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A Conversation with Ella Jenkins

Ella Jenkins is called the first lady of children’s music, and for good reason — she is a Lifetime Grammy Achievement Award winner who has been recording for over 50 years, and with her new album, A Life of Song, she’s still going strong. I was thrilled and honored to spend some time with her on the phone recently, talking about her amazing life and career. So let’s talk about A Life of Song. You’ve certainly lived one. Well,... Read More

CD Review: Professor Banjo, “Old Time, Good Time!”

While I sort of doubt he has an actual degree in banjology, you’ve got to hand it to Professor Banjo for truth in advertising. His 16-track Old Time, Good Time! delivers exactly what you’d expect: a guy, a banjo, and plenty of old-timey songs, like “Shortnin’ Bread,” “Jordan Is a Hard Road to Travel” (weirdly shortened here to “Jerdin,” but whatever), and “All the Pretty Little Horses.” The... Read More

CD Review: Various Artists, “Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti”

You wouldn’t be visiting Dadnabbit if you weren’t looking for quality entertainment that your whole family can enjoy. What if you could have it — lots of it — and support a worthy cause in the bargain? That’s the idea behind Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti, the debut offering from Bill Childs‘ Spare the Rock Records, and it works splendidly. The track listing boasts a virtual Who’s Who of the best and brightest... Read More

CD Review: Pete Seeger, “Tomorrow’s Children”

Even during his younger days, Pete Seeger was something of an ambivalent recording artist. He feared that the more he sang on record, the less likely people would be to join in and sing along; foreign as it might seem in this age of tabloid-reported indiscretions and phony social media friendships, Seeger never desired celebrity. He’s really always worked to build a creative relationship with his audience, and he’s always stressed the... Read More

CD Reviews: Music for Little People, “Pickin’ & Grinnin’” and “Love & Peace”

Music for Little People turns 25 this year, and they’re celebrating by releasing a pair of compilations that reflect their quarter-century dedication to helping parents entertain kids: Pickin’ & Grinnin’: Great Folk Songs for Kids and Love & Peace: Greatest Hits for Kids. Between them, you get 32 tracks from a pleasing variety of performers from across the kids’ music spectrum, and though they’re arranged thematically,... Read More

CD Review: Sarah Lee Guthrie & Family, “Go Waggaloo”

Sarah Lee Guthrie is Woody Guthrie’s granddaughter — and the youngest daughter of Arlo Guthrie, whose “Alice’s Restaurant” took satirical folk protest songs to a whole new level — so her first children’s CD, Go Waggaloo, carries a greater weight of expectation than most debuts. Then again, most artists don’t debut on Smithsonian Folkways, a label geared much more strongly toward the music of the past,... Read More

Book/CD Review: “Sunday in Kyoto”

You may never have heard of Gilles Vigneault, but he’s a cultural icon in Canada, particularly in Quebec, where his music so popular that one of his songs has replaced “Happy Birthday” as the birthday party anthem of choice. One of Vigneault’s fans is Roland Stringer, founder of publishing company The Secret Mountain; he’s referred to Vigneault as “French Canada’s Pete Seeger,” and now, he’s giving... Read More