When I'm Five...I'm Gonna Rock!

Live music is where it's at, and if you're able to drop by a Not-Its concert, your toddler's gonna get the rock and roll bug, for sure.

The Not-Its - "When I'm Five"

***Billy Kelly***

Billy Kelly and The Blah Blah Blahs (Bruce W. Derr, guitar; Bob Albin, bass; Jake Kline, drums; and Billy Kelly, everything else) present a super set of indie rock songs for kids on their debut CD Thank You For Joining the Happy Club. Their musical mix will remind you of Jonathan Richman, They Might Be Giants, R.E.M., and Wilco, and those influences perfectly compliment the band's breezy, slyly humorous tunes.

The extremely literal "This Is the First Song" is the funniest deconstruction of song structure you'll ever hear, while the title tune is a superb pop song about universal inclusion. Dig the cosmic kid logic of yet another awesome pop composition, "I Can't Get Away From Myself," as well as an ode to the soothing, exhilarating powers of the "Mindless Pop Song." And a cover of Talking Heads' "Don't Worry About the Government" isn't something you'd expect to hear on a kids' record, but it fits in perfectly with the other tunes on Thank You.

Super duper children's music debut from Billy Kelly and gang. More, please!

**Dreyer Family Band***

Even reviewers have favorite bands, and Dog On Fleas are definitely one of my faves. One reason is because of their uniqueness: very few bands, even grownup bands, draw from such an eclectic grab bag of influences to develop their sound. Well, I think they've met their match ... dig Family Photograph by the Dreyer Family Band.

Two families from opposite coasts combined to make an album "not FOR kids, but includes them ... from the perspective of all family members." And, I must say, they successfuly achieved their goal. Parents will amen the lyrics of "You Get What You Get," a song that sounds like Dr. John playing on The Muppet Show; "How To Be Happy" could be a companion to It's A Beautiful Day's "White Bird;" "Photograph" sounds like one of those great tunes Richard Manuel used to write for The Band; and "Imagination" is just a great pop song about the awesome power of a kid's mind.

Earthy, funny, sincere, silly, knowing, and musically right on, the tunes on Family Photograph'll find an audience with at least one, and probably every, member of your own family.

"Three Pigs and a Wolf"

Here's the latest video from Debbie Cavalier, an animated version of Debbie and Friends' "Three Pigs and a Wolf." Planet Sunday took care of the animation, while the images are by Robert Heath of Barkley Studios.

Debbie and Friends - "Three Pigs and a Wolf"

***Professor Banjo***

Straight out of Portland, Oregon comes the Dean of Five Strings, the Chancellor of Claw Hammer ... that's right, folks, it's Professor Banjo, and he's here to teach you a few things about Old Time music.

Paul Silveria, aka Prof. Banjo, teaches music at Portland's Village Free School by day, and spreads the joys of banjo playing and square dance calling by night. Old Familiar Tunes is his first CD for kids, and, true to the title's word, it's full of ancient songs you swear you've heard in movies, on TV, or floating through the breeze.

Old Familiar Tunes features well-known oldies like "Old Joe Clark," "Arkansas Traveler," "Black Eyed Suzie," and "John Henry," along with long-lost treasures like "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground," "Polly Put the Kettle On," "Soldier's Joy," and the instrumental "Salt River/Flatfoot in the Ashes." But two of the highlights have to be "Cripple Creek/Square Dance" and "Reuben's Train": the former highlights Silveria's square dance calling skills, while the latter shows off his one-man-band prowess, as he plays banjo, washboard, tambourine, spoons, bike bell, kazoo, and suitcase all at once!

"So, why don't you just listen to an album of banjo tunes by, say, Dock Boggs or Roscoe Holcomb?" Well, the fact that Professor Banjo performs regularly in the Oregon/Washington area gives kids and families a chance to experience this style of Old Time music first hand, and then they have a CD of Old Familiar Tunes to make the connection. Class dismissed!

It's Family Time!

Awesome song and video from Ziggy Marley's upcoming children's album, Family Time.

Ziggy Marley - "Family Time"

Barenaked Ladies Make Music News

Barenaked Ladies' debut kids' CD made the headlines twice this week over at About.com: Snack Time! won the 2009 JUNO Award for Children's Album of the Year, and, on the strength of that win, hit the top of the Children's Music Charts, surpassing Playhouse Disney: Music Playdate.