Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Free Music at the Library!

So, the neighborhood I live in in Chicago is off the beat and path. While I have incredible "Latino"-owned and "Polish" owned grocery stores, the closest library has slim pickins. So when I pick my daughter up from her school which is in a much swankier neighborhood, we hit the library over there. The Lincoln-Belmont Library which is just a block away from the Whole Foods has a really stellar kids music selection. Today, I went through their cd's and found several Ella Jenkins. I can stop right there but I won't. To add to the list, there was Laurie Berkner, Joel Frankel, Jim Gill, Susan Salidor, Bill Harley, and even the Jimmies. Actually, over by the "grown-up" music, there were several musicals and bands kids love too.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Goodbye Mary Travers



For some reason, 80's music never spoke to me when I was a teenager. I enjoyed Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel and Bob Dylan. I learned how to play guitar after hearing Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album. Of course, one of the first songs I ever learned on guitar was "Leaving on a jet plane". I know John Denver wrote this originally but for some reason Peter, Paul, and Mary's version was the one that stuck for me. Honestly, I don't know very much about Mary Travers life but I do feel a connection to her and her voice. It's like when I smell lilacs and it brings me back to catching fireflies in the backyard as a kid. Rest in Peace Mary Travers.

Friday, September 4, 2009

On the Waterfront Fest



So there are some pro's and con's to playing kids music and writing a kids music blog. The pro is that you know the inside scoop on what fests have a kids stages because you've played them. The con is that when you're writing about a fest that you're playing at it comes off as self-promotion. (Which I'm not exactly opposed to).

Anyways, Bill Osbourne has an impressive line-up at this year's On the Waterfront fest in Rockford, Illinois. Not only is the Little Miss Ann Band playing but so is Thaddeus Rex (a reading enthusiastic kids musician), The Boogers (kids music meets the Ramones), and Secret Agent 2 Skidoo (kid-hop music all the way from Asheville, NC).

Cheap Trick may have paved the way with their music in Rockford, but us kids rockers are going to keep it going.