Suburban Acres Library, Tulsa

Today I did the first two of four shows for the Tulsa Public libraries in conjunction with the Tulsa Performing Arts Center on the topic of Jason and the Argonauts. This is part of the Imagination series - each program promotes an upcoming event at the TPAC. I did a few of these last year on a different story and really enjoyed it.

Part of the program involves me reading to the kids from the story, so I've spent some time this past week reading different versions of Jason, to find one I wanted to read aloud from.

The photos below were taken by the librarians at the Suburban Acres Library this morning (thanks!!). My audience consisted of two second grade classes, borrowed from the school next door. The kids were fantastic and we had a great time together talking and singing about heroes. They had prepared by reading two different versions of Jason and comparing them. So we had lots of comments about how my version was different.

Two more Jason shows tomorrow!

Halloween Madness!

Originally released in 1992 on cassette, my not so scary Halloween songs are now available on CD, with bonus tracks! This collection includes both versions of my all-time most requested song, "Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet." Other titles include "There's a Vampire in Our Basement" and "Weird Things Happen on Halloween Night."

Available from: Kunaki

Click here for lyrics and more!

Songbook Grand Opening - Win a $50 iTunes Gift Card!

I've been working hard on a new project for the past couple of months, and now I'm ready to announce the new interactive online Monty Harper Songbook!

I'm celebrating this "Grand Opening" with a $50 iTunes giveaway!

My songbook features lyrics to 145+ songs that I have written or co-written, including all the songs available on my CDs and just as many that are not.

You'll also find guitar chords, videos, free MP3 downloads, and other extras such as study guides and lesson plans.

But the really cool part is that I've organized and posted my songs in a bulletin board format. This means that anyone who feels so inclined can add their own content.

I've already posted several fan-made videos, podcasts that feature my songs, lesson plans sent to me by teachers who used my songs, and other related items that I've collected over the years.

As a Monty Harper fan, I hope you'll be excited to explore the songbook, see what other people are saying, and post a comment here and there. You might post a related YouTube video, piece of artwork, lesson plan, or just a story about how a particular song drove you nuts all the way to California and back.

The drawing will be held on September 29, 2009 at 11:59 PM Central Standard Time. That's not much time, so enter now before you forget!

How to win the $50 iTunes gift card:

1. Go to http://montysongs.freeforums.org/

2. Register as a member of the forum. It's quick and easy. You won't get any unwanted email as a result. I promise.

3. Find your favorite Monty Harper song and click the title, then click "Post Reply."

4. Type a sentence or two about why the song is your favorite, how you've used it with kids, or what it means to your family. (Optional: You may attach a relevant file, such as artwork, a photo, video, etc.)

5. Click "Submit."

A few details, for those who want to know:

I reserve the right to disqualify an entry that I deem inappropriate. Things NOT to post include ads or self-promotion, anything a child shouldn't see or read, and anything devoid of meaningful content related to a song. Such posts will not appear in the songbook.

Yes, you can post more than once, and yes, each post gives you an extra chance at winning.

You must still be a registered member of this songbook forum on the day of the drawing in order to win.

Your chances of winning are likely to be excellent, compared to your chances of winning the lottery.

The $50 gift card can be used to purchase anything on iTunes. It can also be "gifted" to a friend.

Registering is quick, easy, and safe. You won't receive spam email as a result. I won't share your email with anyone else. When you register you agree not to post material that is copyrighted, and not to hold me legally responsible for anything that happens to the material you post - i.e. only post what you're willing to share with the world.

That's it - have fun!

Retreat

Last weekend Lisa and I took a little retreat to one of the Cedar Falls Cabins near Davis, OK to get some planning done for the year. We worked hard and had a great time just getting away for a day.

Breakfast on the back porch:

There was a beautiful creek out back, with little waterfalls making little waterfall music:

Looking back up at the cabin from the creek:

Our work area - see, we did do some work! We came home with new focus, goals, strategies, schedules - all pumped up to have a great year!

Wisconsin Trip

At the beginning of August Lisa, Evalyn, and I drove to Wisconsin to spend a week with our friends the Grisacks, AKA Mr. Billy and his family, Cathy, Taelor, and Wil. This is the same Mr. Billy I did the Let's Get Creative CD with. We wanted to combine some work with some fun. Mr. Billy and I recorded the instrument tracks for four brand new songs while the girls (Lisa, Evalyn, Cathy, and Taelor) went to the zoo and had other adventures together.

