Shiny New Music from Danny Weinkauf and His Red Pants Band

This review is not about George Harrison. It's not even about Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads). But there is parallel between George Harrison and They Might Be Giants' bassist Danny Weinkauf. George was "given" about one track per Beatles album for his own material. Later, when he went solo, he surprised everyone with his prodigious output; even a TRIPLE album that is still listed as the most successful individual project from the esteemed group. When TMBG started their children's music CDs, Danny was granted a similar ration. And it just wasn't enough for him.

Danny Weinkauf and the Red Pants Band (Tina Kenny Jones, Russ Jones, and Steve Plesnarski) have released their third CD (and Danny's fourth solo effort), entitled INSIDE I SHINE. A generous frontman, many of the 15 tunes feature Tina on lead vocals, including the title track and the groovin' "Dozen Good Reason."

A prodigious songwriter and producer, Danny makes sure that INSIDE I SHINE is crammed full of pop appeal and preteen zeal. "We Love to Verb" gives a vocabulary-building lesson without rubbing your kid's nose in the educational aspect. And do you think pumpkins are vegetables because they grow on vines? Let the band set you straight on the SiriusXM Kids Place Live "13 Under 13" chart-topper "Pumpkins Are My Favorite Fruit."

Much like the Beatles, TMBG never set out to intentionally make music for children. After 20 years in the business, though, tunes like "Dr. Worm" just lent themselves to that genre. Danny and his band have the opposite in mind. "Dozen Good Reasons" could be a simple, traditional love song, except in this context it's generational, from mother (or an older relative) to child. With songs like "Teddy Bear" and "Tricycle" the listener is back in the standard "independent children's music band" zone.

The song structure on INSIDE I SHINE also detours from the typical kid's CD, placing "Good Morning to You" as track 13. Most children's musicians will open with an AM or "can't wait to play" song, and build like a rollercoaster with dance songs in the middle, before coasting to a stop with a lullaby. Danny closes INSIDE I SHINE with a piano version of "The Moon Is Made of Cheese," followed by show tune "Wiggle Wiggle" and a short piano blooper. I'd say he's subverting expectations, but that would be delusionally pompous and improper. The Red Pants Band just wants to have fun, and what's more fun that a good surprise or two?

INSIDE I SHINE is available from Danny Weinkauf's website, Amazon, Bandcamp, and Apple Music.

Here is the video for the song, "Pumpkins Are My Favorite Fruit":

Ben's Playlist - Wednesday, November 21, 2018

This Is How We Bring In The Sun – Justin Roberts
Staring Contest – The Not-Its!
Hammer – Aaron Nigel Smith
Disco Hippo – Caspar Babypants
Press Play – Brady Rymer & The Little Band That Could
Paradise – George Ezra
Dozen Good Reasons – Danny Weinkauf

Quick Hits: Videos from Alphabet Rockers and Okee Dokee Brothers

Grammy nominees the Alphabet Rockers have released their new video, "Walls" with Sesame Street actor Emilio Delgado (Luis). The song is from their nominated CD, RISE SHINE #WOKE:



For your music-loving child, and just in time for the holidays, the Alphabet Rockers have launched a collection of T-shirts to give young change-makers and their parents a chance to wear what they believe. Designed by original Alphabet Rockers member Stefanie Liang Chung, the shirts feature song lyrics from their recent CD. T-shirt purchases from The Alphabet Rockers’ store on Bandcamp include unlimited streaming of a song through the free Bandcamp app.

Grammy winners the Okee Dokee Brothers continue the hype for their recent CD, WINTERLAND, with a video for "Snowpeople":


WINTERLAND follows nature through its voyage from autumn to spring, with secular winter music the entire family can enjoy while cozying up around the fire. Snuggle up with your little ones and enjoy the videos.

Music and Mindfulness from Lianne Bassin

Music and mindfulness go hand in hand. What quiets a fevered imagination? What provides a gentle metronomic beat and puts words to expressions and thoughts? Lianne Bassin's new CD, EVERYONE GROWS delivers a set of mindfulness exercises for children, sparing all the rock in favor of pianos and strings and all things feeling good.

"Can You Hear Your Body" typifies the message that Lianne wants to convey – "what if..." questions are answered by kids, with the refrain "Listen to your feelings, talking to you." You know exactly what you're getting with titles like "Quiet," "Be Free," "Dream," and "Kite." The rap-infused "Mr. Bear and Birdie Together Again" brings together two diverse animals who express their shared frustrations and techniques to deal with their emotions.

