Even More Halloween Songs and Videos

Like all good (or is it bad) scary movies, my original Halloween music post for 2011 spawned not just one sequel, but has, with this post, become a full-on trilogy. Chuck Cheesman has offered up his Halloween song "Halloween Freak Out!" from his latest album Dancing With No Shoes On as a free download for the next few days (and, really, who would want to listen to it on, say, Nov. 2nd?). Note: actual freaking out during the song is minimal. The download is available at the the top of this page.

Baze and His Silly Friends are offering up a free download of their 2009 song "Scare Me, Scare You." Number of times "scary" is in the title = 2. Actual level of scariness = 0.1 (but that's OK!) Download the track here or via the widget below.

The Ketchup Report, Vol. 10

The Ketchup Report hits double digits! It's summer, time for festival season, and I think it's safe to say that until a kindie act rocks the Pitchfork Festival (and maybe even after then), DidiPop has the coolest festival gig, playing a set for families at the Wilco-curated Solid Sound Festival at the MASS MoCA museum (yes, I know that's redundant) this upcoming weekend.

Attention, good people of Chattanooga, Tennessee and environs, Dave Loftin and the Saturday Morning Cereal Bowl radio are sponsoring a show with Lunch Money on Sunday, July 10. I'm a fan of radio folks putting on concert series, so I hope this does well. Plus, the show will be ten tons of fun. More details here. I know, I'm a big fan of Kindiefest, but the Children's Music Network has been around for a long time, and if you attended Kindiefest, you might also get quite a bit out of attending their annual conference, which is in Cape Cod this year from September 16 through 18. Barry Louis Polisar, who has a lot of opinions about the current state of the genre and isn't afraid to share them, delivers the keynote. More details here.

Three Flag Day Videos

Today -- June 14 -- is Flag Day, a holiday which, though minor in the greeting card scheme of things, looms large in the imaginations of kids music artists. (Why doesn't Thanksgiving get the same respect?) Here are three Flag Day videos to get you in a patriotic summertime mood. First up, it's Billy Kelly, with a new video for "That Old American Flag," off his most recent album The Family Garden. It's a straight-up, un-ironic tribute to the flag and his dad. Added bonus of the video -- revealing one of Billy's secret talents. It's, er, singular in nature (watch 'til the end). Bill Kelly - "That Old American Flag" [YouTube]

Songs for Valentine's Day 2011

'Round here, the civics geek inside of me would like to think that everybody celebrates February 14 as Arizona Statehood Day, but I know that it's primarily Valentine's Day just as it is in the rest of the country. Unlike the frenzy of winter holiday songs, however, the kids music community hasn't necessarily jumped in recorded a whole bunch of songs for Valentine's Day. But for those families and kids for whom that Transformers Valentine's Day tattoo just won't fit the bill, here are a few songs for you... DidiPop might have been the first to offer up a new Valentine's Day song this year -- it's called "Happy Valentine's Day." (Note: Unlike Christmas songs, it would appear that "Valentine" is a required word in the title of Valentine's Day songs.) DidiPop - "Happy Valentine's Day" YouTube] The February installment of Jeremy Plays Guitar's monthly free song of the month series is, unsurprisingly, Valentine-themed. (It's even called "Valentines.") That means bows and arrows! OK, not really. It's more about making Valentine's Day cards. Listen to or download the song here. And, yes, there's more...

Share: "DidiPop Goes To Hawaii - DidiPop

DidiPop has decided to give her music away (digitally, at least). That's right, the Los Angeles-based artist is now offering free streams and mp3s of her two full-lengths and other assorted tracks. DidiPop Goes To Hawaii may just be what you need if you've suffered from one too many East Coast snow storms... A widget with every DidiPop song after the jump...

The Ketchup Report, Vol. 1

Lots of interesting stuff crosses my (virtual) desk. Sometimes it grabs my attention and feels worthy of a full post all by itself and I have time and I write a post. Boom. But sometimes it's just interesting, or I don't get to it immediately, or I don't have time to write something long and witty. (Or at least long.) So I'm going to start what I'm calling "The Ketchup Report." Why ketchup? It's because it's for things you (or I) should catch up on. Get it? (I could have also called it, all apologies to Justin Roberts, the Mustard Report for things that must be heard. Ach, I'm having a meltdown.) Expect it semi-regularly. -- Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer are celebrating more than 25 years in the family music business with a new 3-song EP, Triple Play -- preview and buy it here. They also have their 25th Annual Family Music Party -- when Ella Jenkins chooses to show up for a party, you know you've got it made.

-- Jamie Broza has a new album out soon -- I Want a Dog! -- and he's also got a Halloween-themed single "Trick or Treat" which, until Halloween 2010 can be downloaded here for free. -- Matt Clark joined the illustrious group of musicians who've submitted their music to Click and Clack's "Dean of Auto-Music and heard their tune on Car Talk. A snippet from "Car Seat Blues," a song from his first album, was included on last weekend's show. -- Finally, this video (and song) from DidiPop is the best bagel-related video since, well, this one.