distorted guitars.
You might think from the first track that this is going to be one of the only original heavy metal albums for kids, but then track 2 makes you wonder if maybe you actually bought a compilation CD and Scribblemonster only had the leadoff track. "Beautiful Day" is an upbeat acoustic pop tune with jangly guitars and the decidedly ungruff and quite beautiful voice of ScribbleKitty. This song is catchy and cool and well-written and performed, just like "Chocolate Milk", and yet couldn't be more different from that track unless it was an Indian raga performed with kazoos and featuring a chorus of peacocks (I've yet to hear a children's music act do that convincingly).
But the more you listen to Scribblemonster, the more you realize that those two very divergent sounds, and many more, are just part of the whole experience. So it was probably very wise sequencing to put those two tracks up front like that, so you didn't get too familiar with one voice before being presented with the other. But ScribbleMonster and ScribbleKitty are actually only two of the four Scribblemonster voices... There is also ScribblePiggy, who has a bit more of a bluesy tone to her, and ScribbleBunny, who is more of a cute little boy character. ScribbleMonster and ScribbleBunny are both voiced by James Dague, who also writes and produces most of the Scribblemonster material. I'm not sure how he pulls off performing the two different voices live, but I'd like to see him try. (ScribbleKitty is Joyce Stuart and ScribblePiggy is Jayne Saniat).
All together, the four characters make for an interesting group, and I love the way they interact throughout the very hooky songs. And Scribblemonster has several songs that cleverly leave room for kids to interact directly with the song. For example, on "The World's Greatest", each of the Scribbles sing a verse about what their character would like to be (i.e. "I'm gonna be the world's greatest dentist" or "greatest singer" or "greatest plumber"), and then they leave a verse with just the music, so that kids can sing about whatever they want to be. It's sort of like karaoke mad libs. On the song "I'm a... (Anything I Like)", they sing the first part of the line, but leave the end for the kids, such as, "I'm a box of... (???)". It's especially funny to hear ScribbleMonster singing the verse that goes, "I'm a girl named... (???)" This has become a fun game for us to play on the road, because you can make up just about anything. For example, my two year-old created this gem, "I'm stinky and I'm a foot." I don't know if James came up with the idea for this type of song, but I can't recall hearing this kind of thing before, and regardless, they do a really great job with these.
Throughout both of their albums, Scribblemonster has a terrific blend of melody, rhythm and subject matter that is perfect for kids. Their first album, Best of Friends, is a little rougher in terms of its production, but has just as many great songs as its successor, like "Wishin' Around", which has a wonderfully soaring melody; "A Monster Goes Rrrargh!", which has a monster going "rrrargh!" (see video below); and "Hooray!", which is one of those aforementioned "make up your own verse" songs.
Scribblemonster has also performed some notable guest appearances, including their popular track "I Wish I Lived in Michigan", which appears on Kevin Kammeraad's epic 49 track CD about the state of Michigan called A Curious Glimpse of Michigan, and backing Monty Harper on the title track of his Get a Clue album.
Randy Newman has had quite a varied and successful career as a singer-songwriter and film composer. He has won virtually every major award there is in the entertainment industry, including Oscars, Grammys and Emmys. In recent years, Randy has become even more well known for his songs in popular children's movies.
I use the term "children's movies" with some hesitation, because while Pixar's films are particularly geared toward children, I consider them among the finest movies of any type, and I'm 38. I can sit and watch any of the Pixar movies on my own, repeatedly, and thoroughly enjoy them. When I was traveling on my own for about a week recently, and had a few hours free, I felt no hesitation whatsoever to go and see Ratatouille all by myself. My favorites, in particular, are Monsters Inc., Toy Story 1 & 2 and Finding Nemo, but I think they are all terrifically entertaining.
Toy Story started the ball rolling for Pixar's tremendous run of success, and Randy's songs and scoring are a big part of what helps to drive the story. Randy's songs are unassuming in their approach, usually with a basic pop arrangement and his uniquely twangy voice that can only be self-referenced. Randy Newman's voice sounds like... well, like Randy Newman. They are simply great songs, with a catchiness that belies their sophistication and melodies that are sublime and inspired. "You've Got a Friend in Me" is the signature song for the Toy Story films, and it welcomes you right into the world of Woody and Andy. It's a perfect hummable theme song with a heart, as Randy eloquently sings, "Some other folks might be a little bit smarter than I am, bigger and stronger, too. But none of them will ever love you the way I do. It's me and you, boy."
