The Ketchup Report, Vol. 9

Ketchup Report, Road Trip Division
A couple artists are currently embarking on pretty remarkable journeys. Heidi Swedberg is currently in Haiti bringing to the Global Family Orphanage in Les Cayes not just a couple dozen ukuleles (offered cheaply by Kala Instruments and purchased by the St. Brendan's Ukulele Club via bake sales) but also ukulele technique. As Swedberg notes the ukes are "compact; a box of 12 can fly at the cost of a suitcase." Swedberg said her first song would be “Ton-ton Buki”, the Haitian version of “Freres Jacques” - I'm sure they're long past that by now...

Second, Minnesota's Okee Dokee Brothers are heading down the Mighty Mississippi as we speak, part of their album-writing/portaging experience. They've received a bunch of publicity for the concept (guess it was more newsworthy than that time I drove down I-35 from the Twin Cities and sang along to a bunch of songs on the radio). You can follow their Mississippi blog here. The link below features an interview and a live cut of "Auctioneer" and an in-development track "Can You Canoe?"

More videos, songs, and concerts after the jump...
In the category of philanthropic activities, Michael Gurley (best known for his work in dada has released a dapper little kids music track, his first, called "Penguins." It's a benefit for Acoustic for Autism. Should you care to, you can sample and/or download it here.

In the category of philanthropic activities (or at least highly beneficial for parents), Charity and the JAMband's free download (or at least "name your own price") is "Potty Like a Tinkle Star" (get it? Party Like a Twinkle Star the name of part of her last album? I thought it was funny.) You can never have too many encouraging potty training songs, that's what I say.

OK, yes, there was Jiggle Jam. And Every Family Rocks. And the Kindiependent stage at the Northwest Folklife Festival. (It was a busy Memorial Day weekend, no?) But it's summer, so the kids festivals continue. If you're in the Twin Cities on June 11, I might recommend the Rhythm and Words 2011 festival. I've previously been a fan, and they've got another nice lineup -- the Bazillions, Sweet Colleens, and Koo Koo Kanga Roo, among others. (Also: author Lynne Jonnell, woot!)

I would also note that while I don't tend to review that much "educational" music 'round here, the lineup that they've got for a gig in NAEYC Orlando this November? It's like Lollapalooza for that particular subgenre -- Ella Jenkins, Hap Palmer, The Learning Station and Greg & Steve. I think it's actually open to the public.

Finally, while I just noted that I don't do that much "educational" music in the blog, this video for "Doctor" from Jonathan Sprout is over the top enough to be amusing. (You might also learn just a little bit about Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor in America.)

Jonathan Sprout - "Doctor" [YouTube]

Video: "Auctioneer" - Okee Dokee Brothers

This video for "Auctioneer" off the Okee Dokee Brothers' album Take It Outside is every bit as rarin' to go as the song it's for. The animation by Kelli O'Keefe has a vaguely Richard-Scarry-like animals-pitching-in motif, though Scarry didn't tend to go in for twist endings.

The Okee Dokee Brothers - "Auctioneer" [YouTube]

Video: "The Naked Truth" - The Okee Dokee Brothers

The Okee Dokee Brothers may be only a month away from heading down the mighty Mississippi, but in their latest video, they visit the modern equivalent of the gathering spot the Mississippi was in the 19th century -- New York's Times Square. And for their video for "The Naked Truth" they come up with the genius idea of incorporating The Naked Cowboy, who definitely would've been chronicled by Mark Twain if he'd been around 125 or so years ago. This is joyous and totally safe for kids, but it's probably as close to a NSFW video as I get around here...

The Okee Dokee Brothers - "The Naked Truth" [YouTube]

This Cover Art is FLYING!

Ah, Recess Monkey, look what you've done now. You've proven beyond all doubt that Mayor Monkey is indeed your secret weapon. Clearly the slightly bumbling and affable nature of Hizzoner is just a front, judging by the cover of the band's upcoming release FLYING!. That's a great photo, boys. (The rest of the album art is from Jarrett Krosoczka, creator of the Lunch Lady comics).

Tracklisting for the Tor Hyams-produced album, due out June 21 -- along with the listing of a gazillion guest stars -- is after the jump.

1. Flying
2. Day Job
3. Covered in Band Aids (Tor Hyams plays piano on this and several other tracks)
4. Sidekick (Chris Ballew aka Caspar Babypants plays the harmonica)
5. My Valentine (Dean Jones plays trombone, Johnny Bregar adds piano and Tom Baisden plays the trumpet)
6. Bravest Kid in the World
7. Your Favorite Book
8. Toolbox
9. Grandmom's House ("a retelling of 'over the river and through the woods,' now with a horn section! Features Chris Wiser from Sugar Free Allstars on organ and Tom Baisden from The Not-Its on trumpets)
10. Invisible Friend (Features Molly Ledford from Lunch Money)
11. Flapjacks (Features Justin Lansing from the Okee Dokee Brothers and Chris Ballew)
12. Bunk Bed
13. Super Stuffies
14. Flying (reprise)

The Okee Dokee Brothers Take a Trip Down the Mighty Mississip(pi)

I'd heard some time ago that the Twin Cities duo The Okee Dokee Brothers would be writing their next album as they traveled down the Mississippi River, and those plans finally appear to be taking shape. On June 1, canoes in hand (though I'm not sure they're actually portaging), Joe and Justin will spend thirty days going down the Mississippi. They tell me that they first came up with the idea for the trip way back in the summer of 2009, when they took a short road trip following the Mississippi River down from Minneapolis to Davenport, Iowa along the Great River Road. "We ended up camping along the river," they say...

"meeting incredibly interesting people, writing some songs, and conceptualizing the idea of an adventure album as we drove. We noticed that the river represented so much of what we stood for in our music; the Americana tradition, folk culture, community, adventure, nature, so we decided it would be the central theme of our next album."

The duo is partnering with Wilderness Inquiry, a Minnsota-based non-profit, who's outfitting the trip with canoes, paddles, life jackets, camping gear, etc and have applied for a couple other grants. [Unrelated and self-interested note: I used to live down the street from the Inquiry offices.]

As for the trip itself, Joe and Justin will be joined by a couple of "close friends with very creative minds" -- one, a wilderness expert who will "help [them] stay safe and sane on the river," the other, a photographer/videographer who will document the trip. They've set aside two hours each day for songwriting and six days for writing and research with museums, musicians and storytellers. (They're also visiting the Smithsonian archives in DC next week and meeting with a Folkways archivist to do some research on traditional river songs and hope to incorporate some public domain songs on the album.)

Finally, I asked them, "How do you deal with the 'Mark Twain Problem' -- meaning, do you directly write Huck Finn (or other Mark Twain-inspired) songs, or do you avoid them entirely?" Their response seems to me the appropriate one when faced with Huck Finn's overwhelming cultural influence:

"While we love Mark Twain, we're not going for a Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer angle on this album. We might mention them briefly in a song, but they are not our focus and we'd like to distance ourselves from that cliche a bit. The river is big enough for lots of characters and stories."

Photo courtesy of Alex Johnson.