Ben's Playlist - Tuesday, June 1, 2021

'Cause I'm A Man – Tame Impala
Doppelganger – Dog On Fleas
Taco Tuesday – The Lucky Band
Don't Change – Renee & Jeremy (feat. Renee Stahl & Jeremy Toback)
One – Aaron Nigel Smith
Bird With A Broken Wing – Weezer

Laurie Berkner Fathers' Day Concerts; Brady Rymer Celebrates Trees

The kindie queen of children's music Laurie Berkner is hosting two live virtual concerts on Sunday, June 20 to celebrate Father's Day. As a special perk, one $20 family ticket grants admission to either (or both) the noon and 5 PM ET livestream events. Expect to hear her family-centric "I Love You Daddy" and "My Family," as well as tracks from this year's recent album, LET'S GO! and a selection of greatest hits.

Laurie Berkner

Even as COVID restrictions are starting to dissipate, Laurie reminds people that this is also the first anniversary of her livestream concerts. While fully vaccinated adults are planning to see live music shows, things are still in flux for kids' artists. Laurie Berkner Band keyboard player Susie Lampert is slated to be a special guest at this show (other band members will also drop by). 

Laurie went to great lengths this past year to ensure that her virtual family concerts are comparable to her in-person events. The interactive nature is a little different but as coronavirus has shown, kids are adaptable to extenuating circumstances. 

The "virtual lobby" for each Father's Day concert opens one hour prior to showtime (11 AM for 12 PM ET, 4 PM for 5 PM), featuring pre-show music, video, games, and an arts and craft activity. One-on-one Meet-and-Greets with Laurie are available for super-fans after the shows ($80 package). Click here for ticket information.

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This spring's April showers led to May flowers, cherry blossoms, and the full force of nature coming into its own (not to mention pollen and seasonal allergies, but let's stay positive). A member of the Laurie Berkner Band, Long Island's Brady Rymer (and the Little Band That Could) have released "Happy Birthday, Trees," a new song and video to help foster arbor (forest) awareness. The song was originally conceived for a concert the Jewish Museum in New York City based around the holiday of Tu B'Shevat, or birthday for trees.

Brady Rymer

The closest comparison to "Happy Birthday, Trees" may be Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree," about a growth so generous that it gifts every part of itself to a young boy, until they are rejoined as a stump and an old man. Brady envisions a similar symbiosis, albeit one without the grim finale of Silverstein's tale:

May you swing from my branches
Rest a while in my shade
Climb up high to the tallest limbs
And hear the treetop serenade

Grab "Happy Birthday, Trees" from Amazon, Spotify, Deezer, and Apple Music.

Here is the video for "Happy Birthday, Trees":

Charity and the JAMBand Praise Creatures and Critters

The ideal recipe for fun is "Mix joy and music and create JAM." That was the concept behind Charity Kahn and the JAMband, now the creators of seven albums with the release of CREATURES & CRITTERS. The 17-tune collection expands on Charity's mission to raise children's consciousness and think about the physical world around them. The CD reminds kids (and their guardians) that animals are just as deserving of freedom, health, and well-being in their environments. 

Animal populations face dire consequences as communities expand to create new living space for humans. A diverse number of species are suffering as a result of habitat destruction (such as deforestation or dropping nets to catch fish). Charity is well aware that change takes time and minds open to change. CREATURES & CRITTERS gently lays down its message, taking old favorites in new directions. "Old MacDonald Had A Sanctuary Farm" talks about treating animal friends with dignity and kindness. The Irish folk song "Rattlin' Bog" is as lively now as it ever was, teaching kids how to expand and add lines to verses in an inspired, interactive fashion. "Itsy Bitsy Spider" puts every small insect into perspective on a universal scale:

If you ever spy a flash zoom across the nighttime sky

That's the itsy bitsy's spiders gone on by

So make an itsy bitsy wish for you

And a huge, ginormous wish for the Earth that loves you true

New songs such as "The Welcome Song," "We Love Those Itty Bitty Bugs," and "The Water Song," show the full range of the JAMBand, with folk. rock, and mildly psychedelic arrangements. Charity views her music as an extension of her work overcoming and undoing negative imagery and messages perpetuated on children through devices and out-of-their-control issues (think a global pandemic). CREATURES & CRITTERS includes five guided meditations to promote calm and focus (staying on topic with dog, bunny, owl, spider, and cow exercises). 