The next song in the film is the funky rock song, "Strange Things", where Woody is realizing how Buzz is taking some of Andy's attention away from Woody. I love that the film's producers chose Randy to create new songs specifically for the movie instead of just filling in a bunch of soundtrack songs and calling that a "score". Sometimes that kind of pop soundtrack can be just right for a movie, and certainly there are several songs that might have fit okay to underscore the general feeling there. But it's especially perfect to have Randy's specific lyrical descriptions like, "I was on top of the world, it was right in my pocket. I was livin' the life, things were just the way they should be. When from out of the sky like a bomb comes some little punk in a rocket. Now all of a sudden some strange things are happenin' to me."
The other song in Toy Story, "I Will Go Sailing No More", is later in the film when Buzz is realizing that he is indeed a toy, and it is a beautifully dramatic and dynamic piece that reminds me of some of the achingly powerful Roger Waters tracks on The Wall. Each of the three songs on Toy Story couldn't be more different from each other, and yet each is brilliant and perfect for what it is and for what it is supposed to be achieving in the film.
There is only one new Randy Newman song in Toy Story 2 ("You've Got a Friend in Me" is reprised a couple of times), but boy, is it a doozy. "When She Loved Me", sung wonderfully by Sarah McLachlan, is so touchingly sad it makes you want to weep for the plight of forgotten toys everywhere. McLachlan, known for her breathy pseudo-yodeling vocals, was a perfect choice to give voice to the memory of Jessie, the Yodeling Cowgirl, and Newman's melody and arrangement in this song is truly stirring. Newman actually won his Oscar (after 13 nominations) for the fun jazzy pop tune "I Wouldn't Have Nothing if I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc., but my feeling is that he deserved it more for "When She Loved Me".
Other songs Randy composed for children's movies include the songs for the great version of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, "That'll Do" from Babe: Pig in the City, and "Our Town", which James Taylor plaintively sang (as he does so well) in Cars. Pixar is scheduled to release Toy Story 3 in 2010, presumably with Randy Newman doing the music again, though his involvement hasn't been confirmed for that yet. He is definitely doing songs and music for Disney's much-touted return to traditional 2D animation with "The Frog Princess" in 2009.
I ended my recent article about Robbi K by saying, "A husband and wife producing children's music together... How about that?!" I was making a wink smile kind of comment about my wife and I producing my kids' music, but I realize that it may have been a bit of an oblique reference for anyone who didn't know that.
Yes, my wife, Roseann, and I produce my kids' music together, and I realize that it's not just us and Robbi K and her husband, Bakithi... Gwendolyn and her husband, Brandon, produce the music for Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang, and I believe that Ellen and Matt (who I've been meaning to feature here at some point) also produce their music in addition to performing together. I'm sure there are other kid-music-producing couples, too. (Please let me know if I'm missing any.) And of course, there are many spouses out there who play an important role in the careers of their musical counterparts, though that may not specifically include the music production aspect.
But since I've mentioned Roseann, I wanted to give you a better glimpse at what exactly she does in respect to my musical career. I get all of the applause at my concerts and most of the accolades for the CDs, but I would like to applaud her for all of her efforts and talents behind the scenes. You might get an interesting glimpse into the dynamics of a husband/wife entertainment team, and I might score some major love points with the Mrs., which never hurts!
If Roseann were applying for a job somewhere, and using her work with me as a reference, the list of her job functions could look something like this...
Producer, songwriter, copy writer, casting director, stage manager, musical director, marketing research, PR manager, business relations, video producer, child psychology and development research, video director, camera operator, child wrangler, costume designer, mascot performer, puppeteer, business adviser, artistic adviser, performance adviser, promoter, agent, networking, event planning, graphic artist, mechanic, electrician, handyman, talent coordinator, assistant to the artist, cashier, retail sales, quality control supervisor, performer, vocalist, business founder, entrepreneur, photographer, stylist, roadie, groupie, navigator, image consultant, operations manager, physical therapist, first-aid caregiver, nutritionist, human resources, sounding board, development team, muse, ego booster, ego leveler, backseat driver, map reader, relief driver, bargain hunter, customer service, billing/collections, legal adviser, set designer, comedy writer, temporary pickle jar opener (until my arm and finger injuries heal).
