Music To Vote By

Arizona has early balloting, but even though I had my mail-in ballot, I took it to the polls this morning. I also took my kids. Given the historical nature of the election, no matter who wins (especially if you're an Arizona resident), I wanted Miss Mary Mack and Little Boy Blue to say they went to the polls on Election Day 2008. (Oddly enough, there were hardly any Obama or McCain signs at the polling place, so the kids got their photos taken in front of assorted signs for the Legislature, school board, and propositions.) They'll thank me when they're older, they will.

Even though you don't get a day off, Election Day is a holiday to me. A party for democracy, how aweome is that?

My sense is that my (United States) readership probably will exhibit a near 100% turnout this year, but if you need some more kids music to get you in the proper frame of mind to vote (or to register for the next election), Brady Rymer has posted "My United States," a bluesy roots-rocker that, well, lists the United States. Check out the rhyme scheme (and his take on "Mississippi") and listen to or download the track here.
Who could forget James K. Polk?

(Which reminds me -- TMBG have posted the totally kid-friendly "Vote and Don't" on their Myspace page for a limited time...

Or who could forget all the Presidents (minus the current and future one, though with a different possible future one), frankly?

Review: Here Comes Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could - Brady Rymer

Over the course of four albums, New York's Brady Rymer has gradually moved away from the more standard fare of kids' music into something a little more complex -- music celebrating family life. On his latest CD, Here Comes Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could, his fifth, Rymer continues this evolution with an album full of tracks that explore what families do.

Rymer is not like Dan Zanes in that I think it's totally possible that someone without kids could completely enjoy Zanes' "age-desegregated" music -- I think someone who's not tied in some way to a child on a very regular basis wouldn't be that compelled by Rymer's music here. But in some ways, Rymer's trying to walk that fine line of creating music that speaks to both generations equally.

Lyrically, Rymer tackles such topics as piling in the car for a family road trip ("Road Trip," natch, with the catchy chorus singing of visiting "Shoofly, Sleepy Eye, Kalamazoo") or a visit from far-flung family members ("The Relatives Came"). Rymer's never been known to work the more uncomfortable parts of family life, and that doesn't change here -- the most uncomfortable Rymer's narrators get is the "Grown-ups gone wild!" of adults dancing like kids on "It Was a Saturday Night." So if you're looking for a warts-and-all description of family life, Rymer ain't your guy.

Of course, Rymer's strength has always been his music, and this album is no exception. His melodies are in fine form, and the Little Band That Could sounds as good as they've ever been. Listen to the backing band on "The Little Band That Could" or "Road Trip," and it's easy to move your head in some way. Rymer's songs are straight in the folk/rock/roots-rock tradition, and so it's not difficult to picture a little Bruce Springsteen, a little John Mellencamp, maybe even a touch of Dan Zanes as you're listening.

I'll admit, sometimes it's almost a little overwhelming. I wondered if there was a tad too much bling in their (admittedly fine-sounding) cover of "Bling Blang." "Pie" is a great song about a kid who just wants to eat pie all day, but I was uncertain if the midtempo track, which features slide guitar work from Larry Campbell (who's appeared with Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, and Emmylou Harris, among others), would really interest the 7-year-old kid the song is being sung to.

I found myself gravitating to the last two tracks, which after the full-band treatment on the first 11 tracks, sound spare in their simplicity. Brady's "Good Night, Daisy," is a lovely lullaby waltz to his daughter that just features Rymer singing with Claudia Mussen (one of his backup singers), along with bass and Larry Campbell providing some nice dobro. That and an excellent solo rendition by Brady of Pete Seeger's "Well May the World Go" are almost worth the album's price alone. In retrospect, I think the band's effectiveness on the album would have been enhanced even more had it appeared just a little bit less.

The 47-minute album is most appropriate for kids ages 5 through 9. Right now you can stream the whole album at Rymer's website, or you can also hear samples at the album's CDBaby page.

Fans of Brady Rymer won't be disappointed by the new album, and I think Here Come Brady Rymer... is a fine introduction to families who aren't yet fans. Rymer's crafted his best album yet as he continues to be one of the best practitioners of family music about families. Definitely recommended.