Know thy inner critter and sing its praises. As the Dark Times of 2020 slip into the deep recesses of our minds, Charity and the JAMBand urge us to expand our sensibilities and walk as one world community, man and squirrel alike. 

CREATURES & CRITTERS is available from Charity and the JAMBand's website, Amazon, Spotify, and Apple Music.

Here is a dance-along video for the song "Head Shoulders Knees Toes":

Ben's Playlist - Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Dance with You – Father Goose
The Kiss Of Venus – Paul McCartney
Happy Birthday, Trees – Brady Rymer
Starting Over – Chris Stapleton
The Less I Know The Better – Tame Impala
El Corazon – The Lucky Band

Ben's Playlist - Monday, May 24, 2021

Reality In Motion – Tame Impala
I'm an Optimist – Dog On Fleas
One Of The Boys – Huey Lewis & The News
White Whale – Kepi Ghoulie
Fanga Alafia – Aaron Nigel Smith
Clown Shoes – Ratboy Jr.

When Koo Koo Kanga Roo Says Dance, Dance

Koo Koo Kanga Roo agrees with Gertrude Stein: Sometimes, there is no there there. In kid terms, sometimes, when you want to throw a dance party, that's all you want to do – dance without repercussions. Dance without lectures. Dance without messages. Koo Koo Kanga Roo gets your kids dancing like there's no homework due tomorrow.

For more than 10 years, lifelong friends and collaborators Bryan and Neil have amassed a kiddie colossus, touring the world with a super-charged, rump-shimmying live show. Their music videos average more than 1 million views, and a partnership with GoNoodle and UNICEF brought those songs into schools, where they kept more than 30 million kids healthy and hopping. 

Their seventh full-length release, SLOW CLAP, features the band's anarchic, fun-first approach. Songs like "Ink" (about a squid), "Ice Cold Lemonade," and "200 Worms" do not operate with a subtext. What you hear is what you get. "Password" is a simple fable about gaining entry to a secret club, and then the inevitable happens – no spoilers. The boys luxuriate on "Lazy Life," demonstrating a total antipathy to responsibility. But what kid wouldn't salivate over living that lifestyle? Speaking of fun in the fun, Bryan and Neil check off summer entertainment with "Putt Putt Butt Butt" and "Backyard Swimsuit" (respect their Slip and Slide skills)

Coming from the storytelling approach of many traditional children's recording artists, I half-expected the doorbell-ringing culprits in "Pranks A Lot" to be caught on a Ring camera in the final verse and receive some sort of penance. Nuh-huh. In the Koo Koo Kango Roo universe, Bryan and Neil's nihilistic hoodlums get off scot free. Minneapolis pop producer Lazerbeak surrounds the kidtastic lyrics with hottom-heavy bass, head-bobbing drumbeats, and state-of-the-art rhythms. "Sneakin' Downstairs" contains as close to a moral as you're going to get, and even that is "What happens here stays in the kitchen."

In other news, Koo Koo Kanga Roo is once again teaming up with UNICEF's Kid Power program, offering kids a "Sticky Icky" challenge (this bee-positive tune kicks off SLOW CLAP). Teachers, groups and families may sign up and enter the contest for a chance to win a personalized video call from Bryan and Neil.

Thanks to their Lazerbeak connections, Bryan and Neil fill the guest spots on SLOW CLAP with rappers Murs, Sims, and Mega Ran. No surprise that they mesh perfectly with Koo Koo Kanga Roo's blend of fun and frenzy. Take a car ride on the highway and turn it up. You'll get to your destination sooner with a record low count for "Are we there yet" queries. That alone is worth a slow clap.

SLOW CLAP is available from Koo Koo Kango Roo's website, Amazon, and Apple Music.

