A Great Time To Be Louis and Dan

An homage occurs when an entertainer decides to pay tribute to artists that influenced his career; recording a piece of music with that recognizable persona or style. It's more than simply covering an iconic selection from their catalog – an homage demonstrates what you've loved, admired, and learned. Louis and Dan (and the Invisible Band) have released THE GREATS, a collection that honors a host of their favorite inspirations.

Louis and Dan are friends, neighbors, and college professors (Louis teaches musicology at St. Olaf College, Dan teaches philosophy at Carleton College). For their fourth CD, the duo reached into their collective shared musical memories. The 12 original tunes on THE GREATS range from the delightfully obvious (the title track sports Beach Boys harmonies) to the sublime ("Apple" celebrates Miss Nina Simone). "I'm A Giraffe" harkens back to the 1950s glory days of doo-wop. Fellow kindie artist Elliot Park guests on the Willie-Nelson-centric "Being Invisible." Introduce your kids to a salsa beat on the eccentric pet song, "My Slug Doug." Dan's teen daughter Eleanor bemoans the life of the child of a kids' music performer on the show tune "Please Be Normal":

So you've got a decent voice, it's not so bad when you sing

But you've really got to knock it off and stop rapping

You two dorks are middle aged, Tupac's rolling in his grave

Please be normal

And who says that light comedy can't serve a serious purpose? Local social justice advocate and choral director Tesfa Wondemagegnehu is featured on “I Love to Sing” and “Put It On The Barbecue.” To honor Tesfa’s commitments to community engagement, Louis and Dan are donating all proceeds from album sales to two non-profits: KNOWN, Mpls (an audition-based, Twin Cities community youth choir) and the Poor People Campaign. Louis and Dan push their Invisible Band to new heights on THE GREATS and your kids should have a great time getting acquainted with a variety of diverse inspirations.

THE GREATS is available on Louis and Dan and the Invisible Band's website, Spotify, Amazon, and Apple Music.

Here is the video for their song, "Rodents," recorded last fall with the St. Olaf Orchestra:

See (and Hear) Louis & Dan and the Invisible Band

You don't need a college education to make pleasurable, amusing children's music, but it helps in the case of Louis & Dan and the Invisible Band. Humor and children's music is an uneasy mix. It's fairly common to hear performers talking down to kids, which aggravates parents and turns off their target audience. But when it's done correctly, such as on Louis and Dan's new collection, SMORGASBORD, the results are laugh out loud funny.

College professors (and neighbors), Louis and Dan spent their pandemic year polishing eight new tunes that run the gamut from amassing all holidays under one umbrella ("Happy Day!") to the astounding number of musicians that hail from their base – Minneapolis – without mentioning the most famous of them all ("Minneapolis, the Musical City"). The diversity of related and unrelated clan members is their topic on "What Is a Family?" featuring vocals from local folk musician Helen Forsythe. Louis's globetrotting mother, Joy, inspired the travelogue tune, "Joy to the World." There is also the most specific rap-oriented deconstruction of financial advice, "Mind Your Money," with lyrics along these lines:

At any age, you can save a small amount.
Just make your folks open up a joint account.
Save a dime a day for a year
That's baller. You're saving $36 dollars (hollar)!

Parents who have followed children's music for any length of time are accustomed to lullabies closing out the CDs. "I'll Take Myself To Bed" is a deceptively drowsy entry sung from the perspective of a kid reminding his folks that one day he won't require their help doing evening wind-down activities. The literal definition of a smorgasbord is "variety." As promised, Louis & Dan convey a convoy of comedic proportions with their latest SMORGASBORD.

SMORGASBORD is available from the Invisible Band's website, Amazon, Spotify, and Apple Music.

Here is the video for the band's song, "Minneapolis, the Musical City":