First Unitarian Church Fall Fair, OKC

Last Saturday I had a fun time performing outdoors for the First Unitarian Church in Oklahoma City. It was chilly in the shade so we set up in the last sunny spot as the sun went down behind the building. All other activities, games, and bounce house paused so people could gather for the show (which I very much appreciate!) I sang an impromptu song about a penguin on the refrigerator as suggested by one young audience member who came up between songs to make his request. I don't know if he had an existing song in mind - if so, now there are two! It was nice to have Lisa and Evalyn along; they don't always get to come with me during the school year. Lisa took some great photos. Here they are...

Roundy Round

 

I'm gonna play my nose like a kazoo!

Lisa loves to capture me with a goofy look on my face while I'm singing.

 

See what I mean?

New Science CD Underway

I've started working on my next CD! It will be a follow-up to Songs From the Science Frontier.

Right now I'm making demo recordings of the songs and starting to raise funds for the studio recording and manufacturing. The general plan is to try and raise $2,000 or so for manufacturing through sales of my current CDs between now and December. (So please buy CDs for your friends and family - they make great Christmas gifts!)

Sometime around October/November we'll run a Kickstarter-type campaign to raise the money needed for studio recording. We're planning a lot of fun stuff in the meantime, and would love for you to be involved!

What kinds of prizes / rewards would you like have a chance to earn? Please take this very quick and fun survey, or post a comment. Thanks!

Wiggle Out Loud

Oklahoma's first ever day-long kindie music event, Wiggle Out Loud, was a sensation! I was given the honor of kicking the whole thing off and I had a nice little crowd to sing for. Thanks everyone who came out to see me!!!!

Kudos to Chris Wiser of the Sugar Free Allstars, the driving force behind the event! He introduced me as the "Grandfather of Children's Music in Oklahoma." Later he claimed that he meant to say "Godfather." I'm not sure how much difference there is. Point being, I was doing children's music before any of these other upstarts!

The most amazing meeting occurred just before my program. A dad and daughter whom I had never met before came up to say hi. As it turns out, I had heard the girl Willow's voice calling in a question on a podcast just the day before. The podcast is produced in California, so I never expected to meet anyone connected with it at a show in Oklahoma! But what's more, she was having a similar experience, because my voice was also in that very same podcast episode! I'm talking about Aaron's World Episode 35 - Meridian. Willow asked for her favorite of my songs, "Acrocanthosaurs!" Of course I played it for her and she joined me on stage. Very cool!

Lisa and I spent the rest of the day watching our vocational grandchildren show off their musical prowess. Children's music sure has come a long way! Secret Agent 23 Skidoo and his daughter MC Fireworks blew me away with their smart and meaningful children's rap. And the Verve Pipe were just flat-out awesome!

All the acts did a great job, of course, and the audiences were fantastic. It was amazing to play at a festival where the people came to hear great family music. (As opposed to being an add-on to whatever the main idea is, which is the usual festival situation.) 

Lisa took some photos, below - I guess she has a natural bias toward photos of me! Who can blame her? I did take one shot myself of the Verve Pipe drummer. They let kids come up on stage and beat on the drum kit during the last song. When I approached the stage to take a photo I wasn't sure if I'd get a clear shot, there was such a huge crowd of photographers already there. I guess it's just not something you see at every concert!  

Oh, and the last photo is me with ten-year-old Elvis impersonator Brady Shattan! Yes, you read right. The kid is a ball of fire! He wants to be a children's musician when he grows up. Ha, ha - me too!

On Stage

Big Red Fire Truck

"Spring Your Sharpened Claw"

Roundy Round

Fans

Verve Pipe drummer surrounded by kids, all bashing his drums during the last song of their set, "I'm a Believer"

With Brady Shattan, aka "Mini Elvis"

Name-Your-Price Downloads for my Birthday!

It's my birthday!

I'm celebrating with name-your-own-price downloads for 48 hours on my BandCamp page! 

The music you'll find there includes:

• Songs From the Science Frontier + two additional science songs
• Halloween Madness
• Reading Songs Volume I + additional reading songs
• Talk Like a Pirate Day
• All my residency songs, written with 4th and 5th graders

Proceeds will kick off the fund for recording my next science CD!!

