Listen To This: "Trees Are the Hair of the Earth" - Mr. Steve, the Music Man

I have been a longtime fan of Steve Lee, the Nashville-by-way-of-Arkansas musician -- his 2006 album What Did You Today, Stephen Scott Lee? was an out-of-left-field day-in-the-life slice of occasional pop perfection whose shiny brilliance blinded me and completely overwhelmed whatever resistance I usually have to songs that have messages.

It's been a looooong time for the follow-up, but Steve Lee, who in the kids music world now bills himself as Mr. Steve, the Music Man, is ready.  This Friday sees the official release of Earth Party!, the brand-new album from Lee, and I, for one, am very happy about that.  I reviewed Earth Party earlier this year, and here's a selection of adjectives I used about the album that encourages greater consideration of environmental needs: "earth-friendly," "rousing," and "joyful."  It's brief, but it shows every bit of the brilliance the 2006 album did.

So, I'm very happy to premiere "Trees Are the Hair of the Earth," a track that, as I noted in that review, "packs wordplay, a plea against deforestation, and a plaintive melody into less than 4 minutes of pop goodness."  Lee is joined by Street Corner Symphony, Gabe Dixon, Jason Eskridge, and Alyssa Bonagura.  Stream it below, and if you can't wait 'til the official release date, you can pick it up on iTunes here.  Enjoy!

Listen To This: The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like This - Rain for Roots

Now, I realize that there is probably a not insubstantial portion of my readership with a distinctly secular/humanist/athiest worldview, and probably another insubstantial portion of the Jewish faith.  If you find yourself in either of those categories, you can probably move on, check out the site tomorrow.

But if you have a Christian faith background, and you're reading a kindie music site, then you should probably know about Rain for Roots, a Nashville-based quartet of women writing and performing thoughtful songs from that Christian faith background.  (It includes Katy Bowser from the still-wonderful, and secular, kids' jazz group Coal Train Railroad.)  Their first album Big Stories for Little Ones was everything their teaser sampler suggested, and their forthcoming album The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like This is another collection of lovingly-arranged folk-rock for the Sunday School set.  This is for fans of Justin Roberts' Why Not Sea Monsters? disks and Elizabeth Mitchell's more mystical/religious sounds.  Many of the songs, however, explicitly reference God and Jesus, so your taste in this music will be bound by your religious preference.