Back to Sleep With Caspar Babypants

Caspar Babypants is working at cross-purposes on his new CD, SLEEP TIGHT! He's performing enthusiastically, with ingenious verve and determination, to put your children to sleep. Which kind of defeats the purpose of producing a full-length musical work, doesn't it?

Chris Ballew's alter-ego is known for his dextrous wordplay ("Bird in An Airplane Suit" comes to mind) and creating a child-friendly playspace. On SLEEP TIGHT, he adds such compositions as "Sleep Mister Sandman" and "Another Head Hits The Pillow" to his pantheon of singalong favorites. He even give the traditional "Do Your Ears Hang Low" a slumber-oriented theme with "Does the Moon Hang Low?"

Chris is big on going you the scoop on what's behind his music. His "Stories Behind the Songs" page delivers paragraphs with big insights. For instance, "So Slow Sluggy" was originally written for a car travel game app he worked on with Jack Forman. "It's Been a Long Day" dates back to his college days and was included (1) because of its unique synth line and (2) because Chris always loved the feel of the tune. You also find the chords to learn to play his music, for instance, the sweet and sadly nostalgic "All Of Your Life":

You spent a little while in the belly of your mom
And someday soon you'll be grown and gone
Just follow your feet and it will not go wrong
For you cause you've got time you've got all of your life

There's always a place for interesting, different bedtime/quiet time music. For instance, Lisa Loeb also released her own kids slumber CD, LULLABY GIRL, this past fall. And the songs on SLEEP TIGHT! harken back to Chris' first lullaby release, NIGHT NIGHT, in 2015. With his 14th (!!) release as Caspar Babypants, Chris seems to be getting a second wind; an interesting respite coming on the heels of his newest nifty naptime nocturne. Adults can always put up another pot of coffee and listen to all 14 tracks. I double dog dare you. Sleep tight.

SLEEP TIGHT is available January 19 from Caspar's website, Amazon, Easy Street, and iTunes.

Here is the video for the song, "Underground":