Monday Morning Smile: "Heroes" (David Bowie) - Choir! Choir! Choir! feat. David Byrne

You will notice that this website has been... not so active recently.  That's mostly due to "real life" taking up most of my time.  The day job, parenting, a desire to keep myself healthy -- I value all of those things higher than this website.  But the minute I saw the latest post in David Byrne's journal, I knew that it would make its way here.

The post recounts Byrne's experiences singing with Choir! Choir! Choir!, a Canadian group which organizes public singing with formal arrangements.  Recently he sang David Bowie's triumphant "Heroes" in New York City with members of the public briefly rehearsed by Choir! Choir! Choir! and the result is, well, my favorite rendition of the song, and a reminder to me, of the joy and communal feeling that drew me to kids music its performers in the first place.

[Also, to say that I'm really excited to see Byrne on tour this spring is an understatement.  Even if there's no public singalong involved.]

Choir! Choir! Choir! featuring David Byrne - "Heroes" [YouTube]

Review: Rise Again Songbook - Peter Blood and Annie Patterson (editors)

Cover of Rise Up Singing Again

Can singing together change the world?

On its surface, the answer is "no," but the act of singing together produces a lot of other changes that might nudge the world into a better place, particularly in how we deal with people we meet.

No doubt Peter Blood and Annie Patterson, the editors behind the Rise Again Songbook, strongly agree.  Musicians and songleaders, the two of them in 1988 edited and published through Sing Out! magazine Rise Up Singing, a collection of 1,200 songs.  (The fact that no less than Pete Seeger wrote the introduction was a leading indicator of the book's acceptance in the folksinging world.)

Now the pair are back with Rise Again: A Group Singing Songbook, a sequel featuring another nearly 1,200 songs for singing alone or (presumably preferably in the eyes of editors) with others.  The late Pete Seeger contributed a preface this time around and Billy Bragg the foreword.  Assuming three minutes per song, that's another 60 hours or so of singing.  (Better bring your throat lozenges.)

We purchased the original Rise Again (the 15th Anniversary Edition) more than a decade ago, and while I can't say that it's led to nightly rounds with the family, neighbors, or strangers passing by on the street, we do dip into it occasionally.  So while I don't know if I'm the followup's primary audience, I'm certainly more predisposed than the average American to find value in Rise Again.

The basic structure of both books is to include lyrics and chord changes, along with some basic songwriting credit and recording history, but not to include melodic notes.  (You can see part of a sample page here.)  This is an eminently reasonable decision -- only a small percentage of the population can actually read music, and if you're trying to choose songs to sing, you're probably going to gravitate to familiar melodies for which you don't need the music.  It does mean that folks like me (who can read music) who love exploring unfamiliar songs need to turn to Spotify, YouTube, the CDs by Patterson and Blood featuring basic melodies, or the public library to learn the songs, but that means turning away from the pleasures of diving into the book.  (But again, I'm probably in the minority here.)

In both books, the songs are organized by theme.  Some themes are fairly obvious and well-defined -- "Faith," "Seas & Sailors," "Travelin'" -- while others are a bit more nebulous (and also reflect the desire for social justice that in part was the animating impulse behind these books), such as "Earthcare," "Peace," and "Struggle."  (There are also sections specifically for kids under age 8 and lullabies.)  While it's possible that a reader could find a song of interest thumbing through individual sections, or guess in which section a particular song might nestle, they're far more likely to use the Titles index in the back.

Because readers are likely to turn to these books to sing familiar tunes, the differences Rise Again has compared to its predecessor are not insignificant.  I haven't done a statistical analysis -- it would take some time to tally up the results from 2,400 songs -- but it feels like I know considerably more songs in Rise Up Singing than in the new book.  There are more public domain songs, more songs that have been around for generations, centuries even.  The comparative lack of familiar songs isn't a problem in and of itself, but for me there are just fewer familiar songs.

On the flip side, however, Rise Again features way more contemporary artists than the original book did, and not just because the original book came out in 1988.  Here's a partial list of artists just from the first page of the Artist Index in Rise Again who aren't in the equivalent index in the 1988 book: Adele, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, The Avett Brothers, The Band, Billy Bragg, Garth Brooks, Jackson Browne, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Johnny Cash, Tracy Chapman, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Cliff, Bruce Cockburn, and Coldplay.  I'm not going to recognize every song by those artists, either, but that's indicative of a book that's trying to reach a broad audience that might not necessarily have copies of Peter, Paul & Mary albums in their iPhones.

