In a move that stunned many kindie music observers, late last night the popular family music bands Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players and Recess Monkey exchanged their bassists. Under the terms of the deal, Roberts' longtime bassist Jacqueline Schimmel will head west to join Recess Monkey while founding RM bassist Jack Forman will head to Chicago to join the NR4NP. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Neither Schimmel nor Forman were immediately available for comment; their bandmates did not respond to press requests, either. Sources indicate to Zooglobble, however, that the primary driver in the trade was that Schimmel's contract with the NR4NP was nearing an end, and rather than have Schimmel potentially leave due to free agency, Roberts was looking to retain some rhythm section value.
There had been rumors in recent days that Schimmel could be heading to another band, and many different names were surfaced. Schimmel is well-regarded by her fellow musicians, and many bands were reportedly interested in her services, particularly bands without regular bassists such as Rocknoceros, Sugar Free Allstars, or Renee & Jeremy. Another, sketchier rumor had Schimmel heading to South Carolina to make Lunch Money the first kindie band with two bassists. But in the end, Schimmel headed out west to Seattle to join the goofy pop trio. While financial terms were not disclosed, Schimmel is widely rumored to have secured a once-a-week DJ gig on influential Seattle radio station KEXP, which may have convinced Schimmel to take the leap.
As for Forman, he reportedly has a number of years left before reaching free agency, which may have made him attractive to the Not Ready for Naptime Players. The addition to the band of Forman helps maintain a NR4NP solid musical background as well as, in combination with trumpeter/keyboardist Dave Winer, a potent comedic team. One inside source notes to Zooglobble that Little Dave has already been lobbying internally to bring Little Jack on board.
Fellow Kindiependent associates of Recess Monkey were still trying to process the shocking development. One Kindiependent member, Johnny Bregar was quoted as saying, "But who's gonna digitally edit all of our videos?"
No source was willing to confirm the rumor that the two bassists were traded because it would be easy for their former bandmates to keep calling their newest bandmate Jack(ie).
The trade happened just before midnight on the 31st, the formal kindie music trading deadline. The deadline, known informally as the Flemsen Deadline, was first established in 1972 after the folk supergroup Peter, Paul & Mary traded Mary Travers in the midst of a less-than-stellar summer youth touring season for a young coffeeshop janitor named Bob Flemsen, deciding to tour as "Peter, Paul, & Bob." Recognizing that post-Memorial Day trades could wreak havoc on the touring business, the industry issued an April 1 deadline for any family musician-related trades. It was that impending deadline that Roberts and Recess Monkey just beat out.
