Kiindiecomm is COMING!!!

Photo By John Garrido

Hey there folks who peruse this page. It’s been quiet for quite awhile.  I lost the passion for writing about music. I lost the passion for booking shows.  I still love getting out there and performing.  So this year when the annual application to the Kindiecomm Showcase was due I figured why not. I fully expected not to be chosen again. Here’s the thing.  IT’S NOT PERSONAL. The people who book shows  WANT to put on the best show possible. They NEED to attract an audience to justify paying you and keeping the lights on. I have seen Brady Rymer and The Not-Its play to 50 people at Jiggle Jam (which is now defunct) and it was THE BEST FAMILY MUSIC FESTIVAL of all time. By the way both acts absolutely CRUSHED it. Doesn’t matter the size of the audience. Play each show as it was going to be your last.  So what the point of all this… We got the call to play the Kindiecomm Showcase! We will be closing the show Saturday night! Persistence pays off with a huge dose of patience.Don’t confuse persistence with pestering. There is a very definitive line.  Keep performing, keep writing and keep getting better.  I’m gonna be writing here again weekly visiting new bands and talking about new Poochamungas recordings. So stop on by and let’s see what the rest of 2016 has to offer. We have some pretty cool stuff happening up ahead.

Grammy Day!

Five.  That’s the number of people and bands I know up for a winning a Grammy today. Four of them happen to be in the same category and the fifth I just met the other day and posted about (What are the odds?).  You won’t be seeing them during the prime telecast but the pre-show festivities are available to watch via the Grammy Webcast.   Oh those artists I mentioned. Well around here we’ll be rooting for Brady Rymer and the Little Band that Could, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, The Pop Ups and The Okee Dokee Brothers. Not forgetting my recent adveture with Keb Mo who has a few nominations of his own.  Good luck everyone and you’re all Grammy Worthy, even if you don’t win!

This Years Rymer Recipient

It’s with a bit of irony that the man who I named the award for best Children’s Album that should of been nominated for a Grammy but wasn’t is himself nominated for a Grammy this year. Brady Rymer.  He latest effort Just Say HI! is pretty darn good.  Almost as brilliant as the one I started this award about (Love Me For Who I Am) and another excellent effort. A big congrats too getting the Grammy Nomination this year as he is an artist well deserving of it.  So are his fellow nominees Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, The Pop Ups and previous winners The Okee Dokee Brothers.  The fifth spot is filled not by a musical artist but by the book reading of the inspiring story and Nobel Peace prize winning – I Am Malala.  I have already spoken on how I think this has been placed in the wrong category in a previous post (Comparing Apples to Steak…).  No the guys whom I thought put out the Best of the Best musically this year for “Children” this year did it all analog. I am referring to those guys from Seattle – The School Break Primates. Better known to the public at large as Recess Monkey! The put out one smoking hot CD  called WIRED which filled my number one spot this year on my top ten  (and my amended top ten). In fact all the nominees except for the book reading were in my top ten!  So please go check out WIRED as it is a superior product as well as the rest of the nominees as they are well worth the listen. Go support an independent artist today.

 

Comparing Apples to Steak. Poor decision by the Grammy’s.

A few years ago the Grammy’s made a decision to eliminate and combine some categories in efforts to streamline the awards.  One of those affected by this change was the Children’s category and this year you can see it was a bad idea.  Four of the five nominees are albums of music. The fifth is a spoken word CD which used to be a separate Children’s spoken word category and for good reason.  It’s like comparing apples to steak. Other than both being recorded works any similarity ends there.  You have 4 great albums of terrific music from Brady Rymer, The Pop Ups, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo and The Okee Dokee Brothers. The 5^th entry is I am Malala. The amazingly inspiring story of a young girl who stood up to the Taliban, was shot and nearly killed in her pursuit of education. For her actions she deservedly just won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.  It’s a book worth listening too or reading.  What I don’t understand is why this recording is not in the Spoken Word Category and instead in the Children’s category. I am reading the story and it is not just a children’s book. It is a worthwhile story for all ages.  Just because it’s written from a child’s point of view does not inherently make it a children’s book. It is a read for everyone and thus should be in the spoken word category or NARAS should bring back the Children’s Spoken Word category. I am disappointed the academy allowed this entry in this category.  Either way if you’re a voter go listen to the 4 great kindie artists and give them proper consideration. Also go read or listen to Malala’s story as it is truly inspiring.  Go support a kindie artist today!

