Time I expanded the sidebar links. You're probably familiar with many of these, but if not, explore a bit...
Maybe you're familiar with the Fids and Kamily Awards? (OK, yeah, you probably are.) Anyway, there's a new link there. I've been tallying votes, and I'm really excited about the list.
Kids Music Sites: I've added Eric Herman's fine Cool Tunes for Kids website, on which he wears a reviewers' hat and a musician's outfit, or some other mixed metaphor like that.
Radio Shows: Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child will always be the #1 radio show around here, but in case you need a kids' music fix during the week, you can listen to Gooney Bird Kids or Loopy Moose Radio as well. I've also updated the Greasy Kid Stuff link to note their new playlist location.
Stores: Amazon and CD Baby you know about. If you're looking for a more selective list, the Land of Nod has a decent selection of kids' music online (and has the occasional podcast from artists like Justin Roberts and Dan Zanes), while the Pokey Pup has a good selection.
KidLit: You think it's hard listening to all sorts of new kids and family music from across the country? Imagine the amount of stuff that people who review literature for kids have to wade through. There are tons of sites out there, so start with Big A little a, A Fuse #8 Production, and Book Buds and start from there.
(Oh, and did you know they've got an end-of-the-year award process, too? See the Cybils for more.)
Other Stuff of General Parental Interest: I like the writing at Cynical Dad, Daddy Types, Family Man Online, and Neal Pollack's The Maelstrom. I just felt like I should goose their Google numbers ever so slightly.
Welcome Morning Call Readers
If you're here because of the nice article in the Sunday Morning Call, welcome. Thanks for stopping by -- we love guests. There's a whole bunch of stuff accessible from the links on the right (plus a search box there on the upper right-hand side), but here are some direct links to articles here on:
Ralph's World
Laurie Berkner
Dan Zanes (includes full-length interview)
Milkshake
Brady Rymer
They Might Be Giants
Trout Fishing in America
To read more about Frances England, go here -- to go directly to a review of her fine Fascinating Creatures CD, go here.
Want to find out more about the "Fids and Kamily" poll? Go directly to its website.
And, finally, here are links to the other kids' music sites mentioned in article -- Kids Music That Rocks, (Sm)all Ages, and The Lovely Mrs. Davis Tells You What To Think. More kids' music-related sites are there on the right -- I'd point out Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, a Massachusetts-based radio program with weekly podcasts on which you can hear a lot kids and kids-friendly tunes.
And if you're a long-time reader here, the YAKMA (Yet Another Kids' Music Article) is worth your time for the breadth of quotations and news -- the next They Might Be Giants kids' CD, Here Come The 1-2-3s, for example, is now slotted for a Fall 2007 release.
The New Digs
I know what you're saying -- buying a new place? In this down market?
Or consider the words of my wife, when I suggested that moving from the Blogspot site was like moving from an apartment to a place of my own, who said, pleadingly, "But a house is so much work!" (We speak from experience.) I then suggested that maybe it was more like moving into a townhouse, with a monthly maintenance fee.
The real reasons are a little bit of vanity ("my own website") and a lot of reader ease. By using categories, I hope to make it easier for readers to find specific areas of interest (e.g., records for 4-year-olds, or lullabyes). I'm also hoping the site's a little more stable away from the Blogger servers.
Of course, as of this writing, I've still got a long ways to go to move all the posts from the old site over here and to build back the rest of the links. But I'm getting there.
Thank you very much to all of you who've stopped by, be it once or a hundred times. I hope this site (wherever it resides) in some small way helps you and the kids in your life connect through the joyful noise of music.
Shhhh....
Back.
Back from family, friends, and fish.
Back from lovely sounds: the crash of ocean waves, Raul Malo's voice in concert, my wife's voice uninterrupted by our kids' voices.
Back to: school, work, and friends.
If you've been away for a while, make sure you scan through the archives -- don't miss the reviews, interviews, and stories.
YAKMA (or, Yet Another Kids' Music Article)
But a decent one, with substantial comments from Dan Zanes and Ralph Covert of Ralph's World. Paste Magazine (which I've subscribed to for a couple years now -- it's a good read and has reviewed a few kids' music CDs in its pages), has finally posted online their article on the wave of artists entering the kids' music business. (I've had the magazine for about 3 weeks now, and was about to post without the link, but it showed up today.)
My favorite comments from each artist?
Dan Zanes -- "Soon we'll have a generation that doesn't know that 'Yellow Submarine' or 'Octopus's Garden' were Beatles songs; they are just gonna know them as songs they sang together in kindergarten."
Ralph Covert -- "I have no interest in making 'kids' music.' I won't ever make a 'kids' record,' but I'll make music kids love."
Go read.
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I'm still feeling like I'm living a life out of Where's Waldo?, but that will end soon. To all of you who've e-mailed me recently, I will get back to you soon. I've got more reviews, more news, and more surprises coming up.