Lianne is on a mission to peacefully promote polite and pastoral pieces. EVERYONE GROWS is an earnest and soothing landscape of imagery and instrumentation for preteens, and it evens ends with a public service message (for that, you need to click through to hear what I'm talking about). Namaste and be well, all those under Lianne's tutelage.

EVERYONE GROWS: CHILDREN'S SONGS FOR MINDFULNESS is available on November 1 from Lianne's website, Soundcloud, Amazon, and Apple Music.

Lianne doesn't have many videos, so here's the Kickstarter video for the CD:

Ben's Playlist - Friday, November 9, 2018

Anything For You My Love – Caspar Babypants
Day One – Tim Kubart
Feels Like Summer  – Weezer
Loving & Kind – Aaron Nigel Smith
Hanukkah Rocks – Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could
Fly Like A Bird – Dean Jones
Going to the Library – Danny Weinkauf

Okee Dokee Brothers Warm Up the Winter

The Okee Dokee Brothers and neither brothers nor named Okee Dokee, but that's alright. In fact, tall tales are part of the country's heritage. And since Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing are all about celebrating the great outdoors, they've earned the right to engage in a little Paul Bunyan-ing (especially after winning a Grammy award).

Their latest CD, WINTERLAND, delivers 16 original compositions themed loosely around being home for the holidays with the family. The album kicks off with "Blankets of Snow," which brings a familiar Okee Dokee trick, the turn of a phrase, "Ain’t it kinda funny how a cold day keeps you warm?" Joe and Justin continue their wordplay on "Slumberjack" with "See what ya saw and saw what you see." As a mnemonic device, it's especially easy in teaching kids how to sing the lyrics.

WINTERLAND demonstrates how to sing educational tunes about the great outdoors and nature without overwhelming the fun and singalong quality of the material. Joe and Justin even squeeze in a "song cycle" about the role winter plays in preparing children for death. WAIT COME BACK... It's all about the life of a tree and how a dead tree still has a place to help with wildlife in the spring. You can stop sweating and shaking now. Here's a sample of "Great Grandmother Tree":

In the backwoods of an old mighty forest
There’s a silver maple tree lyin’ on her side
She’s home to all kinds of life now
She doesn’t live but she’s still alive

Joe and Justin have dedicated WINTERLAND to their beloved and endangered winters, which are warming fast as a result of climate change. To help ensure their fans can enjoy a lifetime of snowy winter exploration, the Okee Dokees are donating 10% of all WINTERLAND CD sales to Askov Finlayson’s Keep the North Cold initiative, which supports leading-edge climate solutions in the North and across the country. Read more about their important mission here.

Once again, you can feel the steady producing hand of Dean Jones on the warm, welcoming songs like "Candle" and "You You You." The Okee Dokee Brothers sing about how nature was here before us, surrounds us, and how we can improve our relationship with the planet. WINTERLAND is deceptively complex and simply intoxicating at the same time. Come inside, make some hot chocolate, and sit a spell, while learning that we're all here for the world, not the other way around.

WINTERLAND is available from the Okee Dokee Brothers website, Amazon, and Apple Music.

Here is the video for the duo's song, "Blankets of Snow":

Justin Roberts, Naptime Players Rock Symphony Space

Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players returned for their (mostly) annual performance at Symphony Space on Saturday, November 3, part of the Just Kidding Kids series of weekly events for children and families. Now that Justin is a new father (really new, like less than one month new) it's going to be interesting to see how he adjusts his touring schedule in the future. Not to mention that he has diversified into books (two currently out with another pair on the horizon), so the release of another CD in the near future is a question mark.



Despite mild temperatures and an erroneous forecast of showers, it was an easy commute however we've definitely seen fuller, more boisterous audiences in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Luckily those in attendance did finally spark and begin to participate, as shown in the videos.



After nearly 20 years in the business, Justin and his band (Liam Davis, Gerald Dowd, Jacqueline Schimmel, and David Winer) have the patter and interaction down to a science. Yet it still appears fresh and fun, with the band seeming to genuinely enjoy the opportunity to entertain a tentative batch of hardened New York City kids.


As ever, setlist maven Ben remarked at which songs the band were not playing, as well as which ones he didn't recall the band playing at previous shows. Matt, on the other hand, reacted as if he was hearing some of these songs live for the first time – and admitted he did not remember seeing the band a few years back at the New Victory Theater. And that's why he tags along, to provide a fresh set of eyes to help me see every band. Justin signed off with a hopeful "We'll see you again," and we'll hold him to that promise.

