Big Stories for Little Ones - Rain For Roots

I've heard quite a few albums of Christian music for kids.  I don't mention many of them here not for philosophical reasons (last fall's religious record roundup notwithstanding), but because they're often pretty uncompelling musically.

This four-song sampler from the new quartet Rain for Roots suggests strongly that their forthcoming (May 15th) debut album Big Stories for Little Ones (based on the poems of Sally Lloyd-Jones) will be in the minority of musically worthy records.  Coal Train Railroad's Katy Bowser is part of the band, so there's a little bit of kids music background already, but singers Sandra McCracken, Ellie Holcomb, and Flo Paris sound like they're ready to jump in.  I don't think Ricky Gervais or Richard Dawkins will be downloading this, but I think Christians who dig this website will dig this.

Groovin' in the Garden - Story Laurie

You can download five of the tracks from Story Laurie's recent album Groovin' in the Garden via Noisetrade for the price of a mere e-mail.  With Laurie McIntosh handling the vocals and songwriting, and a bunch of musicians including Dog on Fleas' Dean Jones on a kajillion instruments (and producing), it's a fresh (pun intended) take on food-friendly folk.