And then of course there are the all-important jobs of wife and mother. Certainly there are more job descriptions that I could add for her, but that gives you some idea of the many things that she does. It would take too long to elaborate on all of those job descriptions, but I'd like to add a few notes about some of those aspects.
Producer: Roseann is definitely an equal partner in terms of the producing aspect of my music. We have similar tastes, but we also have some individual preferences that make for a good blend. We have some arguments now and then about certain things, but when that happens, we've found that it's usually a case of properly communicating what it is that we want or don't want (which isn't always easy to do), and then finding something that works better. We try not to just compromise when there is a difference of opinion, but to find another solution that makes the whole thing better for both of us.
A good example of that is the song "Ants in the Lunchroom" from Monkey Business, where I really liked the song as it was but Roseann kept insisting that it felt too "heavy". I felt like that early Rush meets Jethro Tull kind of sound was cartoonish in this case and worked well for the idea of the song. We butted heads for a while on whether the song should be on that album (and if we didn't get beyond that argument, it wouldn't have been included). But then I had the idea to add the ant voices as part of the recording. I did a basic demo of that and Roseann loved it and realized that it added the cartoonishness that she wasn't feeling before and took away the feeling of heaviness that she didn't like, without taking away the heaviness that I did like. Roseann actually scripted most of the ant parts for the final recordings that she and Kenn Nesbitt performed, and we both ended up liking that song a lot better the way it turned out, and that track became a favorite for many kids from that album. We have had a lot of similar experiences while producing our albums, where there's usually something better to be gained from whatever conflict there might be.
Roseann is also a great producer when it comes to knowing when to say things like, "This song needs more cowbell!" or "Why on Earth are you using cowbell on this song?!" She has a great ear for pitch and instrumental balance and a terrific feel for what kids will respond to, or not. She generously lets me be the mad scientist and go experiment with sounds and parts, but she is also able to give some great direction and offer many creative ideas of her own, which often helps to complete the songs. I don't recall Roseann contributing too much to the writing of "Blackbeard, Bluebeard and Redbeard", but she was a big part of producing how the recording turned out, such as getting together the intro/outro parts with the big kid's interjections with the narrator, which I think added a lot to the self-deprecating nature of that track.
Another very significant production contribution Roseann had was to use just one really cute sounding little girl (who she found in her capacity as "casting director") as my audience for the recording of "The Elephant Song". I kept thinking we should use a live version or to bring in a throng of kids to respond together, to capture some of the frenzied and insistent responses that the song elicits in a live setting. But she felt that for the CD, it would be best to have a more controlled focus, because she wanted to feature the song better and she also felt that while a parent at a concert might laugh and enjoy watching their kid go bonkers, on an audio recording with a group of kids, that could be grating. Roseann was also instrumental (in her capacity as a "child wrangler") in getting Meghan, the girl who did the recording, to deliver a terrific performance that would be received well.
A quick mention here that Roseann the video director and graphic artist also designed the video for "The Elephant Song". It was originally meant to be nothing more than a demo, so she threw some pictures together on the MS Paint program, with the help of our daughter, Becca, to show me how it might work. But once we put it all together, we decided to show the "demo" to some other people and it took off from there, though she's still a little embarrassed that her initial rough sketch drawings are what is being seen around the world.
Songwriter: I give Roseann co-writing credit on all of my songs, because there is often something specific that she's added to every song. That may be minimal for some songs, such as, "That phrase needs to be reworded... How about this, instead?" or "How about a different chord there?", but there are also several songs where we've worked very closely together and her contribution has been very significant, and those have turned out to be some of my most popular, including "There's a Monster in My House", "The Elephant Song", "Bounce and Flap and Twist", "Cowboy Bergaleoukaleopaleous" and "No Big Deal". Performer: Roseann has performed the following parts on my albums... The "Awww!" on "In the Box"; monkey sounds on "The Monkeys"; the parrot on "Blackbeard, Bluebeard and Redbeard"; backing vocals on "Crazy Over Vegetables" (which she also arranged); the mother on "I Am a Robot"; the legal speak on "Prune Juice"; some of the ant parts on "Ants in the Lunchroom" (Kenn Nesbitt did most of them); the mother in "Cowboy Bergaleoukaleopaleous"; co-lead vocals on "Steve the Superhero".