Here is a video for the song "Putt Putt Butt Butt":

Spend 28 Days With Little Miss Ann

The pandemic is still in full force, although a semblance of normality is beginning to emerge, including socially distanced concerts. Little Miss Ann (Ann Torralba) knows that youngsters have a short attention span, so she's boiled down more than a year of tumult, turmoil, and tenacity into her sixth children's music collection, titled 28 DAYS. All of the songs were written, recorded, and produced under quarantine, guided by the experienced hand of über-producer Dean Jones. Toddlers and preschoolers alike will enjoy the 11 progressive, infectious songs delivered by one of Chicago's favorite children's performers.

If there's one thing that people needed the most during COVID, it was friends. Miss Ann used the pandemic as an opportunity to load up 28 DAYS with special guests such as Frances England (on "Bright Winter Day"), Tommy Soulati Shepherd of the Alphabet Rockers (the title track), Amelia Robinson of Mil's Trills ("Stars On the Island"),  and Elana Moon Park and Suzi Shelton ("Good Luck"). Shelton returns on "Marshmallow Man," the first video from 28 DAYS. Chicago-based violinist Anna Jacobson guests on "Goin' Down the Road," a countrified number about learning from nature:

You never know who you'll meet
On your journey down the road
So be open to the froggies and the foxes and the toads.
They might be big or they might be small
Use your heart, not your eyes, don't put up a wall

The constant thread throughout 28 DAYS is "we will be just fine, one day at a time," as Miss Ann sings on "Safe At Home." It's been a tough year-plus for everyone and a little introspection goes a long way. But as Miss Ann gently emphasizes, it's also time to look forward, move upward, and plan ahead for the next 28 days. 

The Grammy Museum Experience is hosting Little Miss Ann as one of the stars of its "Spring & Sing! Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month Celebration," on Saturday, May 22 at 11 AM ET.  Click through to hear music and stories about performers' Asian heritage, including Elana Moon Park, Mista Cookie Jar, and Falu.

28 DAYS is available from Little Miss Ann's website, Bandcamp, Amazon, and Apple Music.

Here is a video for the new song "We Go Together Very Well," animated by Pirata y Luna:

Ben's Playlist - Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Adore You – Harry Styles
Remind Me Why I Love You Again – Huey Lewis & The News
Even When.... – Ratboy Jr.
You Can Get It If You Really Want – Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could
Loving & Kind – Aaron Nigel Smith
Lazy Boy – Franz Ferdinand

To SaulPaul, The Kids Are Okay Different

SaulPaul talks to kids on their level. Who else would describe the dictionary as "if you could print out the Internet," as he does on "Just Call," a track on his new seven-track EP, OKAY TO BE DIFFERENT, available from the new exclusive children's music label, 8 Lb. Gorilla Records.

Eager to promote his message of the power of believing in yourself, the Austin-based SaulPaul has produced a Big Bang explosion of activity in the past two years, slowly only incrementally by the pandemic. His mission of positivity has encompassed an autobiography (Be The Change), a TedTalk, and his music. SaulPaul deals with universal concepts using hiphop and power pop concepts to supercharge young minds and make them instantly relatable. 

Embracing change is difficult, but it's an essential part of life. SaulPaul tackles the subject head on with "Be Myself," letting kids know that no matter what they go through, they come out as themselves. Learning (either inner knowledge or through remote or in-person school) is another constant, with the challenges faced by students and teachers alike addressed on “Champions” and “Live and Learn,” featuring Candy Coburn. The E3 Alliance commissioned SaulPaul to write “Ace It” for their "Attend. Commit. Engage" campaign to inspire struggling youths to stay focused on their studies during the pandemic. Twinkle Time duets on "Just Call" and “Ready Set Go,” featuring Nikki B, explains that being prepared for anything is a superpower:

I’ma give my best
You can bet that’s so
All that stress
I’ma let that go

Nobody's perfect. SaulPaul wants children to know that every effort and little victory is worth celebrating, allowing families and friends to achieve the mythical "best day ever." Doesn't that sound nice as summer comes calling. 