I got to see Mr. Billy perform, which was very cool because I've never seen him perform before. (He still hasn't seen me.) We got to eat dinner at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. We saw a drive-in double feature. We went to a water park resort and spent the night there for Taelor's birthday party - happy birthday Taelor!

And as I mentioned Mr. Billy and I even wrote and got a good start recording four new songs, which we are both very excited about. We are considering releasing them as digital singles as we finish them, rather than waiting until we have a whole CD ready. What do you think - good idea? Watch for that.

Here are Evalyn and Taelor on the swings at the drive-in movie. I know they are hard to tell apart because they went shopping and purchased identical outfits. That's Taelor on the left and Evalyn on the right, I'm pretty sure.

Here I am working hard on the lyrics to a song. I thought I had a good line but Billy says it was a reach.

Here are Billy and I in the basement studio discussing something or other to do with something. Notice the evil grin on Billy's face and see how the light of goodness shines off of mine.

The past week or so Lisa and I have been trying to organize our house and enjoy the last few days of summer (conflicting goals!). We went to back to school night at Evalyn's school tonight, and her first day back is Thursday. Hard to believe she'll be a third grader!

Lots of exciting stuff coming up, so stay tuned...

Weatherford

My last library show of the summer was yesterday morning in Weatherford! The Weatherford library has a sunken program area that's furnished like a living room with lots of cushy chairs. I had a small, quiet, and particularly comfy audience.

Here is one audience member after the show checking out Evalyn's blog. She left a really nice comment.

Yesterday afternoon we visited the SWOSU campus where I sang for the kids at an arts camp and answered a few questions about songwriting. I wish we'd had more time!

Today we are preparing for a trip to Wisconsin for songwriting, recording, and fun with Mr. Billy and his family. After that, the sky's the limit!

Marion, KS

This morning I performed in Marion, KS, in another auditorium, as you can see. Many among the audience were relatives - Lisa's aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, third cousins, etc. etc.

Evalyn can even sing with her eyes closed!

I did "You're a Dinosaur" and made the mistake of inviting anyone who wanted to to come on stage, thinking there were only a few hands up, but then a flood of kids came up! So we had a herd of each dino type.

After the show we had a nice cookout at Lisa's cousin's house, and we got to know some of our cousins twice removed - those would be Lisa's cousin's grandkids, if I've got it right! Now we get a week "off," during which we will do ALL the things we've been putting off all summer. Haha!

Rose Hill and Emporia, KS

My two shows today were at opposite extremes of the spectrum in terms of audience and venue, and both were great fun.

This morning in Rose Hill we set up in the corner of the library, and had a small audience. One daycare group arrived early so I sat down and read "Prancing Dancing Lily" to them while we waited for showtime.

Here's a photo with most of the audience, after the show.
This evening in Emporia, I performed in a the Granada Theater, restored to it's original 1930s glory. It was their end of summer celebration. Kids had to read a certain number of hours in order to earn tickets to come to the show! We had a huge crowd! Here's a view from the balcony:

There was a "mosh pit" area down in front, where kids came to run around and dance during much of the show. Here they are for "Reading Makes Me Want to Dance Out Loud."

During the same song - Evalyn is doing her patented "Hyper Dyno" dance!

Whew - it's been a fun day. We are ready for bed, and will be up and at it again in the morning, at Marion!

Cherokee & Salt Plains

Today I had a very lively little group at the Cherokee library. These kids weren't shy at all about interacting with me during the program. It's fun to have a group like that!

Don't I look embarrassed? I must have played the wrong guitar chord. Actually this is during - you guessed it - "Silly Song."

On our way home we stopped by the Salt Plains state park to dig selenite crystals. It was really cool. We rounded the top of a hill and saw what looked like a huge lake in front of us - but it's really a dry plain covered with salt.

We dug little holes and found lots of crystals just under the surface.

It was a fun day. Now we are down to our last four library programs for the summer! Two tomorrow and one Wednesday in Kansas, then one next Thursday in Weatherford. Don't worry, we'll find plenty to keep ourselves occupied after that...

Oklahoma City

My show today at the downtown library in OKC kicked off a children's music festival which lasts all week, featuring local performers and musicians from the Kansas City area.

Lisa took a million great shots & as you can see, I had trouble narrowing them down.