My top ten and rejected again

Once again I sent my usual 10 page resume (not really) along with a request to be a judge for the Fids and Kamily Awards.  Once again I got a polite but firm denial to this exclusive club because they don’t allow kindie musicians to be part of the club…sniff, sniff.  Well even without my vote they are BY FAR the best award an artist could hope to win.  There are no fees involved and there are multiple industry, blogger and qualified people voting on the music which is not always the case with a lot of the awards out there like.  Many times only one or two people are reviewing all the music AND they charge a nice bit of coin. So congrats to the Fids and Kamily winners.   Here is how I would have voted. Free of charge! My top ten CD’s of the year.  Cue the music… Top Ten Cd’s for this year

1. Recess Monkey – WIRED  (The best CD I heard this year)
2. The Okee Dokee Brothers – Through The Woods (Not as great as the last one but still amazing)
3. Edie Carey & Sarah Sample – ‘Til the Morning: Lullabies and Songs of Comfort (Caught me by surprise.  Outstanding vocals and music)
4. Secret Agent 23 Skidoo – The Perfect Quirk (Great CD with smartest written song this year)
5. Dog on Fleas -Buy one Get One Flea (Dean Jones showing his own Genius)
6. The Hipwaders -Year Round Sounds (Just a great music with a California feel)
7. Brady Rymer – Just say Hi (Still the most underrated kindie artist out there with another great CD)
8. Laura Doherty – In a Heartbeat (Lyrics for tots. Music for everyone and from Chicago!))
9. Jon Samson – A New Kids Album (Sonically amazing)
10. Mills Trills – Everyone Together Now (Superiors vocals and a big sound)

These are the my pics for the best CD’s out this year.  For me the best CD by far this year is WIRED by Recess Monkey.  Not because the others aren’t great but because this one is so musically, lyrically and sonically awesome good! I should also mention its Grammy nomination voting time.  I still have some listening to do before I make my final Grammy Picks but rest assured WIRED has already made the grade. Everyone in the kindie world who is a voting NARAS member should have this as one of their nominations. I shall leave the other 4 to you.     Lots of great music out there this year. Bands super worthy but not in my top ten include Josh and the Jamtones –  Bear Hunt (I’m not big on narration but my kids laugh a lot), Baze and His Silly Friends – The Best Day Ever (just feel good music and my wife liked it!), Lucky Diaz and The Family Jam Band –  Lishy Loo and Lucky Too (Thingamajig is an amazing song!), The Not-Its! – Raise Your Hand (Power Pop awesomeness) and finally Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights –  Good Egg (Good songs and music on the whole disk).  Now I still have a few Albums to check out before I vote for the other 4 Grammy nominees but you should go and check out any of these CD’s. Go support an independent artist today!

Back with the band

It’s been quiet here on the blog as I processed post Lollapalooza and the end of the summer.  Now that the kids are back in school and the Poochamungas have 2 shows coming up I shall be writing again.  I am also looking to broaden the page to be more than just music but can’t seem to get wordpress to work the way I need it too.  In the meantime I have a new Hipwaders CD to talk about (Yeah!!!) and we’ve been listening to Brady Rymer’s latest Just Say Hi!.  Hope you all had a great summer and great Labor Day weekend and see you back here soon!

Lollapalooza Recap of Awesome

WOW!  What a weekend and I have only just recovered.  I actually got to play at Lollapalooza! What an amazing time I had.  Playing on stage with such talented people as Ralph Covert, Little Miss Ann, Mr. Singer, Jeanie B! and of course  Laura Doherty (who put the whole thing together) was such a great experience! Thanks to Laura’s band (Rich, Andy, Mike, Rob and Cat) for making me sound so good.   Many thanks to Tor Hyams for having us perform it was really fantastic!  I also got to jam on harp with Brady Rymer.  Truly a privilege as he is one of the finest entertainers around. Plus his wife Bridgett gave me their extra artist wristband and I was able to attend Saturday and Sunday with my daughter. Win Win!!!  Oh yeah!  There were all sorts of other bands performing and I wish I had been able to see more but the whole weekend felt like you could never catch it all so just enjoy the moment. There were some great moments.

Portugal the Man, Ryan Beatty and Glen Hansard on the Kidzapalooza stage.  Short sets of really great music with the artists a mere 10 feet away.  Glen did a acoustic set with Adventure Sandwich coming on for Banana Man which was amazing.  Portugal the Man absolutely killed it and Ryan Beatty truly can sing and his two man band (electric guitar, drums) brought it.  Best stage to see an artist.  If you’re at Lolla next year visiting this stage and The The Grove are a must!

Kidzapalooza village has so much to do for the kids if you bring them.  Temporary tattoos, Drum circles, art projects, etc!  The list goes on. One of the best areas of the festival.