Performances continue at Symphony Space every Saturday morning. Next up: Legend of the Banana Kid (Western Puppets on November 10) and Moona Luna (Spanish/English music on November 17).

Danny Weinkauf: Children's Music Shines Through

When you think about They Might Be Giants, you immediately think of the two-headed frontmen, the Johns (Flansburgh and Linnell). But the third tendril of that hydra should belong to bassist Danny Weinkauf, whose tenure with the band extends more than 20 years – and is the longest outside of the originators. TMBG just completed an international tour and Weinkauf was right there for every stop, although he's also excited about INSIDE I SHINE, the upcoming CD with his Red Pants Band.

"The recent tours with TMBG have been absolutely fantastic for many reasons," Danny explained. "On a world tour, we see so many great cities in Europe, Canada, San Juan, Puerto Rico... And next February we head to Australia!" Danny affirms it's amazing for TMBG to go to a place where the band has never played. "We find a whole new group of fans that know the music and sing along with such enthusiasm," he added.

Danny Weinkauf (sitting) and his Red Pants Band

Both Johns are hard-working and extremely prolific and last year brought back TMBG's "Dial-A-Song." Due to the volume of material that service goes through, in two of the past three years, they have released a new song every week of the year. "This is great for me as I get to record all these new songs and also play them in our live shows," Danny said. "TMBG is not a legacy act that just plays old songs."

In an interview with Marc Maron (you'll need to subscribe to his premium service to hear it), the Johns sounded off on the state of children's music and their decision to concentrate on adult ventures. "I don’t think there’s been an official departure for TMBG from children’s music, but the truth is they have a more than full career writing and performing their non-kids music, which takes priority for them," Danny said. "As for my children’s music, they are always 100% supportive of my projects. John F actually helps me promote my shows sometimes."

Considering Danny was on tour for most of the past several months, the release of INSIDE I SHINE seems to have taken some coordinated effort. "I bring a portable recording set-up on the road. I work on music for TV and commercials or write more children’s songs from hotels all over the world," he explained. "So writing and recording INSIDE I SHINE took about one year in total." Danny still records almost all of the music himself. "Then my wife Michelle and Tina Kenny Jones sing and that completes the sound of the band," he adds. "On this album, our live drummer Steve Plesnarski tracked a couple of tunes which was a treat for me, as I didn’t have to play ’em all myself!"

The band covers the Sesame Street classic "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon" on this CD, a tune written by Jeff Moss. "That song is kind of part of the American fabric; my grown-up friends remember it from their childhoods and their children know it as well," Danny said. "I actually heard a beautiful version by Jess Penner, looked up the song, and found that many bands had done ballad versions of it. I thought it might be fun to create a Red Pants Band rock version and that’s what we put on the album."

The release of INSIDE I SHINE is being sandwiched in between upcoming tour dates for TMBG in Canada and Australia. "We have a couple of Red Pants Band shows to celebrate the release at the Long Island Children’s Museum, which is celebrating their 25th anniversary," Danny said. "We're playing shows on November 17 and 18. After the full TMBG tour ends next spring, I hope to bring the Red Pants Band to as many towns as will have us."

Click here to listen to Danny Weinkauf and the Red Pants Band sing "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon." Visit the band's website here.

Quick Hits: Justin Roberts Back in NYC, New Music from Mista Cookie Jar

Children's music favorite (and new father) Justin Roberts returns to Symphony Space in New York on Saturday, November 3 with a show (11 am). I've written plenty about Mr. Roberts and his engaging, amusing catalog. But with a new baby in the mix, there are going to be fewer opportunities in the short-term to see him in concert. So make an effort to get out the door and see him this go-round. Buy your tickets with a 10% discount ($17 each for non-members) using code Kidding10  (case-sensitive) here.

Here's Justin and the Not Ready for Naptime Players performing "Lemonade," the title track from his Grammy-nominated album:


Once your kids have calmed down and need a little rewinding, Mista Cookie Jar's got his groove back and it's in the song "Spirit Animal." Shocking that CJ might be feeling a little midlife crisis, but he's marveling at the fabulous little person sharing a residence with him:

How do you barely have
any life experience
and you’re already a zen master?
I don’t get it.
You are...the coolest.

