Pretty Prairie

I spent the night in Wichita last night, so I could drive to Pretty Prairie, KS in the morning for a "Reading Celebration" program. Then I spent the day at Pretty Prairie meeting with smaller groups for Q&A and a bit of songwriting.

Thanks to librarian DeAnna Goering for taking these photos of me with the kids, and also for the cool illustration of my "Take Me to Your Library" song, which she hung in the hallway in preparation for my visit. All last week, apparently, kids were trying to figure out the meaning of the alien's speech balloon. When they finally heard me sing "Akbo ekto... " etc., it clicked - "Hey, that's what the alien in the hallway is saying!" Pretty cool!

Wish me luck - I have five more days in a row of performing this week, and my voice is already starting to give out, due to drainage down the back of my throat. Yuck!

Geary, Oklahoma, Geary, Oklahoma, Geary Oklahoma

I had a fun time in Geary, OK today. I performed for PreK-4th, then after lunch I met with three small groups to talk about songwriting and share some extra songs. The 3rd and 4th grade group seemed especially interested and we got into all sorts of details about the mechanics of creating melody.

Tomorrow Duncan, and twelve shows next week!

P.S. Here's a photo of "Annie," a puppet named after the pony in Evalyn and my song, "Oklahoma Annie"!

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

Burns Flat

Oops, I let another Friday slip by without updating you, Dear Reader! I know you suffered pangs of bitter disappointment, but here I am now to make it all better. (As They Might Be Giants say in one of their songs, "If it wasn't for disappointment, I wouldn't have any appointments.")

Anyhow, I spent today on the road to and from Will Rogers Elementary in Burns Flat, where I gave a performance and led a songwriting workshop. This was my second visit to Burns Flat. A big howdy to my friends there!!

The workshops were fun. There were four groups, two second grade and two third grade classes. We did a pass-along workshop, starting the song with the first group and passing it on until the forth group finished it. At the end of the day we sang it for the whole school. The song is called "When Our Principal Kisses the Pig," and it's pretty hilarious. Mr. Mat, the principal, has agreed to kiss a real live pig for the principal's challenge, when the students reach their reading goal. I think they are very well motivated to do so!! Limber up those lips, Mr. Mat!!

Last week we were still busy with holiday stuff; my sister and niece were here for New Years, and Evalyn was still on break most of the week. But I managed to eek out some studio time, and "Eleanor Gerbil" is nearing completion. All the vocals are recorded, and I have only mixing left to do.

Next week watch for a new podcast. I'll be announcing the winner of our survey drawing. Somebody's gonna get a free set of Monty Harper CDs. If you meant to enter but it slipped your mind, then scroll down to "Santa's Laugh" below for more information. There's still time to sneak in your entry before the January 14 deadline. And I'll give you a hint - your chances of winning are definitely worth the few moments it takes to take the survey!