Free Ice Cream in the Artist Lounge from Jeni’s on 3404 N Southport Ave.  Unbelievably good!

When the daughter and I were walking  in the Artist Village Saturday there was a young platinum blonde woman wearing a spandex leopard outfit.  When we went to see Grouplove later the same woman was rocking on stage with this amazing band! We are totally fans.  My daughter insists I buy some of their CD’s very soon!

The many folks I met riding on Golf carts (which is the official way to travel around for artists due to the size of the event) including a man named Rory. We had a nice conversation about where he’s from in Ireland (I have family there in County Mayo),  the guy he’s playing with named Hozier (he’s the drummer) and the fact he was flying out right after the show back to Ireland.  We caught the last 30 minutes. They were great!

Jeff Bogle of Out With The Kids is a big fan of the Avett Brothers and now I know why. Brilliant set.

 

Cage the Elephant rocked the schnizzle out of their set with a group of girls dancing in the mud.

Eric Schnabel recommended Benjamin Booker and that man can play guitar.  He should be careful as to where he throws guitar parts after the smashing part… Ouch!

John Wicks of Fitz and the Tantrums and his family couldn’t have been nicer. In fact so many artists, fans and staff were just plain nice.  Whether letting my daughter move up for a better view or taking a photo for us it was refreshing to see courtesy and politeness as the norm.

Rianna coming out to sing with M&M.  The audience was electrified!

The always gracious Rymer family.  Seriously go buy a Brady Rymer CD. They’re pure joy.

Hanging for two days with my daughter at the premiere music festival in Chicago.

Many thanks to my wife who let me go for three days to listen and play music.  It was very much appreciated. Go listen and support an artist today!

The Song and the Process. Picky Eater by Brady Rymer

It should come as no surprise I’d find my way round’ to interviewing Brady Rymer.  I have championed his Love Me For Who I Am CD on this blog a few times and even named an award after him for the Best Kids CD not nominated for a Grammy (First annual “Rymer” this year awarded to Frances England.)  But I digress…  Upon listening this seems a pretty direct song.  Picky Eater is really a universal song about those who choose not to eat many of life’s great foods and how when on a plate they “should not mingle”.  It’s got a bit of a funky reggae rhythm and it’s quite infectious in its joy of not eating certain delectable dishes. Unless it comes to dessert which has no sort of restrictions.  Just like my own children. They might not like dinner but they always have room for ice cream.  The great thing about this song is that it’s origin lay a bit deeper than expected. Seems Brady has been playing regular gigs at Celebrate the Children School in New Jersey which is a school for kids with autism, aspergers and other related disorders. He thought he should write songs for that audience, that they could own.  But also the idea those songs also be universal. So with the help of the school (they sent a list of song titles) he came up with songs to be on the CD, Picky Eater being one of them. By intertwining his experience with his own kids (one a picky eater) , his childhood and the song title he had been sent Picky Eater was born.  This isn’t his usual way of writing songs, not that he has a set songwriting style. Sometimes it starts with a hook and sometimes strumming a guitar sorting out big ideas while humming.  He had never before started with a title and worked from there. When these titles arrived he grabbed his guitar and excitedly got to working. It was a nice change of pace and with Picky Eater he developed an over abundance of material.  Once he gets to writing he usually gets on a roll.  In this case he ends up having to shorten the song.  Now that he has these songs he heads over to Budd Lake, New Jersey where his friend, musician and teacher at Celebrate the Children School, Dan Myers, has his studio (Dirt Floor Studios).  Dan also helped compile the list of song titles along with school founder Monica Osgood (they both got writing credits).  The two of them (Brady and Dan) get to recording the majority of the songs with just the two of them playing all the instruments (you should be impressed).  Only adding other musicians when necessary.  Brady recorded his vocal track live while he played an electric guitar.  He felt recording his vocals while playing helps give the songs a “live” feeling. They used a drum sampler called EZ Drummer to give them a grove and added the live percussion with Dan Sadownick later.  Brady worked on a couple songs at a time for this recording, traveling from his home in Long Island, NY to Budd Lake,New Jersey.  I’d say the travel was well worth it as the song turned out quite infectious. The brilliance of the song is it’s universal appeal but knowing the origin is anything but universal.   Anyone who ever had a child say no at a dinner table will empathize with this song.  I should mention that Brady has a brand new CD coming out this year called Just Say Hi! and can also be found playing bass with the Laurie Berkner band not to mention he has gotten back together with the band From Good Homes who play a few shows a year.  Do yourself a favor and check out the Love Me for Who I Am website, listen to the songs (Picky Eater is second) and go buy the CD.  It’s an amazing piece of work celebrating those who don’t always fit “the norm” but deserve to be heard and celebrated!