(As an aside, there are also some familiar kids music names -- besides daisy mayhem, familiar names like Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Bill Harley, Peter Alsop, Jay Mankita, John McCutcheon, The Nields, and Barry Louis Polisar appear in the book.)

A couple technical comments, one positive, one a suggestion for improvement.  First, the positive: these are spiral-bound books, which aids greatly in its use -- it lays flat anywhere, and you can even fold it around so you only see one page.  The suggestion for improvement?  Add a ukulele chord chart to go along with the guitar chord chart on the last page.  The ukulele is an incredible sing-along instrument, and deserves to be a part of this book as much as the guitar.

So would I recommend Rise Again?  From a sheer familiarity standpoint, I'd probably recommend Rise Up Singing before this new book as I think that even with another quarter-century's worth of songs included in Rise Again, for most folks I think they'll find the original has more songs they'll be able to sing.  But there are certainly enough songs that have seeped into the national consciousness in this new book that it'd keep your family occupied for months if not years to come.  And hopefully it's not too much to ask that this be an ongoing project, that this become a trilogy another quarter century from now.  I'd definitely recommend Rise Again as I do think in its small way it could change the world, one singalong at a time.

Note: I was given a copy for possible review.

Interview: Adam Levy (Bunny Clogs)

Bunny Clogs (photo by Youa Vang)

Adam Levy made his first foray into the world of kids music with his band Bunny Clogs way back in late 2008 with the album More! More! More!.  (That band name, by the way?  It's a pun on Levy's primary musical outlet, his band The Honeydogs.)  That debut album had a distinctive, eclectic sound and some out-of-nowhere lyrics and musical tidbits, aided no doubt by the fact that Levy created the album with assistance from his two daughters, grade schoolers at the time.

Fast-forward six years or so.  Levy's daughters are in or approaching high school, and the follow-up album I'd never expected would happen showed up.  Whales Can't Whistle is maybe a little more streamlined, slightly poppier than its predecessor, but nobody would ever mistake the new album for bland, cookie-cutter music.

Levy recently sent some thoughts via e-mail about the latest album, musical parenting memories, and the good and bad of making an album (and playing live) with your kids.

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Zooglobble: What are your first musical memories (growing up)?

Adam Levy: My parents didn't have a big record collection... but what they had got played a lot.  I used to dance/march around the house with a Monkees ukelele guitar, air uke-ing to Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass's "Going Places."  My hip Aunt Judy brought Rubber Soul to my folks in 1967.  That got major air time for a few years.

What are your first parenting musical memories?

Big sister Esther was breach in her mom's stomach.  We put Bach cello preludes on headphones to mom's belly for a few days and she flipped around... the girls' mom and I listened to music constantly.  Lots of old funk and soul.  I remember my girls going bananas for Fountains of Wayne's "Red Dragon Tattoo."

How did the first Bunny Clogs album come about?  What inspired you to make that album?

I had just gotten my first ProTools studio rig set up at home in 2003.  Esther would have been about 4 and Ava Bella 2.  I would try to entertain the girls as I was figuring out the equipment and would make these danceable, amusing kids' songs.  The girls would chime and sing and giggle and I'd record everything and made it a family affair.  I kept writing these songs in the midst of, and as a break from, more "serious" musical endeavors.  Friends would come over with kids for dinner and I'd play them the songs and folks would laugh and the kids would jump around like little squirmies.  After a while I just thought, "maybe I have something" -- the songs were more absurdist, dance-beat and adult-friendly, less acoustic-folky than most kids' music.  It alwasy took a back seat to my main songwriting muse, The Honeydogs... but eventually I just resolved to finish it and put it out in 2009.

Whales Can't Whistle album cover

What led you to make Whales Can't Whistle an animal kingdom-themed album?

We made a food-related record for the first one.  I always incorporate the household characters and stories and silly phrases we used into the music.  We are very into animals at our house and have been since the girls were small.  I find it easier to write when I create some parameters and goals.

Your daughters were actively involved in making this new album -- what was their biggest contribution?  Was Isaac's participation anticipated, or more of a surprise?

The girls are singing all over the record.  Ava Bella (14) even recorded herself in some cases!  She also designed the cover art. Isaac's participation was a necessity.  He's 12 and a natural.  He plays like an adult.  Amazing.

What was it like having your daughters participate so much in what you do as a career?  I'm assuming it was lots of fun, but did it also lead to tensions at times?