Find "Spirit Animal" at Mista Cookie Jar's Bandcamp page as well as his website.

Ben's Playlist - Friday, October 26, 2018

Watching You Grow – Frances England
Might As Well Dance – Jason Mraz
Rainbow In Your Eyes – Hot Peas 'n Butter
Summer's Here – The Bazillions
White Whale – Kepi Ghoulie
Watch Petunia Dance – Caspar Babypants

Musical ¡Alegria! from Sonia de los Santos

You'd think removing politics from children's music would be easy. These days, though, there are many variables and minefields to avoid. I thought a major misstep was Randy and Dave's "I Should Have Been Born in Mexico" earlier this year, which was released at the height of the separation of immigrant children from their parents. Children's music can address sorrow and other negative emotions, but at its core it's built from hope and optimism. Sonia de los Santos's second CD, ¡ALEGRIA! abounds with those qualities. "These days it feels more important than ever to find reasons to be happy and stay grateful," Sonia writes in her liner notes, dedicating the music to those who are struggling to find a reason to smile.

"Alegria" translates literally into "joy," and Sonia certainly conveys that sentiment with her clear, friendly vocals. The title track will dig into your skull like a warm, fuzzy earwig. Highlights include the street-strutting, horn-heavy "La Maraca" and "Mariposa Montuna" (Mariposa Mountain) with rich Columbian flutes and vocals from Nilko Andreas Guarin.

Sonia includes a few English songs – "Hey Little Bunny!" a bouncy animal pals tune "Daisy Mae," a balled with Elizabeth Mitchell, and "Songs for the People," a folkie anthem with Dan Zanes and Claudia Eliaza. Ordinarily they be a welcome break for non-Spanish speakers. Instead, it's almost a distraction from all the good done on the other tracks by Sonia and company. Closer "Donde TuEstes (Wherever You Go)" with Cathy and Marcy gets the mix just right, however:

When you can button up your shirt
And brush off your own dust and dirt
When you can spell and write your name
I will love you just the same.

While there is power in happiness, ¡ALEGRIA! also celebrates the resiliency of happiness. Whether it's monarch butterflies ("Mariposa Montuna") or rabbits ("Hey Little Bunny") or the unending love of parents ("Wherever You Go"), the sheer endurance of these things offer hope and inspiration every day. Sonia asserts that our differences should bring us together as a community, not divide us. Basically, that would result in alegria for all.

¡ALEGRIA! is available from Sonia de los Santos's website, Amazon, and Apple Music.

Here is the video for the title track of the CD:

Ben's Playlist - Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Smile For Me – David Tobocman
Setting Sun – Bears And Lions
Hanukkah Rocks – Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could
One – Aaron Nigel Smith
Paradise – George Ezra
New Pair Of Shoes – The Bazillions

Rockness Monsters Welcome Fall With a Ball

Michael and the Rockness Monsters are releasing their third CD, MONSTER'S BALL, right before Halloween. The title is a misnomer as this is not a spooky album of children's songs, even if there is are songs about robots and a fish named Dog.

Michael Napolitano earned his musical chops through breeding – his father Tony was a drummer for decades. But Michael went in his own direction, founding the Rockness Music program for children's music education. He is now celebrating 10 years of making music in various forms for kids with the new CD, which he co-produced with Dean Jones (sounds familiar, where do I know that name).

MONSTER'S BALL contains the usual suspects of themes and notions, from "Party Train" to "When I'm Jumpin'" to "Truck Day." What Michael brings to the table is his authenticity and enthusiasm. Who else would attempt an English-French album closer ("Les Lumières De Paris/Nights In Paris") outside of Putumayo Music? Animation seems to be a big feature of the Rockness experience, as "Growing Bigger" is a second jumping song, manufactured around the conceit of getting older but ostensively just another occasion to get young concert-goers on their feet and quaking with the beat.

Songs from the Rockness Monsters tend to linger in your subconscious until you're humming them without realizing it. In that regard, "Woodpecker" follows in the pattern of "Squirrel Fight." Speaking of a Parisian vibe, "Mona Lisa" explains the body/mind connection between hearing music and engaging our bodies to move, dance, and smile mysteriously.

MONSTER'S BALL delves into family dynamics as well, with "A Fish Named Dog" telling the tale of a child making the most of the parental edict, "No dogs allowed!" I guess the proximity to Halloween is basically to let children know that the Rockness Monsters are more about treats all year round and keeping the tricks on the down-low. For younger listeners, MONSTER'S BALL is this fall's first informal cotillion. Come and celebrate with cider, pumpkins, and dancing robots.

