Nickolodeon's Mega Music Fest: Biggest Mashup Ever

LaurieBerknerInConcert.jpgWhat do you get when you cross Yo Gabba Gabba! with the Laurie Berkner Band and Colbie Caillat? Synergy! Or, at least, that's what Nickolodeon believes, as they announced yesterday the first-ever "Mega Music Fest." (Note to self: "Mega" is no longer a prefix, apparently. It's a word unto itself.) On May 22 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the channel will be hosting the concert and taping it for a prime-time special this summer. In addition to the folks above, the concert will feature Wycleaf Jean, the Roots, Dora the Explorer, and the Fresh Beat Band, along with Sherri Shepherd and John Leguziamo. Caillat, Jean, and the Roots will apparently be performing duets with the other folks. For those of you thinking that this would make for a fun live concert experience, you're going to have to know people -- there's no mention of the concert on the BAM calendar even though it's just ten days before the concert. I'm 99% sure that Caillat, Jean, and the Roots will be performing with the Nickolodeon folks, but would it be too much to ask for at least a Roots/Berkner performance? (Yes, apparently it would.) Photo credit: Todd Owyoung

Kindiefest 2010: Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem

RaniArbo_Kindiefest2010.jpgI'll be posting a bunch of stuff -- photos, videos, rambling thoughts -- from my weekend at the 2010 edition of Kindiefest over the next week or so. That's probably a dozen posts, so without any further ado... I liked Ranky Tanky, the first kids' album from Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, a lot, but didn't totally love the disk. I loved them in concert. It doesn't entirely surprise me, as I get the sense that their strength is their live show, four talented musicians making music together. But in Brooklyn they got the audience involved for each and every song until ending with a stunning a cappella version of "Wildflowers" that transfixed the crowd. If they can bottle just a little more of that live energy into their albums, they are going to become big, big stars on the kids music circuit if that's what they want. Here's their take on the title track from Ranky Tanky... Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem - "Ranky Tanky" (Live at Kindiefest 2010) [YouTube] One more after the jump...

It's Spring, So Kids Music Series Are Spreading Like Weeds

But good weeds, of course. I would be remiss after talking about my set of kids music series here in Arizona if I didn't mention some of the other great musical stuff taking place next month and on into the summer in other parts of the country. While I'm not sure it was ever true to say "it's so hard to find recordings of great kids music," it's certainly not true in the 21st century, and it's increasingly not true when it comes to seeing it live. Kindiefest_small.jpgI'm of course heading to Brooklyn for Kindiefest in just a couple weeks and while it's primarily an industry conference, the public festival on Sunday, May 2 (from noon to 4) is excellent. At New York prices, Ralph's World, Bill Harley, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, and Recess Monkey would probably be worth the $15 entry fee by themselves, but instead you get all of 'em, plus the Royal Order of Chords and Keys and Clementown. Not one of 'em based in NYC, either. Tickets are here. I'm always excited to see other folks take further steps of their own into the kids music world, so I was glad to see Jeff Bogle from Out With the Kids start his own concert series in suburban Philadelphia. He's kicking it off with Chicago's Laura Doherty on Sunday, May 9 (3 pm) and Randy Kaplan just 6 days later on Saturday, May 15 (with the Deedle Deedle Dees coming in June). Randy's played Phoenix a couple times, and the Dees once, so I know Jeff's gonna have a great time with his series. I'm obviously a big fan of Kansas City's Jiggle Jam Festival and while this year's lineup doesn't quite reach the heights of last year's, it's pretty darn close, with folks like Ralph's World, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, the Jimmies, Terence Simien and the Zydeco Experience, and Sugar Free Allstars joining the strong KC contingent of Mr. Stinky Feet, Funky Mama, and more. Y'know, the more I think about that lineup, maybe it is just as good as last year. And you can't beat the price... $8 in advance (per day), $15 per weekend. Memorial Day weekend, Saturday the 29th and Sunday the 30th. Finally, heading into summer, Bill Childs has put together a nice little lineup of family-friendly artists to play the "River Meltdown Camp" at the Green River Festival in Massachusetts July 17 and 18. It includes Elizabeth Mitchell, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, The Nields, the Deedle Deedle Dees, Starfish, and lots lots more. So, yeah, if you say you can't find good music to enjoy with your kids in a live setting, it's really mostly your own fault at this point...

Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion in Concert. This, er, Weekend.

