When I received FAMILY VALUES, the new CD from Charity and the JAMBand, all those thoughts came flowing back to me.
Sarcasm aside, it's a noble conceit. Charity backs up her notions with a booklet filled with lyrics (yay) and quotations from Ghandi, Alice Walker, John Lennon, Fred Rogers, the Dalai Lama, Helen Keller, and more.
Conceptually, FAMILY VALUES seeks to tackle big-ticket concepts and boil them down for youngsters. For instance, "Love is Here" makes it clear that the abstract idea of "love" is applicable in many ways:
Live is everywhere
Look around
It's in the light
It's in the sound
It's sometimes simple
Sometimes grand
It's in your heart
When you lend a hand to someone.
Charity starts the proceedings with a "Peace Pledge," pledging allegiance to peace and lovingkindness and one life on one planet. If you don't get lightheaded at song titles like "Lovingkindness," "Grateful," and "Flower Power," then you're in the right frame of mind. "Bike" recalls the freedom that mobility gives to children, when their backyard is no longer enough and they have the power to travel beyond the safe cocoon of home.
"Green Beans Everywhere," originally written as part of the Kindie Songwriting Club, addresses hunger and growing your own food. Seems "hippie-ish?" Not for the thousands of people now doing it themselves. Did I mention that Charity used to be part of the Sunset Co-Operative Nursery School? Don't tell me, I had you at "Co-Op."
Okay, I got a little snarky again. Truly, I appreciate the methodology employed by this group of talented family musicians. FAMILY VALUES embraces the positive spirit of making music and being part of a world community. Charity and the JAMBand knows that rocking out won't hurt you, it will only help you grow. That's still true for children from one to 100.
FAMILY VALUES is available on October 9 from iTunes, Amazon, and CDBaby.
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