MONSTER'S BALL is available on October 26 from Michael and the Rockness Monsters' website, Amazon, and Apple Music.

Here is the video for the song, "A Fish Named Dog":

Ben's Playlist - Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Me And You – Caspar Babypants
Perfect Tuesday Afternoon – Frances England
Hammer – Aaron Nigel Smith
Who, What, When, Where, Why – The Bazillions
Chain Reaction – Brady Rymer & The Little Band That Could
Funga Alafia – Hot Peas 'n Butter
People Watching – Dean Jones

Tim Kubart Builds Uplifting, Empowering Environment

The irrepressible, effervescent Tim Kubart is back to engage youthful audiences with his new CD, BUILDING BLOCKS. As with his past releases, it's a homogenous mix of dancing, sweat, and tears (the latter mostly for parents). It's hard to believe that Tim is a youthful 57, except I made that part up. The title is a double entendré of the tender kind, first as literal "building blocks" that children play with, and also for community outreach (i.e., growing your children and their neighborhood).


One of Tim's specialties is songs about childhood firsts – "Hold On" fits into that category on BUILDING BLOCKS, dealing with the elation of learning to ride a bike without training wheels. "Ready For You" is about developing enough maturity to deal with caring for a family pet, in this case a dog. "Day One" tackles taking the school bus, and the realization that the child/parent relationship evolves when full-day school starts.

There's a fine line between sentimental and maudlin and Tim likes to dance right on the razor's edge. Surefire weepers include "We Are Growing," "Day One," and "A Good Friend's Hard to Find," which features violins, so you know it's practically expected that you're gonna bawl full-faucet in front of the kids:

Don't always win even when I do my best
Sometimes my thoughts and feelings feel like such a mess
But you listen whether I laugh or cry
Oh a good friend's hard to find.

A roster of talent from Tim's (and kindie's) past and present contribute to the boisterous bounciness. Blue's Clues (and STEVENSTEVEN frontman) Steve Burns duets on "It's Going Up," about the excitement kids unearth with the discovery of local excavations and construction sites. "Block Party" wraps BUILDING BLOCKS with a full-force explanation/dance explosion with guests Carly Ciarrocchi (From Sprout's Sunny Side Up), Genevieve Goings (formerly from Choo-Choo Soul on Disney Kids), and rapper Drue Davis. The smallest celebrities are the kids from Woodward Parkway Elementary School (his alma mater in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York) who provide the chorus on "We Are Growing."

Tim has come a long way from sharing his spotlight with a tiny yellow hand puppet (Chica). With a Grammy under his belt, he now cohosts Highlights Hangout and flies across the globe (recently in Nigeria) spreading his mirthful, musical message. In his own way, Tim's BUILDING BLOCKS is only one avenue he's traveling on the path to teach and educate a new generation.

BUILDING BLOCKS is available from Tim Kubart's website, Amazon, Spotify, and Apple Music.

Here is the video I shot at September's Kidstock of Tim performing the new song, "We Are Growing":

New Videos from Suzi Shelton & Tim Kubart and The Oot n' Oots

I was part of the inaugural "MTV Generation," where suddenly every song became more important and exciting if there was an amazing video that accompanied it. Bands like Duran Duran are remembered by people "my age" as much for the music as the iconic imagery for "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf."

Smash-cut to 30 years later and kids are more sophisticated at a younger age. The kids from my generation now have their own kids. And the musicians are coming up with more strategies to energize their videos.

Suzi Shelton and Tim Kubart have chosen the "live plus animation" route for the video of their song, "The Grass Is Always Greener," from Suzi's most recent CD, HAND IN HAND.  Ostensibly a "green screen video," it features Tim and Suzi with her bandmates/producers Greg Mayo and Dan Weiner. The artwork was created by her husband Dave Mitri, who originally drew the backgrounds as part of an upcoming coloring book. Anyway here it is, for your enjoyment:

Canada's The Oot n' Oots are a wacky pack of brothers. If you missed their CD, ELECTRIC JELLYFISH BOOGALOO, then you just weren't paying attention to children's music this year.

