Beth Jean Puts On A Show

Beth Jean brings a touch of Broadway and showmanship into your child's life with her latest release, LET'S PUT ON A SHOW! If you're ever heard a song (before seeing its video component) and imagined your own vision, you'll understand what Beth Jean is attempting to accomplish. Now, back in my own preteen days (or let's be generous and say a generation before that), there was no music television and Sesame Street was just a glimmer in Joan Ganz Cooney's eye. 

Prior to YouTube and "everybody is a star," the concept of children's music was limited to  Tubby the Tuba and a bunch of well-worn songs the kids I knew were sick of hearing. It's a whole new world and children's music has benefited from a widening circle of genres, from jazz artists (Grammy winner Lucy Kalantari) to dance music (Twinkle Time) to Tin Pan Alley (Beth Jean). Finding inspiration in her love of musicals and theater, Beth Jean gently pushes her audiences to picture the scenarios behind songs like "The Best Mustache In Michigan" and "Waddlin' We Go (the Penguin Song)," a recent Grand Prize Winner in the children's category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

A Midwest Emmy-winner for her PBS children’s show "The Friday Zone," Beth Jean is taking the proverbial "bus ride to the big city" to make her pitch for a nationwide following. She is undergoing this process both figuratively and literally, as the video for the title track shows her stepping off a bus and making her Broadway theater debut (with flamingos). Over the course of the pandemic, Beth Jean wrote and sang all the songs, played a variety of instruments, recorded and produced three songs entirely by herself (She also costumed, filmed, and edited accompanying music videos). Co-producers Pat Hanlin (of Josh & the Jamtones) and Brian King joined her for the remaining seven tracks on LET'S PUT ON A SHOW!, making the album a collaborative delight for theater nerds and newbies alike.

Beth Jean empowers kids to use their imaginations, even if their visions contradict the "official" video of a favorite song. For anyone who's ever been corrected for singing the "wrong lyrics," we can completely sympathize. LET'S PUT ON A SHOW! lets every kid be the star of their own home- or car-bound channel.

LET'S PUT ON A SHOW! is available from Beth Jean's website, Amazon, and Apple Music.

Here is the video for the title track, "Let's Put On A Show!":

Putting On A Show With Beth Jean (Video Debut); New Fuzzy Lemons Songs

Children’s performer Beth Jean's song, "Waddlin' We Go (The Penguin Song)," recently won the Grand Prize in the Children’s Category for Session II of the 2020 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. The song appears on Beth Jean's upcoming second album, LET'S PUT ON A SHOW, slated for release on April 9.

A midwestern family favorite, Beth Jean's videos are featured on the Emmy-winning Wisconsin-based PBS children’s show The Friday Zone. LET'S PUT ON A SHOW is a concept album and Beth Jean has released the video for the title track as a teaser. The video harkens back to 1930s and 1940s musicals, where a midwestern gal dreams of stardom whilst singing with her cow, moves to the big city (Manhattan), successfully auditions for a famous producer (also played by Beth Jean), and performs with a chorus of dancing flamingos (what better way to remain socially distanced from other people?). 

Watch the world premiere of "Let's Put On A Show" here:

 

 The Fuzzy Lemons are everywhere, if you believe their website. The pride of New Jersey have released two new songs to get kids up and moving (and keep parents patient and sane). "T-V-O-F-F" is the rocking refrain that all adults – pandemic or not – find themselves shouting to get kids on their feet and engaged in physical activity. "Breakfast" features ukulele (and spoons and kazoo) and reminds everyone about the importance of recharging your body:

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day
It gives you lots of energy to run and jump and play
Have some bacon and eggs or ham on toast
Early in the morning when you need it the most
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day

You can grab the songs at the Fuzzy Lemons' website, Apple Music, Spotify, or Pandora.

Here is a pre-pandemic performance of the band singing "No More Monkeys":