GuthrieIrionInConcert.JPGI tend not to talk too much about my work bringing kids music to the Phoenix area here on the site, except in the occasional post-concert summary. After all, most of my readers are, well, not here. But I'm still putting together kids shows for the Children's Museum of Phoenix and the Church of the Beatitudes. (I'm working on other stuff, too -- perhaps one day I'll get to tell you about those as well.) So even though my friends and associates here in Phoenix are aware of this show, I just wanted to note that I'm super-geeked about the concert I've helped bring to the Church of the Beatitudes this weekend as part of their Not Just for Kids concert series. It's Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, and they'll be doing a special family show this Sunday, April 11th at 2 PM. Tickets are just $10/person; $32/family. It'll be lots of fun, I promise. (And hopefully there will be video to share...)

Biscuit Brothers Have a Big Weekend Coming Up

Oh, how we do enjoy our Biscuit Brothers here at Zooglobble HQ. The DVDs are great, the CDs are around the house -- really, we love 'em. But there are times when not living in Austin, the Brothers' home base, really puts a crimp in our Biscuit-lovin' lifestyle. For example, we'd probably be thinking about attending the Austin Family Music Festival this Saturday, featuring not only shows from the Brothers (and presumably Buttermilk, though I'm not sure about Tiny Scarecrow) but also sets from the incredibly cool Sara Hickman and the incredibly cool-sounding Invisible Czars. (Not to mention a lot of other musicians and farm animals. Can't go wrong with farm animals.) And on top of that, long-awaited Season 5 of the Brothers' TV show (sadly unaired here in Arizona, despite my pleas to our local PBS affiliate) debuts that very morning. Here's a clip from the season opener featuring Austin artist ZEALE RapZ. At 3 minutes long it doesn't give a good sense of the general goofiness a full episode provides, but, hey, it's all I'll get of Season 5 'til the DVD comes out, oh, 3 years from now.

SXSW 2010 (Music) Report: Day 3

SXSW_Austinwall.jpgI was eager to hear music in my first full day at SXSW, but as it turned out, it was nearly 8 PM before I devoted my full attention to a full set.That's one of the problems, of course, with SXSW -- there's so much going on, that you're constantly being bombarded with sensory overload.The crowds wandering the streets of downtown Austin, the noises coming out of every building, the knowledge that right now somewhere some other band you wanted to see plus 14 other bands you'd probably love if only you knew they existed are playing.This isn't some Austin City Limits Music Festival problem where it's 2 or 3 folks maybe playing simultaneously with staggered set times and within a 4-minute walk.No, this is everything. happening. at. once.No matter what you're doing, there's something else cooler happening someplace else.That may not actually be true, but it's hard not to feel that way. My sole real barbecue experience of the weekend came courtesy of the suggestion of Austin Chronicle writer Melanie Haupt, who suggested Franklin Barbecue, which is a trailer in the shadow of I-35 just north of downtown.I joined Melanie, her husband, and a friend for some excellent early in the morning.It was a reminder amidst the tons of free food and stuff and music on offer at SXSW -- sometimes it's worth paying for something.I recommend it highly. Anyway, at this point, it was nearly noon, and since the pre-meet for my SXSW panel was at 1 PM, I had to abandon any (unrealistic) plans for sliding into a day party prior to the pre-meet.So after finding some parking, I scooted on down to the convention center where I spent most of that free hour or so wandering the aisles of Flatstock 24, a poster convention held (annually) in conjunction with SXSW.Very, very cool.It's like going to a museum - A MUSEUM OF AWESOME ROCK POSTERS.Made of awesome and win, y'all.I never did find the perfect show poster for me -- for me, it had to be a perfect combination of art and artist, and I never really did find it.(Plus, I'm trying to get rid of wall art, not add it.)But gorgeous stuff to look at. Then it was off to the pre-meet for Jumping into the Kiddie Pool: Diving for Dollars.Tor Hyams was our moderator, and he led those of us on the panel through a spirited discussion of the business of kids music -- in many ways, this was as much fun for me as the panel itself that followed, because there was a lot of give-and-take.The regular panel (squeezed into a room that was probably a bit small for the 40+ folks crowded into it) was useful, I think, for the folks that attended who wanted more basic info.But there wasn't as much time for the interplay.There was time for me, however, to curse.Sorry, guys. After the panel (the hour went by quickly, they shooed us out of there at 3:15) we continued to shoot the breeze with folks outside the panel room, then a couple of us went across the street to have a beer at the Hilton Hotel's sunken outdoor patio restaurant.While we there, a couple guys from GWAR walked by.Those guys are normally pretty tall, walking around in elevated boots and headpieces.When your head is at about street level, they look gi-normous... -- Shoot breeze: Gwar