It's amazing.  We've been performing publicly together since they were about 10 (Esther) and 8 (Ava Bella).  Sometimes I have to encourage them to perform by increasing pay... sometimes they are not up for it.  They tease me a lot.  I get back at them by being a complete dork on  stage.  Ava Bella who is 14 now has expressed more interest in music than her big sister.  I have loved watching her do musical things that are not with family.  

You wear many different musical hats -- what particular musical itch does Bunny Clogs let you scratch?

Bunny Clogs fills a need to simply have fun making music and sharing it with my own children.  Much of my music is conceptual, cerebral and sometimes deals with serious subjects.  After I lost my son in 2012, the need to find joy in the midst of great grief and life-reassessment became very necessary.  Last summer the girls spent a couple months leisurely making the record.  We had so much fun.

Bunny Clogs (photo by Youa Vang)

What 3 (or 1 or 5) "not-for-kids" albums (from any artist) did your kids absolutely groove to growing up?

As I mentioned, the house the girls grew up in oozed music... all of The Beatles stuff.  They have fond memories of Burt Bacharach's Butch Cassidy soundtrack.  The Jackson 5.  

What's next for Bunny Clogs (and you)?

I'd love to do some kind of animated film [and/or] a book.  Depending on the girl's energy, perhaps more touring.    As mentioned I'm ready to be Reuben Kincaid to Ava Bella's musical projects.

Photos by Youa Vang.

Heidi Swedberg Teaches You "Al Tambor" on the Ukulele

On her latest album My Cup of Tea, Heidi Swedberg and her friends take the listener on a variety show tour of music from across the centuries and continents, a full-fledged instrumental extravaganza.  But at heart, Swedberg remains a ukulele evangelist dedicated to teaching the humblest of stringed instruments to folks the world over.

That's why I'm tickled pink that Swedberg is offering up a free and exclusive ukulele lesson for the song "Al Tambor" (which appears on My Cup of Tea  as well).  She and one of her chief partners in musical crime Daniel Ward take you through the two -- just two! -- chords needed to play the song.  And in case you're the kind of person who wants to study a piece of paper (hey, I'm that guy sometimes), Swedberg has put together a sheet for you.  Download the chord chart here.

Thanks to Heidi and Daniel for the lessons -- uke players, you know what to do! 

Interview: Dan Zanes and Elizabeth Mitchell

If you're reading this site, Dan Zanes and Elizabeth Mitchell should need no introduction, but in the off-chance that you or your partner or your (adult) child just gave birth, the two artists are kids music superstars.  From the beginning of their careers making music for families in the late '90s -- they may be the best examplars of what Zanes has termed "age-desegregated music" -- Zanes and Mitchell have held the kindie banner high.

And so while it's taken them fifteen years to get together on record, the result, Turn Turn Turn , is worth the wait.  I spoke with them by phone last week about the album, its creation, playing the songs live, and music-making -- not just theirs, but everyone's.

***** 

Zooglobble: I usually ask folks what their earliest musical memories, but since you are both so well known for encouraging folks to join in and make music, what are your favorite music-making/concert memories?

Elizabeth Mitchell (EM):  You know, this weekend was amazing, we had such a good time.  On Saturday, we did a show in New York City, which was wonderful.  For the first time, we played in front of a row of stuffed animals.

And then on Sunday, we played at the Ashokan Center for a Summer Hoot.  Lots of friends, Natalie Merchant joined us, Simi Stone, a local violinist.  It was all unforced, unthought.  Pete Seeger was on the side of the stage, smiling

Dan Zanes (DZ):  Yeah, that was a good one.

Two thoughts popped into my mind, the first being I was just starting out making music for families.  I was playing at a synogogue on Cobble Hill here in Brooklyn, everyone sitting down.  The drummer went into "Rock Island Line," and people jumped up to dance.  It was the day I realized people wanted  to dance.  It was a revelation to me.  There was an entirely different component than sitting down at a Pete Seeger concert.

The other memory was playing at the Clearwater Festival, we were playing "Hop Up Ladies."  I hadn't realized that Pete Seeger was watching from the side of the stage.  We finished, then he got up and said, "here's another version of the song."

EM: He was saying, "You weren't jumping the whole octave." [Laughs] 

DZ: The conversation we had with Pete meant a lot to us. 

So what prompted you to make this album? 

DZ: We've been talking about it for years.  Elizabeth had been busier than me.  It might have been [Festival Five manager] Stephanie [Mayers] who wanted this for years.

EM: It was a question of time, finding it.  There are so many balls in the air.  We played some shows together, and after that we knew how to make it.  We thought it might take more than three days, but thought it could work.  My first album, You Are My Flower , was recorded in a day, but the later albums took longer.  Finishing it in three days was almost like a dare.