Evalyn's friend Hope came with us today. Here they are together:

We sang "Don't Look, I'm Making a Book":

During "Silly Song," not only did kids suggest their own verses, they came up on stage to do it. This kind of happened spontaneously, and it worked really well in that auditorium. Here are shots of the kids who came up to write verses with me. Tail-swishing giraffe:

Being squished by a hippo:

Silenced by a wooly mammoth:

Stuffed into a turtle shell:

Milk-squirting cow:

More kids came on stage to help me out with "You're a Dinosaur":

Signing autographs after the show:

As you can see, we had a great time! I hope you can make it to some of the other festival events this week!

More Photos from Perry and Stillwater

Lisa wasn't with me in Perry the other day, so I posted the few photos that were taken on my camera. Here are some more, taken by the librarians. (Thanks for sending them to me!)

Here are Evalyn and I singing "Don't Look I'm Making a Book."

There were a bunch of cute little ones running around during the show.

Look at all those smiling faces!

Everyone's a bit "wrapped up" here during a "Silly Song" verse about a snake:

"I read the book - ME!"

Finally, here is a great photo from one of the Stillwater shows, sent in by a fan. Send me your own photos from a Monty Harper event and I'll post them! Thanks!

Perry and Fairfax

Thunderstorms kept Lisa awake Wednesday night, so yesterday morning came way too early for her. Evalyn and I went out on our own for shows in Perry and Fairfax. Without Lisa to man (woman?) the cameras, I just brought home a couple of posed shots with kids from the audience after each show.

Here's my Perry group:

And here's my Fairfax group:

The Fairfax show took place in an old bank building which is in the process of becoming a museum. There were all sorts of cool items lying around, including an old pump organ, and these two characters:

Norman

I performed twice in Norman Monday. I was still pretty exhausted from my trip to NY, and got a bit extra silly at times as you'll see below.

Here's one of the daycare groups from the first show:

Everybody, the answer is...

Getting squished by an elephant during "Silly Song":

At the end of the evening show I invited kids to come up and sing "Trick or Treat" with me:

Posing with some long-time fans. My fans are fantastic!

Camp Inquiry

Wow - a day off today! I've been non-stop busy since the first of the month, with the Stillwater shows, preparing and packing, family here on the 4th, flying to NY, doing Camp Inquiry, flying home, and Norman shows yesterday. Give me a moment to breathe, then I'll tell you all about Camp Inquiry.

I heard about it on NPR - a camp for kids oriented around science and critical thinking. I would have loved it as a kid, but never knew such a thing existed. I also heard the director say they included the arts, so I sent an email to ask what kind of songs, if any, they sang around the campfire.

That lead to Evalyn and I going, obviously - she as a camper and I as the resident songwriter. I had two main duties: One, to lead singing during the campfires, and two, to help the campers write their own songs.

The camp director and I decided to use John Lennon's "Imagine" as a sort of theme song, so a typical campfire went like this. I started to get kids' attention with Spongebob's "Campfire Song Song" (by request from the kids), then presented one of my own participatory songs, then we sang "Imagine" once or twice so the campers could learn it. Then after s'mores (gotta have the s'mores!) I would take requests and sing a few more songs just for those campers who wanted more.

I was told that in previous years there were no songs at the campfire and that this brought a whole new sense of community to the event, with everyone singing together for a short time. Cool!

One of the challenges to this was selecting songs of my own that might appeal to everyone, since campers ranged in age from seven to sixteen (with one five year old sibling thrown in). I did "The Cat Came Back," "The Legend of Old Rip," and "Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet." These all worked very well, but the surprise (to me) runaway hit was "Roundy Round."

I was inspired to write "Roundy Round" by my (then) three year old niece who loved to go "roundy round" - meaning she spun around in one spot until she got dizzy and fell over.

Of course, being the science geek that I am, I ended up writing a song for a three-year-old that's really about the nature of science and the universe. Up until now, none of my audiences have truly seemed to appreciate that aspect of the song. But at Camp Inquiry, they laughed in all the right places! The campers and staff sang along with such enthusiasm that I was able to sing the counter-melody over their "Roundy Round"s. It was a great moment for me - it felt like I had found my people!

In the audience that night was internationally known theoretical physicist and author Dr. Lawrence Krauss (on the left below). Dr. Krauss requested that his talk the following night be introduced by the song, which I was more than happy to do.

OK - so the other thing I did at camp was lead the kids in writing their own songs. They were split into three groups by age for morning "rotation" time, and I met with each group for about 45 minutes each day.