OKAY TO BE DIFFERENT is available from SaulPaul's website, 8 Lb Gorilla Records, Amazon, Spotify, and Apple Music.

Here is the video for the song "Ace It":

Quick Hits: Latest from Father Goose, Divinity Roxx, Music With Michal

Father Goose has turned his children's music career into a family business. Now son Irie Goose is joining his pop and swapping frontman chores on their new single, "Dance With You." The tune promises a virtual dance party, with both Geese plus Danni Ai and David Allan Rivera. Grab "Dance With You" from Amazon and Apple Music. Here is the video to the new song, "Dance With You":

The right attitude can opens doors for you. Grammy-nominated Divinity Roxx stresses that message on the new single, "Ready Set Go," from her upcoming inaugural children's music project later this year. After touring as Beyoncé's bassist and releasing three CDs for mature (i.e., older than 12) audiences, Divinity is looking for a new calling as a recording artist for children. "Ready Set Go" accentuates that people will follow your lead, so be prepared to lead no matter the weather, the mode of transportation, or even if your breakfast fell on the floor. It's a bouncy, bass-steady tune and bodes well for Divinity's next move. Grab "Ready, Set, Go!" from Apple Music or Amazon.

Children's music happens all over the world. Occasionally, something reaches my in-box from locations halfway across the planet. In this instance, the performer is named Michal Bush and her platform is called "Music With Michal."

For nearly 10 years, Michal has been a fixture in New Zealand, first as one half of the duo Petite Music Box and now as a solo act. Michal's songs have been featured on the Home Learning Channel and turned into three children’s books. Last year, with the support of Creative New Zealand (the country's version of the US National Endowment for the Arts), she released her debut solo album ‘Can You Make Music?’ It takes a long time to make a motion-capture video and using Lego certainly needs a meticulous hand. Michal's Lego-fied video for "I Feel Excited" is part of the series of songs to help teach children about dealing with emotions. Michal (and her Lego doppelganger) both appear in the new video:

Michael Hearst Delivers Unconventional Vehicles

Specificity means finding what is unique about something and micro-focusing on its qualities. Writer/composer Michael Hearst specializes on micro-focusing on things like extraordinary people, ice cream trucks, unusual animals, and curious constructions,. Hearst's books come with accompanying music, including his brand-new fourth in a series on transportation, "Unconventional Vehicles" and its companion CD, SONGS FOR UNCONVENTIONAL VEHICLES.

The release features a diverse number of musical styles, from show tunes to funk, to 1940s pop to hard rock to 1970s disco. Throughout, there's a sense of wonder tinged with merriment and an excitement that these devices even exist. Which is, in fact, what Hearst is attempting to convey with his collections. Michael's previous album, SONGS FOR ICE CREAM TRUCKS, is presently being blared by at least 50 ice cream vehicles around the world. 

Hearst is clearly not alone in his obsession – SONGS FOR UNCONVENTIONAL VEHICLES brings together a cavalcade of guest vocalists. A sampling includes Tanya Donelly (Belly, Throwing Muses), Neil Gaiman, Rachell Garniez, Claudia Gonson (The Magnetic Fields), Bill Janovitz (Buffalo Tom),  and Syd Straw (The Golden Palominos). 

"Gas Turbine Motorcycle" gets a thrash rock description that lasts an economical 23 seconds. That falls on the short end of the spectrum, as the 47 (!) selections run from 17 seconds to two minutes and 30 seconds. Listeners learn about crafts such as underwater battery-powered scooters, solar-powered race cars, pizza delivery drones, and a hot-air balloon shaped like the Cathedral of Saint Gall. No really. The tracks are listed alphabetically from "Airboard Personal Hovercraft" to "Zamboni." The book arrives a few days after the digital (and vinyl) drop. Hearst's flights of fancy will transport you – literally and figuratively.

