Nine Days of Great Kids Music in Chicago

Now, Kidzapalooza will rock Chicago August 3 through 5 (for more details, see here).

But the previous weekend is, well, pretty darn good in its own right if you'd rather fight local neighborhood throngs than fight the Pearl Jam and Ben Harper-obsessed throngs in Grant Park.

I've been waiting to post about the Summer on Southport festival on the 28th and 29th because I wanted to know the times, and I'm glad I did... check out the lineup.

Not only does it include Lunch Money... and ScribbleMonster... and Justin Roberts, it also includes, well, see for yourself:

Saturday
Lunch Money 10:00 am
Seussical the Musical 11:00 am
Scribble Monster noon
Little Nashville 12.30 pm
Girl Authority 2:00 pm
Justin Roberts 2:00 pm

Sunday
School of ROCK 11:30 am
Ralph’s World 2:00 pm

Girl Authority and Justin Roberts will be playing on different stages Saturday, though the '80s references on Roberts' classic Meltdown! might be a little bit up their alley.

Hey, Chicago, did I miss anybody?

Review: Campfire Sing-Along: Orange Sherbet & Hot Buttered Rum

Two is better than one. Or, in this particular case, fifty-one is better than two.

Fifty-one is, as best as I can tell, the total number of people singing or playing on Campfire Sing-Along, the recently-released fourth album by the Bay Area duo Orange Sherbet. You might be thinking, last time I checked, "duo" meant, well, two people. And, yes, Jill Pierce and Tamsen Fynn are indeed a duo. But they've pulled in a whole host of family and friends to sing a collection of campfire sing-along favorites. Sometimes the friends are older (such as Charity Kahn from Charity and the JAMband, who makes an appearance on "Sippin' Cider"), sometimes they're younger (the chorus of kids who appear on old chestnuts like "Make New Friends" or "Down by the Bay"). Most are fun, or at least an excellent reminder of songs you can sing at your own campfire.

What turns this album into more than a very enjoyable version of a "Wee Sing" CD is the presence of the Northern California roots/bluegrass band Hot Buttered Rum, who join forces with Orange Sherbet and, occasionally, the rest of the 51 for great versions of traditional sing-alongs -- "Down By the Riverside," "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain," "Frog Went A Courtin'," among others. Making the CD stand out, however, are the originals, contributed by members of both bands -- "Bit By Bit" is an awesome song about how little things make a difference, while "Marshmallow" is a fun sing-along that could've been written 70 years ago. It's in the originals most especially that the combination sounds very much like a West Coast version of Dog on Fleas. It's a wholly winning sound.

(Oh, and I almost forgot. All this plus Dan Zanes. Yep -- Zanes makes an appearance on an original called "One Man Band," revealing a heretofore unknown skill in humorous spoken-word poetry. It's hardly a Zanes-ian essential, but it's amusing listening.)

The 48-minute album is appropriate for all ages, though kids able to sing along, ages 3 through 9, are probably more likely to enjoy the CD. You can listen to samples or at the album's CDBaby page (at which you can hear some of "Bit By Bit").

The best parts of Campfire Sing-Along are where Orange Sherbet and Hot Buttered Rum combine to make timeless songs sound fresh and new songs sound like they've been part of the canon forever. (Who would've thought orange sherbet and hot buttered rum would taste so good together?) There are enough such moments here to make this recommended, even if you don't plan to get any closer to the great outdoors than your local park.

The Band, Bands Go Kids

I've been far too tardy in mentioning these two stories, but what I love about them is the idea that making music for kids and families is now an acceptable thought to artists whose artistic legacy would be secure even if they stopped making music today and spent the rest of their lives on the tennis court or at their local coffee shop.

Case #1: Los Lobos, who are looking into recording a kids' album (scroll down). "I want to research children's music from Mexico and Latin America. And maybe write a couple of our own; as a songwriter, I'd like to try to write a few, to see what I can do," says Louie Perez, the band's percussionist.

Case #2: Levon Helm, whose Midnight Ramble series I've previously been enthused by, received a nice write-up in the New York Times (additional charge now applies). “Kids need to see real people playing real songs on real instruments,” said Helm, whose latest Ramble featured Elizabeth Mitchell and Susie Lamper (keyboardist for Laurie Berkner) and -- this is pretty awesome news -- is recording the kids' rambles for release on CD and DVD by the end of the year. Helm's interest is spurred in part by financial necessity, but I gotta tell you, kids' music is not the place to go to become rich.

Financially speaking, in any case. In other ways, perhaps. But with the cash, not so much.

A Brief Note to Readers, Listeners, and Hangers-On

To those of you who've e-mailed or commented this week, either first-timers or long-timers, thanks a bunch. I'm trying to get to the e-mails, listen to the CDs constantly appearing in our mailbox, and, you know, post stuff here.

I've also got more interesting things in the works, which you will learn about in hopefully the not-too-distant future.

(Kids') Rock 'n' Roll T-Shirt

Clearing off the decks, the first in hopefully a few posts today...

Sienna at Hilltown Families and the Hilltown Families Variety Show dropped me a line letting me know that she's helping to coordinate the 1st Annual T-Shirt Review, which will, uh, review t-shirts this fall.

That way, when you kids want to prove they were there, that they heard of them first, they'll know exactly which t-shirts to spend their newly-established allowance on. (Because, hey, they don't make Spoon t-shirts for kiddos.)

Anyway, if you're a kids' musician with branded swag, head over there for the details on getting your stuff included.