Hopefully this isn't news three years from now, but for the moment, every recognition of kindie music by the public at large (or in this case the market at large) is still news. So, yeah, it's a big deal that Amazon picked "Slim Gets In 'Em" from the latest Gustafer Yellowgold album Gustafer Yellowgold's Infinity Sock as a free download. Given how rarely family music makes it onto Amazon's list of free mp3s, I think it's a Good Thing. Anyway, no need to feel down about it, grab the free song here.
And, hey, why not watch the video, too?
Gustafer Yellowgold - "Slim Gets in 'Em" [YouTube]
First an adorable video, now Brady Rymer is offering a free song featuring a duet with Laurie Berkner. The song is called "Soft Things" -- besides it being a pleasant, mellow tune, it deploys one of the most under-appreciated instruments in kindie music, and that's Berkner's sweet, clear voice. It's from Rymer's forthcoming album Love Me for Who I Am, due out April 12. Download it below for the price of an e-mail. (Which, it should be noted, goes off to Brady, not me, in case you were wondering.)
It's now officially spring, so we can now officially be happy about the sun. Lucky Diaz has just the song for these bright new mornings. It's called "Here Comes the Sun," and, no, it's not the Beatles, but it's catchy in its own right. It's from the LA pop-ster's first full-length album, Oh Lucky Day!, set to be released May 10th. Listen to the song here. For the price of an e-mail, you can download the track for free.
There is nothing revolutionary at all about this new track titled "Garbage Man" from Florida's Mr. Richard. It's just a simple little ditty with a nice groove. But sometimes that's all your kid (or you) needs (or need, for the grammatical sticklers out there). Richard reports that he wrote the song "after seeing Jonathan Richman for the umpteenth time so he gets some props, too."
It's the first single (of sorts) from Richard's forthcoming 2011 album. Even better for you, it's downloadable for free here.
'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...
Another collection of random bits from around the kindie-webs...
-- Perpetual Grammy nominee Bill Harley is offering up another free track. This one is - gasp! - a quarter-century old. It's "I'm On My Way" from his 1986 album 50 Ways To Fool Your Mother and it's a nifty re-working of the old traditional tune...
-- The long-in-the-making "We Are the World"-style jam "A World of Happiness" is finally making its way to the light of day. Joanie Leeds and Tor Hyams released a YouTube video explaining the project, which basically boils down, "a whole bunch of kindie artists lending their talents to a single song to raise money for charity." That works for me. Originally pegged as a Haiti-relief song, now the charity of choice will be picked by a vote.
-- The Wales-based animation studio Planet Sunday, best known here probably for their animation work for The Hipwaders and Debbie and Friends, also helps run their Animation Academy. The Academy (now a non-profit organization, shows kids ages 8 and up how animated films are made and gives them the chance to make their own films. Their most recent workshop resulted in a music video for The Hipwaders. According to Planet Sunday founder Greg David, "The kids and parents really got a lot out of it, and it really improved the format of the day."
They've got two workshops lined up this month, on the 23rd and 25th February. One band is already interested, but they're looking to get someone else on board -- i.e., another kindie band. While David says they try to keep the costs down for kids as much as possible by getting grants and other funding to cover the cost of equipment and materials, etc., if a band would like to make a donation of either money and/or goodies for the kids it'd be much appreciated. (And, I suppose, that would go for anyone, regardless of their kindie-rocking status.) If interested, drop 'em a line here.
-- I normally wouldn't like this video from L.A.'s Mista Cookie Jar -- it's way too overdone for my own tastes -- but they all combine into something... else. It's probably the tune, which is earwormy, and downloadable for free (or donation) right here...
Mista Cookie Jar - "Joey the Dogg" [YouTube]
Hopefully this isn't news three years from now, but for the moment, every recognition of kindie music by the public at large (or in this case the market at large) is still news. So, yeah, it's a big deal that Amazon picked "Slim Gets In 'Em" from the latest Gustafer Yellowgold album Gustafer Yellowgold's Infinity Sock as a free download. Given how rarely family music makes it onto Amazon's list of free mp3s, I think it's a Good Thing. Anyway, no need to feel down about it, grab the free song here.
And, hey, why not watch the video, too?
Gustafer Yellowgold - "Slim Gets in 'Em" [YouTube]
First an 
It's now officially spring, so we can now officially be happy about the sun. 
There is nothing revolutionary at all about this new track titled "Garbage Man" from Florida's 
