There’s never any shortage of cartoon characters in family entertainment, but few of them possess the unusual, undeniable appeal of Gustafer Yellowgold, the friendly, bug-eyed alien from the sun who arrived on Earth five years ago and has quickly achieved kindie rock star status. With his latest adventure, Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity Sock, coming out on March 1, we decided now would be the perfect time for a chat with his creator: musician and illustrator Morgan Taylor. So let’s talk about Infinity Sock. Yeah! What’s going on with it? (Laughs) One thing I’ve always enjoyed about the Gustafer records is that they’re not only mellow — as you often point out — but that they’re also gentle, which makes a big difference, I think. And I also appreciate the fact that they don’t pander musically, either
Read More »Making the jump from grown-up rock to children’s music is all the rage now, but Farmer Jason — a.k.a. Jason Ringenberg, the erstwhile leader of Jason & the Scorchers — has been doing it longer than most; he made his first foray into the kid-pop market in 2003 with A Day at the Farm with Farmer Jason, and since then, he’s divided his time between post-Scorchers solo records (such as 2004′s Empire Builders) and appearances as his agriculturally inclined alter ego, who has been rocking the junior set in concert and a local access PBS series, bits of which have been repurposed for his new DVD, It’s a…Farmer Jason! Given its humble origins, the DVD is about as endearingly low-budget as you might expect, despite a NASCAR-type block of corporate logos emblazoned on the back
Read More »Trout Fishing in America – My Name Is Chicken Joe (2009, Secret Mountain) purchase this book/CD/DVD (Amazon) Trout Fishing in America celebrates its 30th anniversary this year — and the fact that you most likely didn’t know that, but have never heard a lick of the roots duo’s music, explains why they won’t be commemorating the occasion with a lavish boxed set, sold-out arena tour, or all-star tribute record. They will, however, be taking a fond look back at some of the most popular songs from their multiple forays into kids’ music with My Name Is Chicken Joe, a beautifully made ersatz best-of that sets their song “Chicken Joe” alongside some eye-catching illustrations from artist Stéphane Jorisch to create a handsome, albeit plot-free, book to go along with the 11-track CD. And if that isn’t
Read More »Daddy a Go Go – Come On, Get Happy: The Best of Daddy a Go Go, Volume 1 (2009, Boyd’s Tone) purchase this album (Amazon) I had never heard of Daddy a Go Go, the kiddie-rockin’ alter ego adopted by singer/songwriter/stay-at-home-dad John Boydston, before opening the envelope that contained Come On Get Happy, but that’s just simple ignorance on my part: Boydston has released six albums of kids’ music since 1998, won multiple awards, and earned press in publications like Newsweek and the Washington Post. For lucky album number seven, Boydston has decided to collect and remaster 15 of his greatest “hits,” including “Daddy’s Diaper Blues,” “I Think I Might Be a Dog,” “Nana Nana Boo Boo,” and “Pink Floyd Saves Hugh Manatee,” a song so stupidly titled I almost threw away the CD. I’m
Read More »The Baby Grands – The Baby Grands (2008, Backspace) purchase this CD As has been discussed many times here at Dadnabbit, we no longer live in the dark old days of children’s music, when parents had slim choices for audio entertainment, and most of them involved sitting through untold hours of synth-laden arrangements and cutesy-poo lyrics. We’ve entered a more enlightened era, one in which artists who cater to kids often try to target adult tastes too — but even now, there’s a pretty stark split in kids’ music; some artists try to infuse their music with an approximation of the manic energy of youth, while others take a more thoughtful, laid back approach. Atlanta’s Baby Grands fit the latter description, and even if their press materials overplay their hand a bit — whoever came
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We’ll have to wait until June 22 for Pixar’s Brave to arrive in theaters, but the...
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