Lilting Lullabies from Lisa Loeb

When you think about some acts (think the Verve Pipe), if you don't know better you wouldn't think they were producing quality children's music in addition to being "day job" rockers. For other musicians such as Lisa Loeb, however, the process feels very much like a natural career progression.

Rather than give a whole career recap (that's what Wikipedia is for), I'll concentrate on the kids phase, which started incidentally a decade ago and has come full-circle to be a major component of her recording career, from CAMP LISA to NURSERY RHYME PARADE! to her latest CD, LULLABY GIRL (an Amazon Music exclusive).

A collection of 13 tracks both new and revisited, LULLABY GIRL takes the familiar ("Dream a Little Dream," "Rainbow Connection," and "All the Pretty Little Horses") and mixes with some new choices (Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" and The Five Stairstep's "O-o-h Child," my favorite on the CD). Loeb also adds two new compositions, "Close Your Eyes" and the title track, which serve as hors d'oeuvres for the rest of the tunes.

Loeb traverses the easy-listening landscape for her selections, from the Disney songbook (a wistful take on "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes") to Burt Bacharach and Hal David (slowing down the classic "What the World Needs Now"). And the LiteFM setting turns "Inch Worm" into a full-on cocktail lounge number. She is served better on the more unconventional (for kids) tracks, as I've lost track of the number of cover versions of "Rainbow Connection."

Ultimately, there's always a place for an eclectic bedtime collection. I was constantly looking for something to swap out with Brahms and Shawn Colvin when Ben was tossing and turning. The road to Slumber Town is paved with good intentions. With LULLABY GIRL, Lisa Loeb is providing a new exit ramp, courtesy of Amazon Music.

LULLABY GIRL is available October 6 exclusively through Amazon Music.

Here is the video for "You Can Count on Me (Lullaby)," which is NOT on this C, ironically.

It's Rhyme Time for Lisa Loeb

There are people who perform children's music because it's their passion. There are people who perform children's music because it's the next phase of their career. Then there are people, or groups, who record children's music as an organic extension, or outreach, from what they've always done.

Unless a performer gets his or her start in children's music, they most commonly-heard phrase in their press release is "When I had my own kids..." followed by "Once I heard what children's musicians were doing..." I can list a countless number of artists (who run the gamut from great to well, not so great) who fall into that spectrum. Some of their turns were surprising. "Did you know the Verve Pipe has recorded two kids albums?" "What? Really!" "Hey, Lisa Loeb released her fourth children's CD." "Well, of course."

Well, of course?

Well, of course.

There's a generation that grew up listening to Lisa's folkie, sometimes funky guitar sound. Listen to the Coffeehouse on SiriusXM and you can hear her influence on many current recording stars. Her CDs chronicled (and still do) the lifepath of a woman. And while the placement of a lullaby for adults may be warranted under those circumstances, she clearly had other goals when she had her own kids. Once she heard what children's musicians were doing, it became the next phase of her career. Because recording children's music is an organic extension, or outreach, from what she's always done.

As mentioned, Lisa has now released NURSERY RHYME PARADE through Amazon Prime Music. I did a long spiel about the service earlier this month. Suffice to say, it's an interesting project and while the Pop-Ups preceded Lisa last month, there are no further announcements right now. If this is a long-term commitment, there should be some movement in the fourth quarter indicating Amazon's goals and possibly new artists for early 2016.

But that's not a knock against Lisa. She has taken the challenge of reinvigorating such simple tales as "This Old Man" and "The Farmer in the Dell." Not life-changing stuff, but you can never tell with two- and-three- year-olds. Lisa is not trying to reverse-engineer the wheel. If anything, parents get a refresher course on melodies and lyrics for these songs. Hey, I remember singing "Train in Vain" to my infant son many moons ago, when I blanked on the words to a more tyke-tacular tune.

One cannot write an article about Lisa Loeb's children's music without mentioning Elizabeth Mitchell. The two graduated from Brown University in 1990 and recorded two albums together, before their musical paths diverged. They reunited in 2004 for the children's CD, CATCH THE MOON. Perhaps seeing her college friend become a solid, popular recording artist of children's music eased the path for Lisa. Perhaps it was inevitable. Either way, it's given her a new generation to appeal to with her music. In fact, children's music gives her a new generation every 5-7 years.

Do not expect epic material – we're talking about 37 tracks, many that come and go in the blink of an eye, totaling 32 minutes. Will you be charmed? Depends on your affection for "Humpty Dumpty" before and after you watch a young child attempt to sing along or act it out. If you can enjoy that for half an hour, then NURSERY RHYME TIME has provided comfortable engagement. The children of the 90s are into the nostalgia of their own post-college times. This CD can take them back to the future while moving their own families forward. How's that for a mission statement for Lisa Loeb?