The band has crafted a kitchen-set video for their song, "I Like It Saucy," featuring Ezra Cipes, his 11-year-old daughter Ruth, and his three brothers Cipes brothers and an extremely odd chef (Dean Bareham, artistic director of Calgary's Green Fools Theater). Be prepared; the recipes are not for the faint of heart:

Ben's Playlist - Friday, October 12, 2018

It's A Beautiful World – Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Say Something – Justin Timberlake
Better With You – Jason Mraz
Big World Kid (Featuring Laurie Berkner) – Hot Peas 'n Butter
Handle With Care – Like Father Like Son
Paradise – George Ezra

Mister G Captures the Magic of Childhood Days on 'Firefles'

Ben Gundersheimer (Mister G) is a living contradiction. The Jewish Latin Grammy winner has released his new children's music CD, FIREFLIES. This release does not promote multi-lingualism or multiculturalism. Instead, it's a straightforward, plain-spoken, old-fashioned folkie/kindie release. After a wave of "woke" or "important" releases, it's nice to see an artist belting tunes about everyday topics without glancing at the headlines.

If there's any theme to FIREFLIES, it's the sense of childhood wonder at the great outdoors, nighttime, and being surrounded by the majesty of nature. It all starts with the title track, relating to "sweet summer breezes passing through the trees" while holding his sister's hand.

"Not a worry in the world," G sings in "Sweet Summertime," building further along on "Me and You" and "Big Old World," stopping for a snack with "S'Mores." If there's a more consistent children's music producer than Dean Jones, I'd like to hear the evidence, as there's a natural progression and flow to FIREFLIES, with neither a false notion or odd instrumentation. Lucy Kalantari ably provides vocal support, among others. And when you just need somebody to listen, there's a "Four-Footed Friend":

There are times when the world gets rough
Had enough of the human stuff
She's always there for me
She sees the forest for the trees.

In these troubling, tumultuous times, there are few things that everyone can agree about. Music is one of those areas – well, except if you were a Texas Trump supporter AND Willie Nelson fan this past month. Nonetheless, Mister G can sing about "Together As One" and people from distant lands taking each other's hands and truly mean it. May there be better times ahead, with more open-mindedness and sing-alongs. And fireflies. And Mister G.

FIREFLIES is available from Mister G's website, Amazon, and Apple Music.

Here is the video for Mister G's song "Green World":

Ben's Playlist - Wednesday, October 10, 2018

The Only One – Brady Rymer & The Little Band That Could
Holy Mountain – Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Man of the Woods – Justin Timberlake
The Art of Letting Go – Stone Temple Pilots
That's My Style – The Bazillions
Disco Hippo – Caspar Babypants

Quick Hits: New Music from Sukey Molloy and Annie Lynn

Okay I'm going to speak right to all the two- and three-year-olds who are regular readers of my review. No I haven't lost my mind, I'm going to shake my keys to get their attention and then speak in a funny voice to the melody of "I've Been Working On the Railroad." Come to think of it, that's one of the easy-to-sing-along songs on Sukey Molloy's fifth CD, FIVE LITTLE OYSTERS!

Under the direction of Grammy-winning producer Larry Alexander (remember a guy named Springsteen? Bon Jovi? Bowie? Mozart, okay not him), Sukey goes full-toddler, from "It's Raining It's Pouring" to "The Ants Go Marching" to "This Old Man." In between are some contemplative floor playtime tunes, "If I Were A Cat" and "Kitten Dance," and it all wraps up in less than 40 minutes.

The only theme here is programming youngsters that these traditional favorites were here long before they were. And that there's nothing wrong with sharing music, snacks, toys, pets, and even friends. Sukey's got her act together and she's taking it on the road with FIVE LITTLE OYSTERS to delight and teach under-fives just what the score is. And by score, I mean musical score. Okay, I'll stop shaking my keys now.

FIVE LITTLE OYSTERS is available from Sukey Molloy's website, Amazon, and Apple Music.

Annie Lynn started writing songs as a teenager and wound up on television. With such an auspicious start, it's no wonder she kept going. You could call her a "social justice warrior," as he material covers bullying prevention, tolerance and acceptance of others, identity and self-worth, and determination and motivation.

Recorded before the current (and always ongoing) Washington brouhaha, Annie's sing "Go Out and Vote," urges everyone of voting age to do their civic duty. You can even find a karaoke version to sing for yourself. And remember, it takes less than two minutes to register to vote and voting for November 2018 has already started! Click her to register or to check your registration!

"Go Out And Vote" is available in regular and karaoke versions at Annie Lynn's website and Soundcloud.

Here is the video for Annie Lynn's song, "No Time For Hate":