Stage manager/performance adviser: Roseann has been crucial over the last several years as an observer at my live shows, to help me improve as a performer and fine-tune my shows to be the most entertaining experience they can be, which can vary quite a bit depending on the audience, the venue and the particular circumstances of the event. Sometimes it feels a little disheartening when I feel like I just had a terrific show and then she tells me afterward about something I said or did that didn't work so well or could have been better, but I have learned to graciously accept her notes and use them to do better next time. Conversely, once in a while I feel like a show didn't go so well, but she might tell me about some things that I didn't observe that were very well received.
On rare occasions, she might even come up and give me an instruction during a show which is helpful to get things going in a better direction, or to keep things going in the right direction. For example, at a recent show I wasn't aware that most of my audience were European immigrants and weren't English-speaking, and so when I was getting a little frustrated that I had little reaction from the kids early on, she sensed that and told me about it after she found that out from the sound guy. And so for the rest of that show, doing more physical/dancing songs went over much better than the story/joke songs had early on. Roseann has some background in early childhood development and child psychology and experience working with special needs kids and has observed a lot from that which she has brought to our involvement with entertaining children.
I could go on and on about the specific things that Roseann has done and continues to do on a daily basis to help me do what I do, but this has probably been long enough. Hopefully I've scored enough bonus points with her already. Suffice to say that I'm incredibly grateful to be married to such a wonderful woman and to be able to work together with her and for the life and the love that we share. Also, as I talked about in this article about how I got into kids' music, I probably wouldn't be doing this at all if it weren't for Roseann's faith in me and encouragement, and I'm particularly grateful for that.
It hasn't been the best year for personal safety...
First, the broken arm, and then last week I cut a nice chunk out of the tip of my middle finger with a shaving razor.
I know what you're probably thinking... Eric, you're not supposed to shave your fingers. But it's just that every night when the moon comes out, they get really hairy, and... Well, actually I was rummaging through a bin on the top shelf of our bathroom closet in the RV and there was a razor in there with the safety cap missing. That'll teach me to leave safety caps off and to go rummaging through uncharted bins.
Fortunately, the gouge is over on the side of the fingertip and shouldn't affect my long-term guitar-playing. It's healing well and should be okay before too long, but it has made it difficult to play guitar at my recent shows. "The Elephant Song" just doesn't sound quite right with two-finger power chords. And there's a gesture that is created now when my hand is playing the guitar neck that, well... it's not the nicest thing for family shows, if you know what I mean.
So anyway, with the arm brace still on my right forearm and the finger splint on my left hand, I've decided not to sing any "safety" songs this year, for fear of looking hypocritical.
In her career, Robbi K has performed and recorded with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, Rod Stewart and Mary J. Blige, just to name a few. She's also performed on big-time TV shows like Oprah and David Letterman. She has quite an impressive resume, and with her amazing vocal talent and engaging personality and sense of humor, she could really do anything at all in the entertainment world. But Robbi was inspired by a children's theatre production in 1981 to make children the main focus of her musical talent, and the children of the world are very blessed for that choice of hers.
Robbi's latest album, her second CD for kids, is called Music Makes Me Happy, and it's an outstanding collection of songs for kids, covering a wide variety of styles including world, jazz, blues and gospel. Robbi sites Paul Simon's Graceland as a seminal album and influence for her. I would say exactly the same thing about Graceland's influence on me, and so it's interesting to me how different people can be influenced in very different ways by the same work of art. This is not to say that Robbi's music (or mine) sounds much at all like Graceland, but the idea of exploring and trying to be unique and creative with a variety of musical approaches is certainly prevalent throughout Music Makes Me Happy, and in that sense, I can definitely recognize that influence.
The CD begins with a fun percussion song as Robbi and a small group of kids "Feel Da Beat". "Summer's Here" is next and is a catchy calypso style song in the vein of "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid. "Eating Some Pizza" shows off some great kid singers describing what makes them shout "Hallelujah!", and I particularly love how the background singers sing the "hallelujah" phrase. This is a really cool track and my only complaint is that the kids singing are mixed a little too low to understand throughout. The kids they got to perform on this album are right on with their pitch and timing and the production showcases them well throughout the rest of the album, but I wish I could have heard them a little better on this track.