Michael Hearst will be doing a pair of performances in conjunction with the release of SONGS FOR UNCONVENTIONAL VEHICLES. He will be appearing in person will be a full band on Saturday, May 15 at 3 PM at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park (presented by Barbès) and an online solo show on Saturday, May 22 at 3 PM, (hosted by the New York Transit Museum, appropriately enough). Click here for details about both shows.

SONGS FOR UNCONVENTIONAL VEHICLES is available from Michael Hearst's website, Amazon, Spotify, and Apple Music.

Here is the video for the song "Human Cannonball Truck":

Wishful Thinking from Uncle Dox, Gigi Rowe

Don't you find yourself wishing the pandemic was over? Two children's music performers share the same thought. Kids fave Uncle Dox is back on the scene with his new CD, banana². A few years back, Mista Cookie Jar released one song every month (just about) and then compiled everything onto a CD. Dox is making banana² available in one dinner-sized package of 10 brand spanking new fun songs. But if you fancy having them doled out like medicine, you can hear them all on YouTube, one video dropping every week this spring. 

Dox isn't afraid to use his tech skills to recreate the soft 70s dance rock sound on "Last Thing I Do," or use steel drums on "Clouds," one of the tracks featuring female vocalist Fancy Pants. If you've ever thought about building a cardboard boxcar, "racecar" describes zooming around the house while your mind is somewhere on the Nascar circuit. Spin Doctors' Mark White coproduced and played guitar on the track. Vivi Melody guests on the 60s girl group-esque "Shopping." Harps and flutes abound on the "conquer your fears" song, "Brave," which declares:

You gotta face your fears in all you do
And that will make a stronger you

Dox isn't easily pigeonholed, as he crosses genres with satire (previous family favorite Beastie Boys homage "Squirrels") and dance ("Danger Zone"). With banana², he's pushing kids into a post-pandemic life of normal activities, friends, and fun. It's music to knock your Dox off.

banana² is available from Bandcamp, Spotify, and Apple Music.

Here is the video for "Racecar":

Speaking of wishing, recording artist Gigi Rowe is multi-tasking her brand of high gloss power pop for kids. Her new song, “Wishes” is also the title her upcoming children’s book. Gigi's likeness was immortalized in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 editions of Just Dance, the best-selling dance video game franchise of all time. Her featured tracks ("New Reality," "Run The Night," and "Got That") are all available on YouTube.

Now Gigi is expanding the "Gigi-verse" using her music to propel dance aficionados into a fantastical adventure to explore her world, enabling kids live their dreams. Gigi's musical (and aesthetic) inspirations include 1980s icons Madonna and Cyndi Lauper, as well as Annie Lennox. Gigi's tunes (and book) are filled with dayglo colors so close to cotton candy that your dentist might object. But you can judge that for yourself, watching the brand new video for "Wishes": 

Pierce Freelon Shatters Time And Space

Pierce Freelon hears voices. They're not imaginary; far from it. They're the voices of artists and activists who inspired him. Pierce has made them a central feature of his second children's music release, BLACK TO THE FUTURE. On last year's D.a.D., Pierce made himself and his family the focus of his songwriting. Subsequently, the 15 songs on BLACK TO THE FUTURE use the concept of Afrofuturist (think Black Panther), giving Pierce and four generations of his kin the license to look backwards and far-forward. 

Technology cuts both ways. For every genre-busting app developer, there's a reactionary Luddite claiming "Bill Gates is implanting us with microchips." Pierce mined old videotapes, smartphone messages, and recorded conversations to expand upon ideas that turned into BLACK TO THE FUTURE. His mother, jazz singer Nnenna Freelon, leads off with “No One Exactly Like You,” finishing with a scat-singing flourish. The song makes its debut – 30 years after it was first recorded onto VHS (thankfully, before the tape degraded to the point it was unusable). The tune pays tribute to disparate tracks such as Nina Simone's "Exactly Like You" and John Denver's "No One Like You." 