DZ: Yeah, [my first album] Rocket Ship Beach took just a few days.

How did you pick the songs? 

EM: We got together at Dan's house.  Three or four songs we were both thinking of.   We both had "When We Get Home" on our list, and it was, like, "Really?" -- it's sort of obscure.  We hadn't talked about songs, and I felt a bit hesitant, but after that... Dan talks about "drawing from the same well," I say "pulling from the same root."

DZ: We ordered Pakistani food, and by the time we got to dessert, we knew it would work. 

EM: Another even was that during this process, a friend went to a Clearwater Sloop meeting and Pete Seeger sang "Turn Turn Turn" with new lyrics [Seeger's wife] Toshi wrote in 1954.  My friend recorded the performance, transcribed the words, and brought it to Dan.  We brought the lyrics to Pete's daughter and asked to use them.  It brought really deep inspiration to both of us -- it anchored the record, it was the thread.

Was that an aesthetic decision, to record in three days? 

DZ: It makes it sound rushed, but it wasn't.  I can fiddle around a lot.  But the musicians are all so good at what they do. 

EM: We rehearsed ahead of time, and thought about it.  We didn't want to be overly precious.  A lot of music we're inspired by was made in a present way, very real. 

DZ: There were a lot of breaks for snacks; Elizabeth even took a field trip, or maybe she was sleeping. [Laughs] 

EM: That field trip was to Ashokan, I was not  sleeping.

DZ: I like the idea that music-making is part of real life. 

Do you think more people are making music-making part of their life?  

EM: I hope so... I think so.  People certainly say yes.

I love hearing about people changing the music I make, like how they change "Little Bird" or "Little Liza Jane" or Freight Train," including where they  live, where they  go.  In that sense, that's positive feedback.

DZ: I think so, too.  When my daughter Anna was born, I obsessed about finding the music that would be the first she heard, and somebody asked why it couldn't be me .  And it never even occurred to me that I  could've been the first music she heard.  That idea is really in the air now.

You know, I live in Brooklyn, where people are butchering their own meat and having nineteenth-century cabdriver handlebar mustaches, carrying banjos.  There's a pushback against consumerism. 

So what have you enjoyed playing live from the new album?  

EM: We just did "Coney Island Avenue" for the first time.  I was intimidated before, but I got some newfound drum courage, and it was fun. 

DZ: Liz's "Honeybee" -- I played that with a friend who came over and it was a totally satisfying experience. 

EM: "Turn Turn Turn" is a powerful and lovely song -- we can invoke Pete Seeger to get people to join us in song. 

DZ: You know, another personal memory -- my family didn't sing, but every few years when I was a kid we'd go see Pete Seeger in concert.  That  was a communal experience.  Who knows, maybe some of these families at our concerts are like mine, and will remember that experience [like I did Pete].

 It's pretty obvious that the Seeger family has had a big impact on both of your careers. 

EM: Definitely.  Pete Seeger, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Mike Seeger, Peggy Seeger -- in a performative sense, they're almost initimidating.  Mike especially -- I'd never pick up the guitar if I felt I had to match his skill.

Seeing Pete in concert is tremendously inspiring.  He did a performance we went to for a CELLAbration concert honoring Ella Jenkins.  He didn't get near the microphone, he was just getting the audience to sing along.  Inspiring.

DZ: He's outlined how to do it in a book.  One word he keeps coming back to is participation.  If that's all you had as a kids' entertainer, it's perfect. 

EM: I'm not inspired by music designed to be consumed by kids.  They should be part of it. 

DZ: Elizabeth's better at that than me. 

EM: No! 

I think you both do a great job of getting audience participation, but in different ways. 

EM: Dan's rock-n-roll, I'm more of a nice teacher. 

DZ: We're learning from each other. 

EM: Totally. 

What's next for each of you?  

EM: I've got a Christmas record [The Sounding Joy ] coming out, and hopefully my album with Suni Paz will be coming out next year.  

And, of course, lots of shows with Dan this fall.  I'll say as I'm leaving a concert with Dan, "When will I see you again?" and he'll say, "Tomorrow!" 

DZ: That Christmas album is great, by the way.  I'm developing a music program for kids ages eighteen months through eight years.  The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music will participate and hopefully go national.  And I've been thinking about young people a lot and will be recording an album specifically for kids. 

Photo credits: Zanes and Elizabeth, Greta Nicholas; front steps, Anna Zanes; field, Stephanie Mayers.