Please download some free music - I want you to! - and share with your friends. Thanks!!

(Sale ends Aug 23 at 10 AM CST)

Last Summer Program - Clearwater, KS

Hard to believe that today was our last library program for the summer! It's been a great summer! Thanks to everyone who came out to see a show, and to all the libraries who hired me to perform! Hopefully we'll see you again next year!!

Lisa and I were on our own today while Evalyn stayed with grandma so she could do art camp and a swim lesson. We had a super show at the library in Clearwater, KS! Then we headed over to McConnell Air Force Base where I sang for nearly an hour to a group of energetic five-and-unders. Both the shows were so much fun! More days like today, please!

Our camera batteries gave out, but not before Lisa managed to grab a few photos at Clearwater. At McConnell she had to resort to her iPhone. Here they are, enjoy...

Nearly all the kids wanted to come up for the dinosaur song, and it was a small crowd, so I decided they could have the stage and I would sing from the audience. I don't often get to see the back of my own head. Hmmm...

This is at McConnell AFB. During "Library Bookaneers" we formed a line and marched around the room!

Lawton

Two fun shows in Lawton today, another place I have visited many many times over the years. We had two fun shows. During the second show the kids wanted to hear a verse about pterodactyls in the dinosaur song. Even though they aren't actually dinosaurs, I took that as a challenge, and added a pterodactyl verse on the spot!

Stillwater Public Library

The Stillwater library program is always one of the highlights of my summer! It was a little strange to be there without our daughter - she is off at music camp in Arkansas!

Thanks to everyone who came to see the show today!

We had a little trouble with the sound system during the morning program, and that got distracting so I apologize. Turns out my wireless transmitters were sounding through the library's speakers so we had dueling systems causing various weirdnesses with the sound. Despite that the show went well, and the two afternoon shows were fantastic.

Lisa took lots of photos, and here they are...

"That's my gastric cavity..."

Library Bookaneers

This guy was an awesome dinosaur for me - he really got into the part!

Triceratops Bop

Stegosaur Swing

Tyrannosaur Crunch

"Run twice as fast..."

"Silly silly silly silly..."

I have no idea what I was thinking. Maybe this one would make a good caption contest.

Hadrosaur Hoot

Stegosaur Swing

Signing cards

One of the students from Mrs. Cox's class who helped write the Black Footed Ferret song was there at the third program, and she came up on stage to sing the song with me!! She was fantastic!!

Triceratops Bop

Cutie dinos!

Tomorrow... Lawton!

Metropolitan Library System - Days 2 and 3

Tuesday I was on my own - so no photos from Lisa, sorry! I was in Bethany for two morning shows, then Belle Isle in the evening. Crowds were small but spirited! I think "You're a Dinosaur" in Belle Isle may have been the best ever. My volunteer dinosaurs started running through the audience to do their dinosaur moves, but they always came back to a line at the front for the next verse!

Yesterday we were at the Wright branch for the morning and Warr Acres in the afternoon. Lisa was there to take photos, and here they are:

The Wright program was at a nearby church.

Triceratops Bop

Roundy Round - not a regular part of the program, but sometimes I'll throw in a different song just for fun.

At Warr Acres we had a very chatty crowd - I always have fun when I can interact a lot with the kids!

Can you guess what's in this box?

Stegosaur Swing

Tyrannosaur Crunch

Metropolitan Library System Day 1 - NW and Capitol Hill

We kicked off the Metropolitan System tour in OKC today at the brand new North West branch. The building is impressive! Whimsical statues greet you on your way in. Structures resembling oil derricks rise up from the roof outside, and inside the base of each of these defines a smaller space within the open library, such as a checkout desk or study area. There is an outdoor courtyard attached to the children's area with high walls all around so kids can roam free. (When we arrived the librarians were rescuing a mouse who had fallen in!) The program room has an open airy feeling and great acoustics! There were only a handful of folks in attendance at the afternoon show at Capitol Hill, but we had a lot of fun there too! Here are photos: 

Those white areas are dry erase boards. I asked how you write on the top part - and was told that you don't. They double as projection screens, that's why they're so big! Cool - I will be using projectors with my science program next year.

Ants in Your Pants Dance

Here is pretty much my entire audience from the afternoon show at Capitol Hill!