The first semi-final matchup of KidVid Tournament 2010 features the Pete Seeger Regional winner Caspar Babypants and his "Itsy Bitsy Spider" video from More Please! -- the video vanquished Dan Zanes in an epic Round 2 matchup. That video's going up against the Ella Jenkins Regional winner Debbie and Friends and "Willy Won't" from the upcoming More Story Songs and Sing-Alongs, who defeated a feisty Johnny Bregar in Round 2.
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below, but the official results are based on the poll at the bottom of the page. One vote per person, please. One vote per person! Votes due by 5 pm tomorrow (Friday) East Coast time. And, as I continue to say, play nice -- that means encouraging folks to watch both videos and avoiding trash-talking. Really, folks, it's just a silly internet contest.
Caspar Babypants - "Itsy Bitsy Spider" [YouTube]
Debbie and Friends: Willy Won't [YouTube]
KidVid Tournament 2010: Debbie & Friends vs. Johnny Bregar
Well, the first round is over, and it's time for the second round of KidVid Tournament 2010. The first matchup today is the Ella Jenkins Regional final featuring Debbie and Friends' "Willy Won't" from the forthcoming More Story Songs and Sing-Alongs CD against... "Shoo Fly Pie" from Johnny Bregar's Dragonfly album.
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below, but the official results are based on the poll at the bottom of the page. One vote per person, please. One vote per person! Votes due by noon tomorrow (Wednesday) East Coast time. And, as always, play nice!
Debbie and Friends: Willy Won't [YouTube]
Johnny Bregar - "Shoo Fly Pie" [YouTube]
KidVid Tournament 2010: Debbie and Friends vs. Randy Kaplan
The other first-day KidVid Tournament 2010 matchup from the Ella Jenkins Region features Debbie and Friends' "Willy Won't" from the forthcoming More Story Songs and Sing-Alongs CD up against "The Ladybug Without Spots" from the Randy Kaplan's Loquat Rooftop album.
Share: "Home Run Ronnie" - Debbie and Friends
Today's free tune comes courtesy of Debbie and Friends, who's releasing her (their) second album, More Story Songs and Sing Alongs on March 30. For the price of an e-mail, you can get a free mp3 of "Home Run Ronnie," which mixes some '70s-era pop-rock with a story song about, well, you can probably guess the sport (March 30 is a particularly apropos date, no?). Just when you think the story's getting a little too schmaltzy, Ronnie starts talking and pulls it back ever-so-gently from the edge.
And, if you want to hear the song first, here's a storyboarded version of the upcoming video for the song.
Video: "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" - Debbie and Friends
Things that I'm not a big fan of regarding the new video for "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" from Debbie and Friends: the sticks for arms on all but one of the human characters.
Things I'm a big fan of regarding the video: the exaggerated cartoonish action and expressions, the human characters' "jazz hands," the brief "what happens after the story" vignettes that lend the traditional story a bit more shading.
It's a big '70s soft-rock sound that may not be your cup of tea, but I think younger kids will be intrigued by the video.
Debbie and Friends - "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" [YouTube]
Debbie Cavalier, by the way, is in the studio recording the follow-up to Story Songs and Sing Alongs -- expect more story songs and some guest stars, too...
Interview: Debbie Cavalier (Debbie and Friends)
Debbie Cavalier leads a double life -- not only is she behind Debbie and Friends, which offers a bunch of songs (and animation) squarely aimed at preschoolers (and maybe their older siblings), she's also the Dean of Continuing Education at Berklee College of Music's online division. So she's got a pretty broad perspective on life as a musician, educator, and entrepreneur. (She's also a really nice person.) Read on for her inspiration for Debbie and Friends, some music education tips, and the worst part about playing keyboards.
Zooglobble: What music did you listen to growing up?
Debbie Cavalier: My mom always played a lot of Tom Jones and Neil Diamond in the house when I was a kid. She also played my grandfather records a lot: The Marty Gold Orchestra. My grandfather has been a huge influence on my musical life. I just wrote a blog post about this.
Upon getting my own record player in elementary school in the mid 70s, my favorites rotations up were Elton John, Carole King, Billy Joel, the Bee Gees, Carly Simon, and Bruce Springsteen. Elton John definitely got more airplay in my room than anyone else.
What was the path that led you to your current job at Berklee and what does that job entail?
