Putumayo Kids' Picnic Playground tour wasn't much of a tour -- just four or five cities, I think. They seemed to draw a nice crowd, though, if this video from Rhythm Child's performance in LA was any indication. This video features Norman Jones going all quadruple-time on his "Bowl of Cherries" (which will sound familiar to those of you who have "Pick A Bale of Cotton" imprinted on your brain thanks to Raffi or Leadbelly).
The song's on the Picnic Playground, as well as on their upcoming album of the same name. (By the way, you can download a free mp3 of "The Shaker Song," which isn't necessarily a favorite of mine -- "Cherries" is a lot better -- at Rhythm Child's website.)
Rhythm Child - "Bowl of Cherries" (Live)
Peter Himmelman: More Curious, Less Furious
I already mentioned how Peter Himmelman would be releasing My Trampoline, his latest album for kids, next week on the Minivan Productions label. I also noted how he's putting together Peter Himmelman's Curious World, which will be webcast on the Land of Nod website.
A few more details are trickling out, including, perhaps most importantly, a time and day. The first 10 episodes will start on Sunday, October 4, at 10 AM (Central Time), with new weekly episodes running each Sunday morning through December 6. [Update: Will now start Sunday, September 27.] Each episode will feature a theme of the day and things like questions from kids, on the street visits, and chats with King Ferdinand, Himmelman's African leopard tortoise.
Ferdinand's been a part of Himmelman's Furious World webcasts for awhile now. You can even find some of Ferdinand's videos on YouTube. Here he is talking with Peter about music...
King Ferdinand - "Music" [YouTube]
And one more...Is Dan Zanes More Sky Masterson or Nicely-Nicely?
A while back, Dan Zanes let us know that, while in Puerto Rico, he was working on some Broadway tunes for his next album.
Of course, that was in early 2008, before Nueva York!, before Songs from the Welcome Table, before his The Fine Friends Are Here DVD comes out next month. But never fear, as Zanes has finally made public the November release for the Broadway-themed album.
Likely candidates (that is, educated guesses based on some sleuthing but no actual confirmation from Zanes' camp) include some stuff from Guys and Dolls, to be sure, maybe a little Hello, Dolly! and some more modern stuff, among other things.
Sara Hickman Will Take Over the World in 2010. Or At Least Texas.
Does your state have an official state musician? Well, as a person who's been living in and traveling to/from Texas for about a quarter century now, I can assure you that Texas cares about its music. And for 2010 the Official Texas State Musician is none other than Sara Hickman. Considering that their 2009 Official Texas State Musician is Willie Nelson, Hickman's in fine company.
She's also in other fine company. In this week's newletter she announced that she was going spend year focusing on families...
Sara has decided to utilize the opportunity to bring attention to arts/music in the schools, in families. Her mantra is FAMILY TIME ROCKS! and she hopes to raise awareness of how school funding is being cut for the arts, and to sell cds to generate income for BIG THOUGHT (Dallas, TX) and Theatre Action Project (T.A.P./Austin), two groups that bring poetry, theatre, creative expression to kids in Texas that, otherwise, would not be exposed to creative thought... Her feeling is that families who create and play together, stay together.And to that end she's collaborating with a whole lot of folks. Of greatest interest to fans of Sara's family music (namely, me), she will be: -- Working with Jason Molin on Family Time Rocks!", which will "incorporate music, ideas, conversation to stimulate/motivate/create family creativity time!" (Exclamation point in the original, though, hey, I'm OK with it.) -- Producing a CD for Monica Cravotta and friends "musician moms sharing songs for wee ones! Whee!" (again, exclamation points and "Whee" in the original, though I'm partial to "Whee!" myself.) -- Working on a DVD of animated shorts of her children's songs. The second and third items are exciting enough. The first? Really exciting. One, because Molin has a little experience with writing kid-friendly music (The Jellydots covered Molin's "Lake Rules" on their Hey You Kids! disk). Two, because if this song from Hickman's and Molin's "Newspaper and Trumpet" compilation is any indication of what the rest of the disk will entail (at least musically), it will be way fun.
They Might Be Giants' Next Release Won't Be Named "Here Comes..."
So did you know They Might Be Giants have a new multi-platform release coming out this fall? You did? Really? You knew that the duo would be releasing Kids Go!, a book-CD combination, on Nov. 3rd?
Ohhhhh... you were thinking about Here Comes Science, weren't you?
Nope, this is a book -- no details on the book cover, illustrator, or even what songs will be on the accompanying disk, just that there will be an accompanying disk, a la Bed Bed Bed.
I'm thinking, though, that this tune would at least be titlistically approrpriate. (Though I doubt that word exists. Yet.) (Hat tip: This Might Be a Wiki.)
Here Comes Science's Theory of Exclusivity
The previously-reported Sept. 1 release date for They Might Be Giants' Here Comes Science CD/DVD set does come with a caveat, apparently -- that date is for an Amazon.com/iTunes-exclusive ("dual-exclusive"?) release. The full-scale release isn't set for until Sept. 22. I know, I know, those seem like pretty big exclusives, like premiering a movie only in California, New York, and Illinois. But now you know that your local Sam Goody won't have it available for $22.99 until Sept. 22.
You also know (assuming you finish this paragraph) that the band will indeed be adding new videos to their popular "They Might Be Giants Family Video Podcast" in August 2009. Good times with surreal handpuppets, or will John and John find a new medium for the new release?
For what it's worth, the track listing after the jump...