For Those Who Can't Wait For Summer Music Festivals

Perhaps you're thinking you don't want to wait until August or September to see a whole bunch of kids' music artists. Perhaps you're also thinking, hey, I'd like to see the Judds reunite! (Coachella's got Portishead, you decide which you'd prefer.) Well, then, Coachella's countryfied cousin, Stagecoach has come to rescue. In addition to booking the Eagles for the festival's second, Stagecoach also is doing its Half-Pint Hootenanny once more and announced its lineup today, with some familiar names on the list:

Brady Rymer
Buck Howdy with BB
The Bummkinn Band
Tom Freund and Friends
Uncle Ron and Aunt Sandii
Kid Fiddlers
The Bon Family and California All-Star Cloggers
Croakers Youth/Family Square Dancers Club

That's a decent lineup there. Stagecoach is May 2 through 4 in Indio, California.

And what if you prefer Austin in springtime?
Well, there's always South By Southwest March 12 through 16 with a bajillion bands and those who love (or hate) them. The free kids show on Auditorium Shores takes a different tack, with Sara Hickman's Super Pal Universe (remember them? they were at Austin Kiddie Limits) and the Rachel Tractenburg Morning Show making an appearance Saturday afternoon.

If you're actually attending the conference, be sure to check out Rockin' in the Wee World (yeah, those kid-music puns can fade away now), which at the very least features three very nice people -- Sara Hickman, Austin Kiddie Limits/Kidzapalooza producer Tor Hyams, and Stagecoach Half-Pint Hootenanny producer Karen Rappaport McHugh -- among others. And, hey, it's Friday at 12:30 -- you'll totally have woken up from Thursday night's shows...

A Sticker For Details

From my album submission guidelines:

#2 -- Quotations of two sentences or less on artists' websites or other promotional materials or by other websites/magazines do not require permission from the site owner. Quotations longer than two sentences, or any quotations attached to products actually sold to others, require express permission from the site owner.
OK, I realize the very last part of #2 is not common, but I know that artists will quote reviews on websites, promotional materials, and even on CD wrappers/covers. I'm just covering myself in the event that somebody wants to quote me on the latter. I'm not expecting a lot of letters from that provision.

And to be clear, when I said "not expecting a lot of letters," what I meant was, "putting this out there for a cheap laugh."

So imagine my surprise when I saw the latest album from Brady Rymer, Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could, in all its shrink-wrapped, ready-for-retail glory:

Look there in the lower left-hand cover. That red sticker. That quotation at top, said by, erm... Who woulda thunk it?

I'm pointing this out not out of vanity -- trust me, if I do that, you'll know it. Nor am I pointing it out because I don't think it's true. I meant it when I wrote it two years about Brady's last album, Every Day is a Birthday, and I still think it's a true statement. Nor am I pointing it out to make clear that doing something like this will have absolutely no impact (either way) on my opinion of an album.

OK, maybe I am doing it for that last point.

But mostly, I just wanted to say that I appreciated my name being spelled correctly.

Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could is out on Bumblin' Bee Records on March 4.

Two Songs (and a Catchy Jingle) from Brady Rymer

This has been available for awhile, but I wanted to point out that Brady Rymer has three new songs available for download as part of his Children's Dimetapp Breathe & Boogie Tour. Go here to download "Healthy Livin'" and "Even the Animals Sneeze," a couple mid-tempo folk-rockers that would've sounded fine on his recent Every Day is a Birthday CD.

Also available for download is "We are the Sniffles," which also has a video on the site. I'm sorta bummed because it's the best of the three tracks -- propulsive, great harmonies -- but it's got a couple shout-outs to Dimetapp (both in the song and on the video). It's worth a spin, though, because aside from the commercial reference (which kinda kills any repeat-listening value for me), it shows Rymer and his band at their best.

Rymer, incidentally, will be releasing his latest album, Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could, on March 4. You can hear one of the songs from the upcoming CD, "Road Trip" by attending one of his final shows on this tour in Rochester (NY), Houston, Dallas, and Madison, New Jersey (details here) and picking up the free six-song Rymer CD they're distributing.

So, yeah, I'm just waiting for the edited version...