Free Song / New Podcast Site!

Man, I've been working hard on this all week, and here it is!!

My new song, "1907", is now available as a free download.

Not only that, I've moved my podcast to a new location and posted a new edition about the making of the song.

You can find it all here: Monty Harper Songcast

"1907" is a musical celebration of Oklahoma's statehood! Download it, share it with your friends, and celebrate!

Goodnight Sun

This month's podcast features a conversation with my friend and children's monster rock sensation, Mr. Billy, about a new song, "Goodnight Sun," which we wrote together. The song will appear on Mr. Billy's new CD, Batteries Not Included, due to be out soon.

Listen to or download the new podcast: Goodnight Sun
Take the survey for a chance to win a CD: Survey
Subscribe: Feedburner Feed
Or subscribe through iTunes: iTunes Feed

Visit Mr. Billy online: MisterBilly.com

Take Me to Your Library

This month's podcast details the creation of the song "Take Me to Your Library," which recently won first place in the Unisong International Songwriting Competition children's category.

If you're linking here from the Unisong website, welcome - I hope you enjoy hearing the song and learning a bit about how it was created.

The song is available on my CD with the same title. You can get it at CDBaby.com. The CD includes extensive notes on the writing and recording of all the songs - just pop it into your computer to access them. Here's an interesting bit from the CD notes that didn't get into the podcast...

"One challenge I had with this song was to keep it interesting musically, since it's so long. I had a melody for the verse and one for the chorus, but I wasn't sure how to put it all together. If I sang the chorus after every verse it would be long and boring. Then I heard an interview of Arlo Guthrie on the radio. He said something about his story songs; that often all the verses will follow the same pattern, but he will throw in a different melody after a while to shake things up.

So that's what I tried. The verse that starts 'A bright blue beam dropped straight down around me...' could be sung with the same melody as the others, but I gave it a new one. It comes right in a spot where we need to hear something new, or the song would start to get boring!"

This month's winner of a free CD is Sarah Nielsen of Wilsonville, Oregon. Congratulations, Sarah! All she had to do was fill out the listener survey. If you've tried before and didn't win, you can try again.

Next month my guest will be Mr. Billy, and we'll talk about a song we wrote together. I'm going to keep promising that until it happens!

Listen to or download the new podcast: Take Me to Your Library, the Podcast
Take the survey for a chance to win a CD: Survey
Subscribe: Feedburner Feed
Or subscribe through iTunes: iTunes Feed

A Pet Like That

In this episode we follow the creation of "A Pet Like That," a song destined for my upcoming CD, Paws, Claws, Scales, and Tales. Listen and learn how a well-known children's book author helped me out with finding the perfect rhyme!

What great timing - it's Dr. Seuss's birthday, so here's something just for fun: see if you can figure out which Dr. Seuss book I reference in the song! It took me forever to find the one I wanted. I must have read every book Dr. Seuss ever wrote, looking for the one I remembered with weird pets in it. Oh well, I can easily think of worse ways to spend my time! If you think you know the answer, post a comment!

Congratulations to our free CD winner for February, Kris Tobey of Tahlequah, Oklahoma!

You can still enter to win a free CD by taking the survey here:
http://www.montyharper.com/survey.html

Go here to listen to or download the new podcast: http://www.montyharper.com/Songcast/060302MontyHarper.mp3
Go here to subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MontyHarperSongcast
Or subscribe through iTunes here: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=266293007

Kiss a Pig!

My January podcast is all about a man who is destined to kiss a pig! We track the creation of the song "When Our Principal Kisses the Pig," which was written with 2nd and 3rd graders at one of my elementary school songwriting workshops. Also, a challenge for you to complete the song "Old Pink Dinosaur," also written at a recent workshop.

Congratulations to Laurel Sharp of Syracuse, NY, who was chosen at random from among the thousands of people (many of them imaginary) who filled out the online survey for a chance to win a set of five Monty Harper CDs.

You can still enter to win a free CD by taking the survey here:
http://www.montyharper.com/survey.html

Go here to listen to or download the new podcast: http://www.montyharper.com/Songcast/060117MontyHarper.mp3
Go here to subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MontyHarperSongcast
Or subscribe through iTunes here: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id= 266293007

Santa's Laugh

My December podcast includes two Santa songs, one for kids, and one for adults, plus a sneak peek at two songs I'm working on for the upcoming CD. Enjoy!

Plus, here's your chance to win a complete set of Monty Harper CDs! My podcasts are getting hundreds of downloads each month, but I have no idea who's listening or what they want to hear. I've posted a survey online to try to find out more about my audience. Fill out the survey for your chance to win a complete set of 5 CDs, worth $70. The drawing will be held January 14, 2006.

