Positively Spring With Twinkle & Mista Cookie Jar, Kathryn the Grape and BIRDIE

When Twinkle Time (Alitzah Weiner Navarro Dallas) says dance, it's hard for audiences to say no. Especially when paired with frequent West Coast collaborator Mista Cookie Jar (CJ Pizarro). The duo have returned for "Rain Or Shine," a new dose of power pop aimed at combating the blues caused by April showers. The beat is infectious and the lyrics are easy to sing along with:

We’re gonna be together rain or shine
We’re gonna let our love light up the night
We’re gonna hold hands
So everyone can see
Together we got something
And its endless possibilities

Listen to "Rain or Shine" from Twinkle's website, Mista Cookie Jar's website, Apple Music, and Spotify.

Kindie musician Kathryn "the Grape" Cloward focuses her attention on mental health and self-care for children, topics that found themselves expedited to audiences during the past two-plus years due to the pandemic. Her latest collection, ALL TOGETHER, promoted empowerment and diversity through tracks such as "I Like Being Me," "You Matter to Me," and "Choosing Kindness."

Like many other performers, Cloward has expanded her "Grape" brand across recordings, videos, and books, all promoting progressive encouragement and educational material, thinly couched with messages for younger listeners (it's definitely for the under-8 set). Tykes still get tunes like "Jump for Joy" and "Let's Celebrate," but there's also a quiet "It's Okay to Cry," which is not to be confused with "It's Alright to Cry," the famous song from FREE TO BE...YOU AND ME. There's always a market for single-entendre music for small fry. Most of Cloward's catalog is streamable so kids can even request it directly from Siri and Alexa.

ALL TOGETHER is available from Kathryn the Grape's website, Spotify, Amazon, and Apple Music.

Listen to Kathryn the Grape's song, "I Feel Good About Myself":

BIRDIE, the children's music project created by Teresa Gasca-Burk and Gary Burk, have released a new spring-ish video for their song, "I Choose Happy." After partnering in a rock band, the duo segued into writing and performing original children's music for California families. You can find their music at their website, Amazon, and Apple Music. Here is the video for "I Choose Happy":

New Stuff from Oot 'n Oots, Claudia Robin Gunn, and BIRDIE

Have you ever wanted to frolic in the forest whilst singing about the importance of treating others fairly? This "do unto others" attitude is embodied in the song (and new video) from the pride of Canada, the Oot 'n Oots. "The Golden Rule" comes from their recent collection, PONDEROSA BUNCHGRASS AND THE GOLDEN RULE and features the entire band (the Cipes family) surrounded by lush, sepia-toned greenery. The CD heralds back to the mellow-minded 60s tones of Donovan (with a hint of the Byrds thrown in). "The Golden Rule" is a stylistic combination of modern and throwback fun, as you can see by their video:

Traveling in another direction, New Zealand children's recording artist Claudia Robin Gunn has posted a new video for her gentle, winsome song, "Kids In Autumn." The tune springs from her recent collection that features a little blue penguin as his family segues from season to season. Assisted by animator Katrina Maree, Claudia and Little Wild Music deliver original children's material that native New Zealanders can enjoy, while also being exported to the rest of the world. Here's the video:

California musicians Teresa Gasca-Burk and Gary Burk started playing in a rock band together more than 20 years ago. As they started families, they regrouped to write and perform children's music as BIRDIE, recording their first CD in 2003. They've come out of the pandemic with several new songs, including "Come Out And Play" and "You're Awesome," which features a singalong chorus that dares you not to participate, especially on a long car ride. The duo promotes "positive fun" for a complete family experience and has released a new CD, I CHOOSE HAPPY. Find the music of BIRDIE on their website, Spotify, and Apple Music. Here is the band doing a live performance of their song, "Rainbow":