This video from Brooklyn's AudraRox has been out there for a year now, but I'm only now just finding it. It's for "Best Friends Forever," a selection from the new Sesame Street: Being Green DVD. It's a sharp-looking video (yay for Sesame Workshop's deep pockets!) and a fun song.... which is now (newly) available for your downloading pleasure here. I love the line "Warm in the middle / cold at the ends..."
AudraRox - "Best Friends Forever"
There's more, of course.
Live Video: AudraRox
At the very start of KindieFest (nee StinkFest) 2009, Audra Tsanos introduced herself by saying "Welcome to my hood." And Tsanos, the force behind AudraRox, wasn't kidding. She lives just a few blocks from Jalopy, she was one of the most gregarious folks in the place, and, heck, her husband's art was hanging on the walls. Not only that, but she not only knew the showcase before it was KindieFest, she knew it before it was StinkFest. (Hootenanny, anyone?)
One of my favorite parts of the non-showcase portion of KindieFest was talking with Audra about the compromises associated with dealing with the corporate world. For all of the talk about trying to find additional opportunities for kids music to break through into a higher national consciousness, Audra's experiences with Jack's Big Music Show and Sesame Street show that working with entities designed to create more mass-market entertainment can force compromises you may not be entirely comfortable with. Be careful what you wish for...
But those thoughts were pushed aside when AudraRox took the stage, seven strong, led Audra's and Jen's powerful vocals. They played a bunch of cuts from their upcoming album. At the start of the song embedded below, "You Can't Crawl in a Dress," my first reaction was "Flute? Really?," but by the end of the song, with multi-hair-colored and tattooed Tsanos bending backwards to belt out the notes, I figured that Tsanos knew exactly where she was going with her music. (Yeah, the flute rocked, too.)
AudraRox - "You Can't Crawl in a Dress" (Live at KindieFest 2009)
A couple more pictures and another new cut after the jump...Interview: Audra Tsanos (AudraRox)
Audra Tsanos, the driving force behind the New York band AudraRox, seems to know every kids' musician in New York. In AudraRox, she's assembled her own set of talented musicians whose debut CD, 2006's I Can Do It By Myself, ran the gamut from country to slick power-pop and very kid-targeted lyrics.
Audra kindly answered a few questions about her musical upbringing and AudraRox's formation, among other things. Read on for the story behind Audra's first band name, her experience in a Music for Aardvarks cover band, and, yes, the title to their upcoming CD.
Thanks to Audra for the interview (and the accompanying photo).
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1. What are your musical memories growing up?
I was raised by fundamentalist Christians in Kansas City, Kansas - so my first musical and theatrical experiences were in the church. I sang my first solo when I was 2, did my first musical at church when I was 7 and joined the adult choir at 11. On my own I listened to bad Top 40. I won the talent show in high school my freshman year. I put together a band with the bass player from the jazz band and a sax player, played piano and sang Whitney Houston's' "Savin' All My Love for You." YUCK!
My best friend in high school, Linda Amayo, played Ella Fitzgerald for me. The only cassette tapes I owned when I went to college were The Police, The Doors, and Sade. Hats off to Joetta, my first roommate from California - she played me The Violent Femmes, The Smiths, Billie Holiday, and Bessie Smith. Then I dated and married a guy who had an album collection of about 1,000 and finally, I grew up musically!
I'm a late bloomer.KidVid Tournament 2007 Semifinals: "Tricycle" (2) vs. "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" (3)
Our second semi-final for KidVid Tournament 2007 is the underdog side of the bracket -- two artists that knocked off #1 seeds. We've got a #2 seed, "Tricycle" from Frances England, going against "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox, the #3 seed. These are both cute videos, but for completely different reasons. Another tough call.
Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Friday 11 PM-ish East Coast time.
[Note: As I've said before, sorry about just showing links instead of embedding the videos. I'm trying to keep the playing field relatively level here -- if I can't show both videos here (i.e., they're not both on YouTube and clearly placed there at the artists' request) I'm only going to show the links for both of 'em.]
"Tricycle" - Frances England
To view this video, click on the YouTubed version here.
"I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox
To view this video, head to Jack's Big Music Show player. Roll over the picture of a red-hair-streaked Audra on the right, kid on the left.
KidVid Tournament 2007 Quarterfinals: "Let's Shake" (1) vs. "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" (3)
The last quarterfinal in KidVid Tournament 2007 is here, and duking it out for bragging rights in the Pete Seeger Region are "Let's Shake" from Dan Zanes, the #1 seed, against "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox, the #3 seed.
Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Wednesday 11 PM-ish East Coast time.
"Let's Shake" - Dan Zanes
Watch the video on Zanes' website by going here and clicking on "Let's Shake."
"I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox
To view this video, head to Jack's Big Music Show player. Roll over the picture of a red-hair-streaked Audra on the right, kid on the left.
KidVid Tournament 2007: Day 2 Recap
Well, Day 2 of Zooglobble's KidVid Tournament 2007 is also in the books. Frances England's "Tricycle" (#2 seed) beat out Sir Jerry's "Bees, Butterflies and Bugs" (#3 seed), while in a small upset (a phrase I'd use with caution considering the relative lack of thought that went into the these) #3 seed AudraRox with "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" trumped Gustafer Yellowgold's "I'm From the Sun."
Thanks to everyone who's voted so far. The next set of matchups will be posted Monday midday.
And if you haven't yet voted for the as-yet-unfilled 16th video slot, go here and do so before Monday night. The competition is heating up.
