(The Invisible) Band on the Run

How many of you have ever wanted to be a kids' musician? (OK, I'm excluding those of you who actually are kids' musicians.) How many of you ever wanted to go a road trip and see your family's favorite kids' musicians in concert? How many of you ever wanted to blog about it?

Well, if you're Eric Herman, you've answered "yes" to all three questions above. I should have noted this for you sooner, but for nearly a month, Herman's been documenting his travels down the West Coast in his Myspace blog. Herman writes of his days playing at schools, festivals, and libraries, and that's interesting from a "life as a musician" perspective. But he's also got his wife and two kids in tow with in his "What a Ride!" RV (conveniently named for his next album), and so, yeah, it's a blog about travelling with a wife and two small kids. (An RV in San Francisco is apparently not the easiest of vehicles to maneuver in that hilly city -- who knew?)

And, as you might expect from the writer of Cool Tunes For Kids, Herman spends a lot of time running into other kids' artists. Justin Roberts, Gunnar Madsen, David Tobocman, Tito from the Hipwaders, Frances England -- and probably more I've forgotten -- all make appearances in print and photo in Herman's blog.

Anyway, a fun read.

KidVid Tournament 2008: Orange Sherbet vs. Eric Herman

Leading off the KidVid Tournament 2008 is a matchup from the Woody Guthrie Region -- the #2 seed "Campfire Song" from Orange Sherbet with help from Hot Buttered Rum (off their Campfire Sing-Along CD versus the #3 seed "My Lucky Day" from Eric Herman (off Snow Day!).

Vote in the comments below. One per family, please. Votes due by 9 PM West Coast time.

"Campfire Song" - Orange Sherbet with Hot Buttered Rum

Watch here (broadband link here)

"My Lucky Day" - Eric Herman

CD Titles for Ralph's World and Eric Herman Albums Announced

At one point more than a year Eric Herman interviewed Ralph Covert (listen here). It is solely on the basis on this connection that I'm combining these two bits of news.

First, Covert has announced that the title of his upcoming Disney Sound Ralph's World CD will be called The Rhyming Circus. Hmmm... wonder what rhymes with "elephant"...

And speaking of elephants, this is a little old, but Herman's announced that the name of his 2008 release (due out in the fall) will be What A Ride. If waiting, oh, 10 months or so is a bit too much for you, feel free to check out his latest video, for "Dance Like an Animal." Rudimentary, perhaps, but can your five-year-old animate a video like Eric's did? (Or, more to the point perhaps, can you?)

KidVid: "The Elephant Song" - Eric Herman

I've mentioned before how much I like "The Elephant Song" by Eric Herman. Very simple, a catchy melody, and an idea almost infinitely adaptable to whatever you want to sing about. ("Trucks, I love trucks, I love the way they zoom high through the clouds..." "The Diamondbacks, I love the Diamondbacks, I love the way they have a really high team batting average...")

Anyway, it's been around for awhile, but the song's video (animated by Eric's wife Roseann) hit the big time this week -- YouTube's front page.

It's the best hand-animated video since A-ha's "Take On Me," though its chunky computer animation is more "Money For Nothing," I suppose.

Seattle, San Francisco... Anyone Else Want To Host (or Play In) a Kids Music Festival?

Well, spurred in part by my challenge to the West Coast to come up with some hootenannies and kids' music festivals of our own, at least two people have offered to organize something:

Eric Herman doesn't even live in Seattle and is offering to organize something for Northwest-area artists. (Live in Vancouver? Portland? If Eric can drive 4 hours, so can you!) If interested, drop Eric a line at ericATbutter-dogDOTcom (you'll obviously have to unSPAMify that e-mail address).

Loyal reader Deb in SF has also offered to organize an event in the Bay Area. If you're in the area, contact Deb at
debraunATsbcglobalDOTnet (again, unSPAMify that).

Are any of you interested in traveling out to Phoenix? You know how to reach me...