Son Justice and daughter Stella are featured prominently, with the former tackling toxic masculinity on "Vulnerable" and the latter getting much YouTube love for her vocals on "Zombi" (released during the height of the pandemic, pointing out how COVID forced us to sequester for fear of infecting loved ones) and the new "Braid My Hair," where Pierce tackles ground covered by Matthew Cherry's Academy Award-winning short "Hair Love." Pierce also pays homage to the nearly 50 years of major media exposure to a Black cultural icon with “Levar Burton”:

You are your ancestors like the stream, like Levar

Impossible is not a thing, asked Levar

He taught us how to read hymns, homonyms

He taught us how to fight slavery, Romulans

A former politician with a two-decade career in music performance and education, Pierce also founded Blackspace, a digital presence where he mentored dozens of youth, teaching digital storytelling through music and film. He ends BLACK TO THE FUTURE with the hip-hop heartwarmer "You Are Exactly Like No One," produced by Grammy nominee Solomon Fox. Pierce flips the conceit of the first track, sung by his mother. In doing so, Pierce expertly employs the premise of the Afrofuturist movement and contradicts the cliché "you can't go home again." In Pierce's world, the best home is the one you build – and you're always there, no matter where you are.

BLACK TO THE FUTURE is available from Pierce Freelon's website, Spotify, and Apple Music.

Here is a video for the song "Cootie Shot":

Ben's Playlist - Cinco de Mayo - Wednesday, May 5, 2021

The Moment – Tame Impala
I Am There For You – Huey Lewis & The News
Unstable – Justin Bieber Feat. The Kid LAROI
Sticky Icky – Koo Koo Kanga Roo
We Go Together Very Well – Little Miss Ann
Watermelon Sugar – Harry Styles

Erica Rabner's Got This Pandemic

Singer/songwriter Erica Rabner had a unique vantage point from inside the pandemic. Through her "day job" work with children, she could see how youngsters of all ages were suffering – and not just physical ailments brought on by coronavirus. She developed two separate releases for different age brackets on the new 8 Pound Gorilla recording label – THE COVID ALBUM which was released earlier this year for toddlers and younger tots – and the brand-new WE GOT THIS for their older, preteen brethren.

Excited by material she collected from conversations with children (used in seven interstitial messages scattered throughout the CD), Erica finished WE GOT THIS, top to bottom, between December 2020 and January 2021. The title track became the catchphrase between her and producer Brian Blake as they literally willed the music into existence. The year 2020 was a traveling adventure for Rabner, who traded her New York City for a car and moved cross-country. The tracks for THE COVID ALBUM were recorded in a closet in Austin, Texas. 

Erica decided to use a different approach for WE GOT THIS. Your heart breaks listening to children expressing their thoughts on anxiety, loneliness, social media, and looking for ways to remain positive. The 10 songs relate to and amplify the complexity of these emotions, especially when parents – expected to always have the answers – frighteningly are a different breed of superhero, are are the essential workers who kept society moving, thanked in the opener, "Stronger Together."

Fellow 8 Pound artists Genevieve Goings ("Highlights Reel") and SaulPaul ("Be The Light") deliver inspirative vocals on songs about seeking optimistic in the middle of pandemic fatigue and looking for silver linings instead of dwelling on the worst aspects of your current situation. "Slack" gives children permission to just be themselves and "Zoom" addresses the comical, frustrating side effects of remote education:

How can I concentrate in class on Zoom when Jason's sister's always crying?

How can I focus when Maya says her Internet is down again but we all know she's lying?

It bears repeating that children's music is not strictly for children. With songs like "Be the Light" and "Brand New Day," Erica Rabner finds optimism inside the darkest year in your family's lives. There's a warm, fuzzy friendliness that makes "we got this" another three-word slogan worth teaching your children.

WE GOT THIS is available from Erica Rabner's website, Spotify, Amazon, and Apple Music.

Here is the video for the title track, "We Got This":

Ben's Playlist - Monday, May 3, 2021

Lost And Loving It – Kepi Ghoulie
La Brea Tar Pits – Weezer
It's a Miracle – Dog On Fleas
Buenos Dias – The Lucky Band
I Spy – Ants Ants Ants
Die For You – Justin Bieber Feat. Dominic Fike
People Watching – Dean Jones