We were so stoked to have all five nominees for the Grammy Awards Best Children's Album stop by to share their music with you on this episode of Ear Snacks.
If you loved those songs, guess what? Just guess what? There's more great music out there. We’ve had SIXTEEN OTHER KIDS MUSIC ARTISTS grace our humble studio since we started this podcast in the summer of 2015 and each of them has made their own awesome contributions to the world of children’s audio since then.
So check out these awesome artists and share music, support musicians!
Our son refuses to mention Jazzy Ash without adding “AND the Leaping Lizards” -- and why not? We’ve seen the magic Ashli makes up close in our studio, but she really gets cooking when she has this New Orleans combo behind her and excited kids in front of her as she does in her vibrant live studio album Swing Set that’s built around the oral tradition of hand-clapping games.
If you had to form a band with two Stevens, which two would you pick? Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips told us he’d pick Steven Colbert and Steven Hawking. To be fair, we told him he couldn’t pick Steve Burns from Blues Clues, who he actually made a record with. SteveNSteven’s Foreverywhere is a sculpted pop rock record for kids with galactic imaginations.
After he appeared on Strings! (Part II), Lucky asked us to join him and some other amazing musicians around Southern California to make Made in LA, an eclectic and electric entry into the kids music genre. We have more super-rad music plans with Lucky in the works, but please check out this record to support the work we’re doing with other independent kids artists! Lcuky also appeared on Who Are The Beatles? and Ice Cream & Paletas!
If you’re in New York you can catch this Explorer of the World at Lincoln Center this February, and you can often find her in Andrew’s hometown of San Francisco. If you’re anywhere else you should do yourself a favor and explore Frances’ craft-and-heart-filled catalog. Frances told us how she found her guitar on Strings! (Part I) and also leant us a couple of her indie rockin’ folk tunes for last year’s Kids Grammys and Road Trip Soundtrack! (Vol. 1)
I think we first heard Skidoo’s music on an episode of Tumble Science Podcast about the multiverse. Infinity Plus One is a daring feat combining hip hop, orchestral elements, and scientific poetry to eventually receive the Grammy for best children’s album of 2016. Cactus is a father, a scholar, and soon-to-be movie producer...who knows what mission he’ll accept next?
This Minnesota-based folk duo puts the lure of adventure into every album. Though rivers, mountains, deserts and woods, you can imagine an OKee Dokee Brothers tune filling the air just about anywhere under the sun. They appeared on 2017 Kids Grammys! and Road Trip Soundtrack! (Vol 1.)
Music is Everywhere, and so, it seems, is Mista Cookie Jar, one of the best and most prolific collaborators in kids music. We’re proud to call CJ our neighbor (he lives a pebbles throw down the beach) and it’s getting hard to count the times we’ve done stuff together. His combination of acoustic blues styling, EDM autotuning and humor/love-filled raps are the perfect sriracha sauce for our cheesy egg sandwich. CJ has appeared on Strings! (Part I), Moves! (Part II) and Road Trip Soundtrack! (Vol 1.)
Do you know know Mike Phirman? Do you know he’s, like, an actual grownup musical genius we somehow get to talk to? This guy’s comedy brain outweighs the amount of burritos we’ve eaten in our entire lives. He’s building a series of singles he calls Songs to Sing at Kids (and we’re excited about some stuff we have in the hopper) and we’ll be first in line when his debut kids album drops. We sat in on one of Mike’s Sirius XM shows and he dropped into Letters! (Part II)
I discovered about ecret super music pals Morgan Taylor & Todd McHatton when Todd’s wife Gina handed me a copy of this eponymous masterpiece. These guys rock, classically, independently, in every sense of the word. appeared on Road Trip Soundtrack! (Vol. 1)
Randy played our mandolin one time at a 4th of July party but he might or might not remember that? He’s been Trippin’ Round the Mitten (Michigan, y’all) and dropped his song Mr. Spaceman (an epic tale of interstellar carseat reckonings) to Road Trip Soundtrack! (Vol. 1)
Danny is Totally Osome. He happens to play bass in They Might Be Giants, but we picked his fact-addled mind about puzzles, specifically paleontology puzzles because he claims to be a Paleontologist. Danny appeared on The Great Puzzle Exchange with Danny Weinkauf and surprise guests!
Did you know there are artists who perform family reggae? Well, there’s at least One. You can usually find him around Portland, but we shared a stage and a beverage with Aaron in Oklahoma City once. He was kind enough to share a tune on Road Trip Soundtrack! (Vol. 1)
Kids Place Live devotees know Jack Foreman from The Monkeyhouse. We treated our collective election hangover with him over french fries in Hollywood. Jack and his music pals landed a grammy nom for their rockin’ record Novelties that we featured on 2017 Kids Grammys!
Brady likes the name Polly. He had an aunt named Polly once (not THIS Polly, a different Polly). Press Play on his rockabilly-flavored jams if you’re looking to bop around the living room. Brady appeared on 2017 Kids Grammys!
We love clarinets. We really love background vocals. And we flat out heart camp and everything that reminds us of it. Camp Songs is replete with nostalgia and rustic jubilee, and it appeared on Road Trip Soundtrack! (Vol. 1)
We met Cory because we rented his friend’s marimba. When he’s not banging on things with the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, Cory does this rad project he calls Percussion Storytelling where he reinterprets classic children’s tales from world literature as well as his own narrative inventions while simultaneously scoring them with a cornucopia of percussion instruments (which he introduces as a “percussion petting zoo” after each concert.) His two albums The Lost Bicycle and Drum Factory are sonic treats, but the real treat is to watch the spell he casts over young audiences in person. He explained hi-hats to us on Hats! and told one of his stories, Podnerosa Pine -- about a squirrel telling a bulldozer about his ancient home -- for our Critters theme.