There are those who, upon hearing
Rockin' In the Forest With Farmer Jason, the recently-released second album from
Farmer Jason, might wonder: Could this be the very same
Jason Ringenberg who fronted "Jason and the Scorchers"? It sounds so... so...
different.
Those of us who have heard
A Day at the Farm..., his first kids' album, know that it's definitely him.
The hard part for older listeners to get used to when listening to
Rockin' In the Forest is the sheer exuberance of the whole thing -- shiny, gleaming horns on the poppy leadoff track "The Forest Oh!" or the modern country production of the slightly mournful melody of "Arrowhead." The wellspring of exuberance, however, is Farmer Jason himself, who is just so darn enthusiastic that it might drive some parents nuts. Except that he goes so far beyond the line that there's that glimmer of "yes, I know this is all a little too much, but your kids are eating this up, aren't they?, so just play along." I love the deadpan way he says he's going to "sing a song about a moose on the loose called... 'He's a Moose... on the Loose.'"
Ringenberg knows his way around a bunch of musical styles, from the spaghetti western stylings of "Ode to a Toad" to the Django Reinhardt violin noodlings of "A Butterfly Speaks" to smallest, simplest (and perhaps best) song on the whole disk, the virtually a cappella "Mrs. Mouse." He wraps the melodic nuggets around lyrics that introduce young listeners to different animals in the forest (natch). While the cover and liner note art suggest very anthropomorphized approaches (ugh -- did I just use the phrase "anthropomorphized approaches"?) to the subject, the actual lyrics play it straight for the most part.
Kids ages 3 through 8 are the ones most likely to appreciate Jason's enthusiastic approach and lyrical focus here. You can hear samples wherever fine kids' music is sold (on the Internet, anyway).
If you liked
A Day at the Farm..., you'll also like this new album, as it's very similar in tone, maybe a little broader musically. I'm giving this album a "Recommended," but it's with the warning that you're going to have to detach that little parental "I'm too cool for this" monitor in your head -- if you can do that (your kids don't -- or shouldn't -- have one yet), you'll enjoy this just fine. Recommended.
In some small way, Jason Ringenberg is kids' music's Kings of Leon. Like his Tennessee compatriots, as Farmer Jason, Ringenberg has a definite United States fan base (and was big enough to play the Austin City Limits Festival a couple years ago) but may be even bigger in the UK and Europe. In this interview he talks about how his Farmer Jason career has slowly grown "across the pond" to the point of playing big festivals in Europe, challenges facing the artist creating a European fan base, and how to craft a show for a non-English-speaking audience.
Zooglobble: What music did you listen to growing up?
Jason Ringenberg: I grew up on a Midwestern hog farm. Most of the kids listened to corporate rock. However, I always loved American roots music, especially the classics like Dylan, Hank Williams Sr., Woody Guthrie, and Jerry Lee Lewis. On top of that, I had a fondness for the first wave punk rock, particularly the Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop, and The Ramones.
How long have you been playing music in Europe now?
I have been playing in Europe since 1984, when Jason and the Scorchers did our first tour there. Over the years, I have always performed in Europe with Jason and the Scorchers, Jason Ringenberg, and now most interestingly as Farmer Jason.
When you first started going to Europe, wasn't it pretty much lots of Jason and the Scorchers shows with an occasional Farmer Jason show mixed in? Has that mix changed at all over time?