Well, of course.

NURSERY RHYME TIME is available through Lisa Loeb's website, which links you to Amazon Prime Music.

Ben's Playlist - Friday, October 9, 2015

All the Pretty Horses – Cat Doorman
A Bushel And A Peck – Vivi Melody & Family
Get Happy – The Verve Pipe
Tomorrow's People  – Brady Rymer & The Little Band That Could
Uh Huh – Dean Jones
Voodoo Doll – 5 Seconds of Summer
Word Crimes – Weird Al Yankovic

Kindie Quick Hits: Red Balloon, Mil's Trills, Green Orbs and Ham, and Smiles Ahead

Koko the gorilla was able to learn sign language and communicate with humans. Okay, what has that got to do with children's music. Hang on, I'm making a point. Infants, before they are able to speak, can also be taught to communicate with basic sign language. Bear with me. Children are also able to learn the sounds of languages at a very early age. As they get older, we lose this ability.

Dan Schteingart's RED BALLOON seeks to create a stopgap – a collection of songs intended to expose children to many languages and capitalize on their ability to remember sounds, inflections, and pronunciation. As the CD features Cletus the Cow as its main protagonist, RED BALLOON clearly steers for the under-five set.

Featuring a host of ably-talented musicians, RED BALLOON has a unique goal (and hey, it ain't world music) with a narrowcasted audience. To stress their earnestness, the MP3 version is being sold at the low price of $4.95 (at least, that's the current price). But hey you can always grab a physical CD if that format suits your purposes.

RED BALLOON is available through Dan's website, Amazon, and iTunes.

Speaking of new concepts, Mighty Mo Productions, birthed on the banks of the Missouri River, is delivering children's music to the world. The world of kindie music has seen specialty divisions and corporate attempts (hey Disney) to franchise existing popular artists. Led by Jim "Mr. Stinky Feet" Cosgrove, the new label seeks to deliver real music to real families. I will be writing more about the debut release, SMILES AHEAD, in October ahead of its release. Here is a video with samples of the artists, including Caspar Babypants, Brady Rymer, Frances England, and a new song from the Verve Pipe.


Say, while we're talking about new kid's music videos, Amelia Robinson and her ensemble Mil's Trills have released a new video from their recent CD, NOW THAT WE'RE FRIENDS. Take a look and enjoy "All Of the Colors":


Finally, if you want to reach back to the Roaring Twenties (and who doesn't), the Green Orbs are back on the scene with a pair of new songs. "Dear Mr. Mustache" comes complete with a trembly old-fashioned vocal and a period-piece video:


Orbmeisters Heather Hirshfield and her brother Ed Rosenberg go in another direction for "The Hams in the Deep Blue Sea," originally created for the interactive storybook app Mibblio. It's a goofy little tale about silly little pigs. I can just see how that will look in the Google search form. In any case, you can download both songs from the Green Orbs Bandcamp page.

The Verve Pipe at Kindiefest 2011

Where was I? Oh yes - after a brutal drive through traffic caused by the annual Five Boro Bike Tour, Ben and I settled in at Littlefield NYC for Kindiefest 2011.

Elizabeth Mitchell and company did a great, mellow set that featured guest appearances by Dean Jones and Heidi Swedberg.

After a break, it was time for the rockin' Verve Pipe gang. And they did not disappoint. A fun set that had guitar solos, four-part a cappella harmonies, and punny lyrics. Not to mention lots of audience singalong.

Here are some videos from there set to give you an example of what I mean:

Wake Up



You Can Write A Song (featuring Recess Monkey)



Here's how I know that Ben is impressed by someone - he becomes shy. Whether it was a preschool instructor that he had a crush on, or a musician that he really likes. Not that he doesn't like some of the people he's met in person, such as Ashley and the Jimmies or Molly and Lunch Money. When Ben saw that Recess Monkey was in attendance, he grew a big smile - but he did NOT want to approach them after the show.

Ice Cream Man



Kind of hard to follow the iconic Van Halen version, but this was a neat kindie-fied rendition.

Cereal/All You Need Is Love



If there was ever an appropriate way to wrap up a children's music festival, here it was - a kid-friendly anthem about what else but breakfast cereal. Followed by a segue into a Beatles classic, clean-pressed for stage-filling return performers.

I may have additional thoughts on the music festival (I did not attend the Saturday sessions, so I'll leave that to others to contemplate). For next year, we will look at mass transit options (the subway stops about 1/2 mile from Littlefield) if the bike tour conflicts again. And Kindiefest is recommended! Take it from me, I've been to all three (and the STINK show before that). Kudos to the organizers once again.