Kickstarter and Kids Music. Again.

250px-Kickstarter_logo.pngThe list of crowdfunding posts here is lengthy, and it's about to get even longer. It had seemed to me that the mania for family musicians to fund their projects through sites like Kickstarter had calmed somewhat, but it's started up again with a vengeance, with at least 5 projects worth your time to check out, several of them with hip-hop flair. First up is Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, who's drumming up support for his third kid-hop album Make Believers. The project just launched, and at the higher funding levels you can get the shirt off Skidoo's back! (OK, not really. Just his coat. Or his hat.) Anyway, here's the video with Skidoo's whole family pitching in. Kid-hop option #2 is from Boston-based artist RhymeZwell, and it's to fund the filming of a new video for the first single off his upcoming second album Robots on the Dance Floor. And while the implication in his promo video that there's nobody doing kid-hop is, erm, well, see above and below, we'll just chalk that up to the sales pitch. And judging by the concept video's production values (and the song itself), I think the final result may be pretty slick.. Rewards include copies of the album. Kid-hop #3: Big Don (aka Don Robinson) is an Austin-based hip-hop artist who's raising funds to print and distribute Big Don's Brand New Beat, his second album for kids. (I remember getting a copy of his first album randomly placed in my hands at an Austin City Limits Festival a few years back; it was a lot better than most albums randomly placed in my hands.) As you might expect, rewards include copies of the new album. Hip-hop not your family's thing? Well, there's more...

Kindiefest 2011: Artists' Showcase in Video and Pictures

Be it SXSW or Kindiefest, there are different reasons to see an artists' showcase at a music conference. You can see your favorite bands, or perhaps bands you're familiar with but are curious to see and hear them live. And sometimes you stumble upon a new favorite. The Kindiefest 2011 artists' showcase on Saturday night was for me a combination of all three, which suggests how well the lineup was put together. Now, I should note that though the lineup featured several artists I'd consider my favorites, I'd never actually seen any of them perform live. (That would have to wait for Sunday's public performance, for whom I'd seen half the lineup live.) But as someone who puts together shows here in the Phoenix area, that live aspect is important to me. This summary is long, but I encourage you to skim the entire thing, you never know when you'll find your new favorite artist. IMG_5210.jpgThe lineup kicked off with Billy Kelly and the Blah Blah Blahs, faced with the unenviable task of starting the show while everybody filed back from dinner or a run to their hotel rooms. That and selecting from a bunch of great songs. They went meta ("This Is The First Song" -- they should close with that one day), sweet ("Family Garden"), doubly sweet ("Pen Pal," duetting with Lunch Money's Molly Ledford), and classic ("The Legend of Johnny Box"). The last song featured none other than Johnny Box himself, played by... well, let's just say by someone very familiar to Zooglobble readers. Good stuff. IMG_5216.jpgFrom there it was on to The Pop Ups, whose set was basically a very abbreviated version of their PASTA! musical. Were there puppets? Yes! Were there apes in capes? Yes! Was there lots of hand-clapping? Yes! Was there lots of pasta? Well, you'll just have to see the musical for yourself to see the answer. But it's hard not to see how the musical would be very popular with the 5-year-old set. The Pop Ups - "Pasta" [YouTube] But we were just getting started, with six more artists to go...