KidVid: "I Found It!" - Brady Rymer

The first video from New York musician Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could, for the peppy roots-rockin' "I Found It!," has been available on Rymer's website for a couple weeks now, but I was waiting for it to appear on YouTube.

Well, now I've found it! (Groan.)

I like the song, I like the way the backup singers appear everywhere, I like the general good-naturedness of the video. It's actually reminiscent of a lot of videos for adult bands. It's a concert video with a lot of happy fans, but it's that general good-naturedness -- the way Rymer sings about his '57 Gibson guitar -- that distinguishes it from what you might have seen on MTV 20 years ago.

See How Great the Terrible Twos Can Be

I live in Maricopa County, Arizona, which is about 9,200 square miles large, bigger than the states of New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island. Well, I may live in a larger county, but the residents of those fine states (and a few others) have the opportunity with just an hour or two's drive to see a pretty cool kids band. (OK, Delaware's probably three hours, but still.)

Bill over at Spare the Rock has some free tickets to give away for this Saturday's Terrible Twos NYC debut at The Livingroom. Go here to enter.

(And if you're wondering, why should I care?, read this review. The album's getting re-released in April.)

Baby Loves Disco Scottsdale Contest Winners

We have two (randomly-selected) winners for our contest to win tickets for the Feb. 24th Baby Loves Disco Scottsdale event.

Congratulations to Lisa L. ("We Are Family") and Angela A. ("Shake Your Bon Bon"), whose families will be shaking their collective booties (or, in Angela's case, bon bons) on the 24th.

Thanks to everyone who entered and to Baby Loves Disco for the ticket packs! (If you still want to join us, order your tickets for this and any other BLD event here.)

Dan Zanes, Grammy Winner

The 49th Annual Grammy Awards are tonight and while I missed the Police reunion (I'm sure there will be 14 versions available on YouTube tomorrow), I am very happy that Dan Zanes won the award for Best Musical Album for Children for Catch That Train! (review here). Wow, I've interviewed a Grammy winner.

See a smiling Zanes and Father Goose during the ceremony here.

Congratulations also to Bill Harley, who won the award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for his album Blah Blah Blah: Stories About Clams, Swamp Monsters, Pirates & Dogs.

Review: Fins and Grins - Johnette Downing

I appreciate artists like Johnette Downing who have carved out careers making kids' music in genres other than the dominant rock and pop genres. Based in New Orleans, Downing understandably draws upon the rich musical gumbo of the region, using Cajun, Creole and Zydeco as her musical inspiration.

Released nationally this week, Downing's sixth kids album, Fins and Grins, is a fine example of Downing's musical approach. For subject matter, Downing looks to the sea, singing songs about penguins, stingrays, and (naturally) l'ecrevisse, more commonly known as the crawfish. Musically, the album is a great collection of melodies, supported by Downing's sweet voice and strong band. But the album has a strong interactive and educational component, and how you feel about the CD will depend in large part on how interactive and educational you like your CDs. Many preschoolers will like songs like the gently boogie-ing "Clamshell Clap," which encourages lots of clapping, natch, or the "Amazon ABC's," which lists Amazon animals well-known and not. If you're not looking for educational songs, you might appreciate the Zydeco of "L'ecrevisse" while not caring much for the lesson about the crawfish in the lyrics. Some songs do stand well on their own, the traditional folk song (with rewritten lyrics) "The Circle of Life" and the album closer (with a sweet fiddle accompaniment) "Turtles" being two prime examples.

I think kids ages 4 through 8 will most appreciate the lyrical content here (the musical content is definitely all-ages). You can hear samples at the album's CD Baby page or hear a couple tracks at Downing's music page.

In the end, despite the solid musical composition, the somewhat narrow lyrical focus and approach of Fins and Grins probably keeps it from being everyone's cup of tea. If, however, you are looking for a kid-friendly collection of New Orleans-flavored music or are a librarian or preschool/elementary school teacher looking for some aquatic-themed music as part of (or to lead) a lesson, then this album will make an excellent addition to your collection.