 

https://bradyrymerandthelittlebandthatcould.bandcamp.com/track/picky-eater

2013 Remem-blurred!

The backyard view.

New Zealand started out the year as my friend Nick invited us (the wife and I) to his wedding in January (amazing). Seems it’s been full-speed-ahead-try-to-catch-up-break-neck-pace-all-year-long. The year I went to the Grammys.  Many thanks to Jeff Bogle for making it an epic adventure there as well. What a great time thanks to the McHattons (TESLA!)

It’s Electric!!!

, Okee Dokee Brothers, Mindy Thomas, David Tobocman, Debbie Block, Bill Harley and everyone else I got to hang with including new kindie blogger Rebecca Yorn Allison (Kids Can Grove)  Then there was a the last kindiefest ever! Didn’t know it at the time but many thanks to Bill, Stephanie, Mona and Tor for making it happen.  What a great time and I really did learn a thing or two from the panels but so much more from the people!

Great guys in great hats who make great music and me!

Story Laurie, Dean Jones (thanks for the beer), MCJ (always brings it funky), The McHatton clan (Such a great family), Mindy Thomas, Kenny Curtis. Rod Martin , Chris Wiser, Paul Butler, Dave Loftin, Paul Stark, Steve Songs, Laurie Berkner, Dan Zanes, Ralph, Jeff Bogle (again), Stefan Shepard, Rebecca Yorn Allison, Brady Rymer, Bridgette Rymer, Melissa Levis, Jacob Stein, Charlie Hope, Little Miss Ann, Mr Singer and the Sharp Cookies (good luck on the new school), Jack Forman, Drew Holloway, Korum Bischoff (Great addition to the School Break Primates) David Wax Museum (one of my favorite CD’s I heard this year!), Molly Ledford (I promise to be quiet next time), Morgan Taylor, Jason Rabinowitz, Joanie Leeds, Mr Kurt Gallagher (Peace and Quiet is a great song!), Lucky Diaz, Alisha Gaddis, Johnny Bregar (Polly’s Rain Dance is Awesome), Sean Hogan (Welcome to Fatherhood brother!), Kathy O’Connel (the Grand Dame of kindie), Danny Adamson, Tom Baisden (union brothers unite!), Tim Kubart (Congrats Chica Dude!), Beth Blenz-Clucas, Tito Uquillas and whoever I’m forgetting.  Just send me a note and I’ll add you to the list. Then we had a few gigs, finished our second CD, got some national exposure (thanks Elizabeth), played some more, kids kept growing, my daughter soloed in ice skating, my son jammed with me daily, listened to a lot of great music and wrote about a bunch of it. Went to CHITAG (thanks Rock Father). We also had family bouts of pnemonia, respitory ailments, colds and flus  and car crashes (no one injured).  My daughter just turned nine and my son will in a few months turn 4.  I joined a group of Dad Bloggers on Facebook (some seriously funny stuff).  Reconnected with some Pine Forest Camp folks from my youth.  Lost some weight and managed to keep it off.  On the right track closing out the year.  It was a interesting year to be sure and the growth has been good.  Thanks to all who have read the pages here and to those who inspire me to write and get better at it.  Hope everyone learned from 2013 and I wish them and theirs a Happy 2014.

Ageless kindie songs pt.2

The second edition of music made that knows no age.  Songs that could played anywhere with no one the wiser that they’re on a “kids music” album.  As we Poochamungas like to say… “Good Music Knows No Age.”  So without further ado…

The Not-Its – Busy.  The Not-Its are a pure power pop 90’s rocking goodness.  This song about a family tying to get out of the house with a great horn section, power guitar riffs and Sarah’s vocals would fit on any radio playlist.

Brady Rymer – Who Wants to Wear Shoes? Much of Brady’s music is ageless but this one especially.  From the opening guitar riff you know your in for a rocking ride.  This song deserves to be played loud and often (it has around here).  An autistic perspective on the wearing of clothing is poignant, funny, totally rockin and ageless.

Johnn Bregar – Polly’s Rain Dance.  A little rockin blues shuffle about a girl in the desert of Australia who makes it rain.  Johnny makes great music and this is a song that shouldn’t be pigeon holed as just for kids.  Especially with the amazing harmonica being played in this youtube video here.

Rocking CD with flavors of blues, country and all cool.

That’s three more tunes adding to the many kindie tunes that are truly ageless great music.