During that time I tried my best to teach, inspire, and write with the kids. All the campers at least learned a bit about what goes into making a song. Most of them did some writing. A good number of them actually finished and performed their songs. I met with those who were most serious about it during their afternoon choice time. These kids were so smart and so multi-talented that mostly all I needed to do was advise them when needed, and try to stay out of their way.

Evalyn wrote a song called "Never Give Up," which she sang a cappella. Several campers tried their songs out during Friday night's camp fire, and when Evalyn sang, you could hear her voice, clear as a bell, echoing off the trees nearby, it got so quiet. She received thunderous applause. Everyone was impressed with her song, as well as with her bravery at putting her voice out there with no accompaniment.

At the culminating program on Saturday night, eight new songs were performed for the campers, staff, guests, and parents in attendance. All the camper-written songs were amazing. There was a "Camp Inquiry" theme song, an upbeat song called "C'mon" about having fun as a kid while you still can, a creepy campfire song about "The Creepy Old Man," who lives in the lake and terrorizes campers, a clever song sung from the point of view of "Pip, the Pepperoni," about his experience being cooked into a pizza, a humorous tale about "The Perfect Camp Fire Song" which never gets heard due to the singer's picky nature, a dark song exploring the possibility of "World War III," and an infectious pop song, which I could easily imagine as a hit on the radio, called "Goodbye."

Here are some shots from Saturday's program, covering each of the eight songs in no particular order:

Evalyn and I were singing the campers' songs on the way home. We made lots of new friends and had a great experience. We are missing camp already and hoping we'll be able to do it again next year!

Stillwater

We had three super-fine shows at the Stillwater library today!

Does this red curtain look familiar?

Does it? That could be because the photo for my latest CD cover ("Let's Get Creative, with Monty Harper and Mr. Billy) was taken on this very same stage!

Lisa finally caught me with my finger in my mouth, teaching the kids how to "pop" for "The Brainiacs."

Evalyn and I did a lot of CD signing and talking with fans after each show.

Enid

I performed today at Enid. People were having trouble finding parking because several streets were closed due to the filming of a Hollywood movie, which was happening right across the street from the program.

Here I am talking with some kids before the show.

Posing with fans afterwards:

Here's a shot Lisa took of the film crew working across the street:

Okeene and Watonga

Two more great groups today. First in Okeene. Here we are shaking our hands like two maracas. Note the fishy mural in the background which the kids helped create!

Evalyn has visited the Watonga library every summer of her life. She says she loves it there because they always go all out with their decorations for the theme. Here she is posing with a giant watercolor set!

Goofing around before the show:

Exchange with a girl of about seven before the show:

She: "You're a dork" Me: "I know you like me" She: "I do like you but you're still a dork"

Singing underwater...

Posing with the kids after the show...

Check out the giant markers, crayons, and pencil!

Lost photos from Cushing, OK and Holton, KS

Just catching up a bit here. I missed posting these photos from a couple of weeks back!

These are from June 8 at Holton, KS. My audience was in two sections, at right angles to each other, so you see about half of them here.

Next are some shots from June 9 in Cushing. The library was built in the late 1930's, and still has many of the original features. The program was in a funky little basement room that we had to ride an elevator up, then a different elevator back down, to get to! One side of the room is dominated by a checker-tiled semi-circular stage area. The colorful frescos on the walls are original, and much of the furniture is original. The folding chairs from the 30's have only recently been replaced with new ones. It was a fun space to perform in.

Hartshorne and Wilburton

Yesterday I had two wonderful shows, at Hartshorn and Wilburton, despite the fact that Lisa and I were operating on practically no sleep, thanks to the dog next door. Evalyn's cousins were in town, so we left her at her grandma's where she could play with them.

Below are a couple of photos from the Hartshorn show. Unfortunately the batteries in the camera died, so we have nothing to show you from Wilburton. There was a family there who have been fans for thirteen years! The dad thanked me for all the pleasure his kids have gotten out of my music. It's nice to get those little reminders of why I do this!

On the way home, Lisa and I (mostly I) were completely silly with exhaustion. We spent much of today - napping! Next shows are Monday at Okeene and Watonga.

Owasso

I did two really great shows in Owasso today; the kids were interacting quite a lot with me and they were fun.

Here's a photo of the first group, watching Evalyn sing "Don't Look, I'm Making a Book."

Posing afterwards with a fan:

Here I am being chased by a "lion" during "Silly Song" in the second show:

A group of kids wanted to be on stage to help me sing "Trick or Treat":

Several kids from the second group wanted to pose for a photo: