Skelly and Jack star in "Halloween Candy"

Howdy friends,

My wife, Lisa, and I have been working long hours on a secret project which we started a year ago; now it's ready for your eyeballs, just in time for Halloween!

Today we bring you "Halloween Candy," a stop-motion animated film featuring the instrumental song "Skeleton Dance" from my Halloween Madness EP. We've always wanted to see this piece of music animated with dancing skeletons, and finally decided to just do it ourselves. Lisa and I worked out the story together. She took charge of art direction and dance moves; I took charge of technical details and pushing little bits of cardstock around beneath the camera.

We achieved the eye-popping colors using florescent ink under an ultraviolet light mounted inside a cardboard box. We laid out the figures at the bottom of the box and mounted the camera on top. My shooting sessions achieved a certain rhythm: move the figures, step onto the stool, click the camera, step down, move the figures, step up, click the camera, step down... Time slowed for me as five seconds of motion became four hours of shooting, and all the while I'm wondering - what will this look like when I play it back? I was always amazed when the individual shots came to life. Just like they say in those Disney "how animation works" documentaries - it's magic!

We put lots of fun details and references into the story, so we think it bears repeated viewing. In fact we can't stop watching it ourselves, though we may be a bit biased. See if you can recognize some of the dance moves Lisa choreographed!

Many thanks to my Patreon patrons, whose contributions help keep us going!

If you like, please click "like" and share with your friends. Thanks!

Pet Rock

What do your pets long to do in the middle of the night when the moon shines blue? Crank out some old-school rock n roll music, of course! My brand new song, "Pet Rock," is now available on YouTube, CDBaby, and iTunes!  This is the first of many songs to be released through FlyingSpaghettiMusic.com, a new venture powered by Patreon. At Patreon you can help support my music-making by pledging to pay $1 per song as new songs are released. I'm really excited about "Pet Rock!" - it's one of the best-sounding songs I've recorded, owing its awesomeness to an unlikely collection of talented musicians who never set foot in the same room together! The story begins with a surprise visit from fellow children's artist, Mr. Billy, a rock guitar virtuoso. When he came to Oklahoma this past August and offered to spend some time recording, I felt like a kid in a candy shop, but with only one quarter, because we only had time for one song!   I didn't have to think hard about which song to tackle. I'd had this song in mind for him for years. "Pet Rock" was inspired by my neighbor's dogs keeping me up at night - I imagined they thought they were performing rock n roll music. The song has a raucous kind of an Elvis-y vibe and I knew Mr. Billy was the perfect person to help me do it up right.  Next I brought Mr. Billy's tracks along on a client session at Bell Labs in Norman, hoping we'd find a bit of extra time. Sure enough Trent Bell, the engineer there, was able to squeeze in a session with drummer Nathan Harwell. They synced right up with Mr. Billy’s guitars to give the song a rock solid beat.  I told Billy about the drum session and somehow finagled him into adding a bass track for me from his home studio in Appleton, Wisconsin. Billy used his U-bass - an electric bass ukulele, if you can wrap your brain around that - which sounds a bit like an upright. He said it was the best bass performance he’d ever recorded. No doubt! It’s playful and confident, perfect for the tune! Oklahoma visual artist Julie Plant provided all the whimsical figures you see in the video. Her dog playing the saxophone made me realize that I really needed a sax part to round out the arrangement. So I turned last minute to my friend Chris Wiser, AKA funky keyboardist “Boom” of the Sugar Free Allstars. I happen to know Chris is also a teacher and player of many reed instruments. His sax parts put the final sizzling touch to the mix.  Speaking of which, for mixing and mastering I called upon children’s music producer James Coffey of Blue Vision Music. It’s great to get a fresh pair of ears in for the final phase of a project, especially one with Jim’s prodigious experience and know-how. Jim's final mix rocks! I think you’re gonna dig it!   Many thanks to my Patreon patrons at FlyingSpaghettiMusic.com - your support makes new recordings possible!

New Monty Harper / Mr. Billy Video Made by Teachers!

Check out this video of our song, "Reading Makes Me Want to Dance Out Loud!" This is a lot of fun with teachers acting goofy and dancing to our music to inspire their kids to read! What could be better! The ending cracks me up. I think we need a new DWR law (Driving While Reading)!

Roundy Round Video

Check out this amazing fan-made video of my song, "Roundy Round"!

Here's the story behind it, from my friend Laurie: "I've been volunteering at my daughter's school, teaching science lessons. I want to expose her classmates to "Roundy Round," and I mentioned it to my husband, and lamented that I didn't have anything to show them while they are listening to it. So, my talented husband made a video with all sorts of video clips of planets and things going roundy round to the music. It is awesome."

I'll say! Check it out! Pass it on!

Two New Fan-Made Videos!

I got a really cool birthday present the other day. Well, it was a coincidence it came on my birthday, actually, but still, it was cool. I received an email from Katherine and Andrew, siblings, and long-time fans of my music. They had decided to make an animated video using Legos, and they chose my song, "The Princess and the Farmer's Son," for their soundtrack. Check it out below! I love the dragon's fiery breath and the flying carpet sequence.

Plus, just a few days earlier, Rhonda Turley from the Piedmont Public Library sent me a video that her summer reading kids made using my "Catch the Reading Bug" song! I love seeing the bug run through all the books mentioned in the song. Check it out below as well!

The Princess and the Farmer's Son

Catch the Reading Bug