Robbi's take on "The Legend of John Henry" has an upbeat Motown feel, very reminiscent of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone". Next up is "Music is My Friend", which is probably the only track I didn't really enjoy on this album. I think that people make too much fun of the music from the 1970's, when there was actually quite a lot of great music happening then, but this reminds me of the kind of 70's songs that didn't endure very well. Musically, it's kind of catchy, so that's not the major issue, but lyrically it seems to include some forced and rather odd phrases, such as, "It can take down up. Fill an empty cup. Fill it with magic stuff." and "Music brings a charge, makes the small seem large. Rides you on a barge." Rides you on a barge?? A very strange choice for a lyric... Robbi didn't write this song, so I'm not going to hold it against her, but regardless, those kind of lyrics combined with the lite jazz pop of the music make the song a little difficult for me to warm up to. I like that this is yet another style that she is experimenting with, and I like the general message that music can be very uplifting to your spirit, but it just doesn't seem to measure up with the strength of the rest of the album for me. But to say that this is the only song I don't really care for is in itself quite a recommendation for this CD, as even some of my favorite albums have two or three tracks that I'm not all that crazy about. "Favourite Things" is a swing jazz version of the song from The Sound of Music, and Robbi shows off some nice phrasing, for example, pausing in just the right way to make a line like "schnitzel with noodles" sound cool instead of hokey. The band is sizzling hot on this one, and the musical performances and Robbi's arrangements throughout the CD are terrific. My favorite tune, the "Got Me Laughing Blues", definitely got me laughing with some brutally honest examples of things that make Robbi laugh, including her brother's little butt and passing gas. "Music Makes Me Happy" is an upbeat and joyous blues number (yes, blues can be that way!) and features several different people joining in to celebrate, including children's music artist Brady Rymer and blues legend Guy Davis.
"Happy! Happy! Happy! Happy! Happy!" begins with a Barney impersonation that seems to imply that the song will be a little bit tongue-in-cheek, but you could certainly take it at face value to be a musical depiction of the seesaw mood swings of a kids' life. I like the contrast between the happy and mad sections, and how they change into each other. The feel of the happy part reminds me of Vince Guaraldi playing piano for a polka band, and then the mad part has shades of things like Fiddler on the Roof and even Frank Zappa. It's an unusual combination, but somehow it works well and is a fun diversion.
"I Love My Teacher" (see the video below) has a chorus of kids (including Robbi's daughters DiDi and Mbali) singing in an old doo-wop style (with Bowzer from Sha Na Na appropriately guesting), doing a fitting tribute to teachers everywhere. I can remember idealizing a few of my teachers growing up, and I think this song speaks well to that kind of kids' perspective. A lot of kids, especially elementary aged kids, really do think of teachers as being in a different realm entirely, which is why it was always so weird when you happened to see your teacher at the supermarket. I'd think... What is Mr. Edholm doing here? I thought he lived at the school and studied science books all night?! And lines like "I'm so glad that I'm her child" made me realize that the kids could also be singing this to their parent or parents, who are certainly the most important of all the teachers in their lives (a relationship which is completely reciprocal, since kids teach us so much).
The final track is a beautiful medley called "The Peace Song", which is gloriously arranged with angelic voices and lush strings, as the Latin words for "Give us peace" are interspersed with references to classic gospel songs like "Amazing Grace", "His Eye is on the Sparrow" and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands". Robbi's voice has such versatility throughout the album, strongly belting out jazz and blues and also showing much beauty and restraint on a track like this. All told, Music Makes Me Happy more than proves its title, providing an enlightening and entertaining experience through the joy and power of music. I should mention that Music Makes Me Happy was co-produced by Robbi and her husband, Bakithi Kumalo (who also plays bass on the album and who has played bass for many years with Paul Simon. You know that famous bass solo on "You Can Call Me Al"? That was Bakithi.). The arrangements and instrumental performances are varied, colorful and altogether quite enjoyable, without ever getting in the way of Robbi's vocals, and the overall production is top-notch. There's no doubt that Bakithi and Robbi make a really great team. (A husband and wife producing children's music together... Hey, how about that?!) Robbi K website
Ah, there's nothing quite like the purest form of kids' music, meaning music that kids' themselves create. It's strange and bizarre and sometimes totally nonsensical, but also brilliant and creative in cool ways.