Take the survey here: http://www.montyharper.com/survey.html

Go here to listen or download: http://www.montyharper.com/Songcast/051213MontyHarper.mp3
Go here to subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MontyHarperSongcast
Or subscribe through iTunes here: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id= 266293007

I Took My Dragon For a Walk

Here's my November podcast, featuring "I Took My Dragon For a Walk," the first song recorded for my new CD!

You'll hear early concepts for the song, an anecdote about naked tushes, and an early mix of the recording made at Woodside Avenue Music studio in Chicago last month, featuring Jim Cox on standup bass, Don Stiernberg on guitar, and Steve Rashid on harmonica and percussion.

Enjoy!

And please, post a comment to let me know what you think. Thanks!

Go here to listen or download: http://www.montyharper.com/Songcast/051117MontyHarper.mp3
Go here to subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MontyHarperSongcast
Or subscribe through iTunes here: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=266293007

Podcast #3, "Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet"

Howdy folks,

Here is my October podcast, with two fun songs for Halloween. Both of these originated on my Halloween Madness cassette, which is no longer available (although some of the songs are now bonus songs on the Take Me to Your Library CD.)

First is the instrumental "Skeleton Dance." You'll hear a cleaned-up version (with sound effects added back in) which I recorded last year for "Nina in No Limits," an animated film by Ken Streeter and Skye Sweeney, which they made for a 2004 Lego robot competition. You can see the film here: http://fll-freak.home.comcast.net/2004/2004_movie.htm

Then we track the development of one of my most popular songs, "Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet." You'll hear a couple of work tapes from 1991 and 1992, when I wrote the song, then you'll hear the entire song, edited together from five different recordings, including the original cassette, two rehearsals, a live show, and the final version from my new CD, The Great Green Squishy Mean Concert CD.

Enjoy!

And please, post a comment to let me know what you think about the podcast. Thanks!

Click here to listen or download: http://www.montyharper.com/Songcast/051011MontyHarper.mp3
Click here to subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MontyHarper

I Go Bananas - tracking the creation of a new song

The Monty Harper Podcast Part II

Here is the second installment of the Monty Harper Podcast!! (Three weeks late, but oh, well - computer was in the shop.)

This month I am celebrating the coming release of "Shake It Up! with fruits & veggies" for public consumption. My song, "I Go Bananas," is included on this award winning compilation CD. The producer, Beth Larsen, has finally worked her way through the mountains of red tape required to make this government-funded recording available. You'll be able to order a copy for just $4. No better bargain exists in children's music! Well, one does actually - you'll also be able to download many if not all of the songs for free!!

Go to www.fruitandveggiefun.com right now and sign up to receive an email when the CD becomes available.

After you do that, click the title above to download my second podcast. Then click the subscribe button on this page to subscribe to it.

Gee, I'm getting bossy in my old age.

OK, while you wait for the download I'll let you know a bit more about what's in store. In this month's episode you will track the creation of a new song. Yes, I'm letting you listen in on my personal work tapes as I mold and shape and prod this song into existance. Then you will thrill and groove even more to the final recording as you ponder its humble beginnings. Perhaps the whole experience will inspire you to be creative too.

Enjoy!!!

Here's the link for downloading this month's episode: http://www.montyharper.com/Songcast/050926MontyHarper.mp3

Oh, and do please post your comments here or send me an email to let me know how you liked it and what you'd like to hear next time. Thanks!

Launching a PodCast!

Well, I've gone and done it - I've put together a podcast!

In case you don't know what that is, it's like a radio show that you can subscribe to so that your computer automatically downloads new episodes for you to hear.

My PodCast is for fans both young and young at heart. It's 10 minutes long and it contains music and commentary. I intend to include only music that you won't hear anywhere else!

For example, in the first installment, you'll hear a rehearsal version of one of the songs from my new CD, and the instrumental version of one of the songs from my first CD with commentary about cool sounds to listen for.

In future installments I may include songs or recordings in progress, and commentary on the writing process. I hope to keep it fun and informative for my fans, and maybe attract some new fans in the process.

A new episode will be available each month, assuming I manage to keep up with it! That's where you can help - the more feedback I get, the more people I'll know are listening, and the more likely I'll be to keep making them!

And of course, what I include in future podcasts will be largely up to you - what would you like to hear?

Anyhow, to download the first episode, you can click here: Monty's first podcast

To subscribe - well, I'm working on that - still learning how to do it. I hope to have it available on iTunes soon. I'll get back to you!