Vote Today!

I'm sure you're getting plenty of reminders, but here's one more - don't forget to vote today!

Halloween Madness

This month's podcast includes all five songs from my 1992 cassette, Halloween Madness. Evalyn helps me introduce the songs, "Weird Things Happen on Halloween Night," "There's a Vampire in My Basement," "To the Monsters in My Closet," "Skeleton Dance," and "Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet." Her artwork here was inspired by the songs.

Happy listening, and happy Halloween!

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

Red Ribbon Week

It's Red Ribbon Week!

I was at Glencoe Elementary today. The 6th grade girls came by after the program to get autographs, making me feel like a rock star. Some of them knew my songs from previous visits, or from my library shows, and I saw them back there during the show, singing along with "Lisa Lee Elizabeth" and having a good old time.

Yesterday I was in Locust Grove, at the Early Learning Center. I did two shows there, one for 1st and 2nd grade, and the other for PreK and Kindergarten. We had a lot of fun with songs like "Big Red Fire Truck" and "You're a Dinosaur" - those kids are so sweet, and great singers, too!

Tuesday I was at Mustang Trails, and I sang for two great groups. We brought volunteers on stage to add their reactions into my "Fifty Ways to Say No to Drugs" song. And of course the kids at all three schools were excited to hear and sing "Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet!"

Make healthy choices, everybody! Happy Red Ribbon Week, and happy Halloween!

NAPPA and Parents' Choice Awards!

Howdy, people! Sorry for the long absence. I'm still alive! There is much to catch up on, but I'm going to try to spread it out, rather than cover everything in one post.

I'll start off tonight with the most exciting news I've got - My latest CD, Paws Claws Scales & Tales, has won two important awards!

The first is a NAPPA Honors Award. This is my second year in a row to receive one. Here is the fabulous quote they sent me: "Harper's songwriting skills take a backseat to no one, and these creative animal songs are a pleasure to the ear."

The winning products will be posted November first at the NAPPA website.

Paws Claws Scales & Tales has also won a Parents' Choice Recommended Award. This is my second Parent's Choice, too, although the first one (for Take Me to Your Library) was an Approved award, which means I've moved up a tier! My Parents' Choice review says, "Harper crafts songs for kids that are both witty and fun; imagine a kind of children's music Loudon Wainwright III, making a pet-themed album and you begin to get an idea of his songwriting skills."

The winning products are posted at the Parents' Choice website.

I'll also toss in a mention of a very positive review for Paws Claws Scales & Tales in the September issue of School Library Journal. They say, "Animal lovers will find much to enjoy on this fun album." Orders through Amazon.com, CDBaby, and several wholesalers specializing in sales to libraries have picked up since the review; hopefully the awards will beef up sales even more!

Finally, I did not win a Unisong People's Choice. I only mention it because in my previous post (way back in August!) I was asking fans to vote for me, so I thought you might like to know how that turned out. Many of you did vote, some of you even daily! I really really appreciate it and I wish I could say that thanks to you, I won, but instead I can say that thanks to you, I believed I had a chance, and that is just as good! So, thanks to you!

UNISONG's 1ST ANNUAL "PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD" ONLINE VOTING HAS BEGUN!

I have two songs in the running for Unisong's People's Choice Award, "Take Me to Your Library" and "It's Hard to Love a Reptile!" Vote early and vote often - up to three times a day! Just look for my face. (Not that I'm trying to influence your vote or anything!)

Here is the link: http://www.unisong.com/PeoplesChoice.aspx

Here is more information from Unisong:

The "People's Choice Award" has begun! Now that the judging is complete by our various panels of professional experts for our 2005-2006 "Unisong" International Song Contest, and the winners have already been announced , we are now ready to kick off our final new feature for this round of the competition, the "People's Choice Award"! This award is designed to let everyone have their own say in selecting one final worthy winner out of the top four winners in all 17 categories, or a total pool of 68 songs in consideration for this extra online prize.

The writer selected for this final award will receive a bonus $500 USD in addition to any other prizes they have already won!
You be the judge! Since any song in the pool can win if it gets the most votes, it's a great chance for the public to add their own opinion, and vote for what they think is the best song, whether it's the same one the judges picked or not.

There will be a three week voting period starting now, and ending on September 10th, with the winner announced on September 15th.

Anyone can vote up to 3 times per day! Vote for one particular song 3 times ,or vote for 2 or 3 different songs. And you can vote up to three times every day until September 10th if you wish. The choice is yours! .

To cast your votes click on the following link http://www.unisong.com/PeoplesChoice.aspx or visit us at http://www.unisong.com

Please note that we have decided to display the songs in a changing daily "random" order to avoid influencing the voting.

Thanks for your interest and support of "Unsiong" and may the best song win this final award, as chosen by the People...You!!!

Stay tuned for the launch of the 11th annual "Unisong", starting on October 15th!

Cordially,
ALAN ROY SCOTT

"Unisong" Created by Songwriters...for Songwriters

Free Prize Inside

** Limited Time Offer **

Paws, Claws, Scales & Tales CDs - $9 each when you buy more than one copy at CDBaby!

Plus, include your email address to receive a free "Free Prize Inside" compilation CD with 15 top children's artists! (See below)

Isn't this a fantastic drawing? It comes from Zackary in West Springfield, MA, who says:

Dear Monty, I think that you are A GREAT singer! My favorite song is "It's Hard to Love a Reptile," because I love reptiles a lot. Dinosaurs are reptiles too, you know. I know a lot about Dinosaurs, too. I even have books about them. Dinosaurs are FASCINATING! I'M SENDING A PICTURE OF "IT'S HARD TO LOVE A REPTILE" WITH THIS NOTE.

Zack's brother Nick wrote:
Monty, my favorite songs are "I took my dragon for a walk", "Dog Books", "It's hard to love a reptile", "The cat came back", "Gimme vegetables", and "I go bananas." Please keep making songs for us to enjoy.

And Zack and Nick's mom Valerie wrote:
"My boys have thoroughly enjoyed your latest CD. They put it on replay when they go to bed at night and wake up to it in the morning. I was very happy that I found your website the other day. Keep up the good work. We all are looking forward hearing more!"

Cool, guys - thanks for your letters and artwork, and for agreeing to let me share them!!

Free Prize Inside (Free CD with purchase)
1. Imagination Movers, "Clean My Room" www.imaginationmovers.com
2. Steve Songs, "Gravity" www.stevesongs.com
3. Monty Harper, "I Go Bananas" www.montyharper.com
4. Will Hale, "Make Me Laugh" www.willhale.com
5. Mr. Billy, "Seuss On The Loose" www.misterbilly.com
6. Erin Lee & Marci, "This Year" www.gottaplay.org
7. The Doo-Dads, "The Ball Song" www.thedoodads.com
8. Ken Lonnquist, "X-Ray Specs" www.kenland.com
9. Two of a Kind, "The Double Life of Amphibians" www.twoofakind.com
10. Macaroni Soup!, "Stinky Cake" www.macaronisoup.com
11. Lou Del Bianco, "Dawn Puccini" www.findlou.com
12. Beth & Scott and Friends, "Hello, My Name Is Joe" www.bethandscott.net
13. Andy "The Music Man" Morse, "R-I-N-G-O" www.andysings.com
14. Susan Salidor, "The Boo Boo Gets Better By and By” www.susansalidor.com
15. Barry Louis Polisar, "Early Sunday Morning" www.barrylou.com

Spare the Rock

Happy birthday to me! Yup, today's my birthday. I'm still less than forty today.

Here is a photo of me and Evalyn recording an episode of Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child. We'll be taking over the entire two-hour popular children's radio show and podcast as guest DJs this coming Saturday, August 26. Visit SpareTheRock.com for more information.

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

Unisong International Songwriting Competition

Big news for me!!

The Unisong International Songwriting Competition results have been announced for 2005.

This competition is run by songwriters for songwriters, so the focus really is on the writing. I've been entering in the children's category for the past three years. In 2003 I took third place with "Diving in the Deep Blue Sea" and in 2004 I took second with "Loose Tooth."

This year I entered four songs. (I find it quite impossible to guess which of my songs has the best chance so I enter as many as I can afford.)

And the results...

"It's Hard to Love a Reptile" from the new Paws Claws Scales & Tales CD took fourth place.

And...

"Take Me to Your Library" from the CD of the same name took first place!

I was also excited to see that my friend Mr. Billy placed two songs in the top twenty finalists. I haven't heard yet how many entries there were in the children's category, but in past years there have been several hundred, so placing anywhere in the top 24 is an impressive accomplishment; it puts you firmly in the top 1%.

Congratulations to all the winners! You can listen to the winning songs at http://www.unisong.com/Winners.aspx.

NPR Update

Well, if you went looking for the NPR podcast Friday that I told you about in my last post, you are probably wondering why it wasn't there. I got an update from the Open Mic Podcast today - for some technical reason my song didn't get posted, but it is now scheduled to go up next Monday, July 3.

The Open Mic Podcast website is located here: Open Mic.

Happy listening!

XM Kids and NPR

Last weekend Kenny Curtis played "I Go Bananas" from my Paws Claws Scales & Tales CD during the 13 Under 13 Countdown. Often the new songs he introduces on the top 13 show go on to climb the charts themselves. If you are an XM Kids listener, please ask for "I Go Bananas!"

Make your request here: XM Kids Request

Also this afternoon (Friday 6/23) the song "I Took My Dragon For a Walk," also from the new CD, will be the featured song on National Public Radio's Open Mic podcast. (It should show up there at 4:15 PM EST)

You can download it here: Open Mic

Acousticadia, Dino Daze, and other upcoming shows

The summer tour has begun!

My first show was in Moore, last Tuesday. It went very well - Lisa says it was my best opening show in all the summers I've been doing library programs (this is the 16th!). I performed five songs from the new CD, plus two from "Great Green." Evalyn joined me on stage for "Hummingbird Hum" and she did a great job, stealing the show as always. The audience was fantastic - lots of fans in Moore; I felt right at home.

Evalyn had her own performance season this week - three dance recitals. This was her first year to take ballet, and her beginner class of 4s and 5s were mighty cute in their anderoid outfits with bobbing antennae on their heads. They were the stars of the show, and I'm not just saying that cause I'm her dad; her mom thinks so too! We were very impressed with the whole operation. It was a lot of work but well worth it. Evalyn absolutely loved it, and so did we!

Coming up (these locations are in Oklahoma):

Monday June 5, the Tahlequah library, 10:00 and 1:00
Wednesday June 7, the Seminole library, 10:30
Thursday June 8, the Ada library, 10:30

Friday and Saturday, June 9/10, Acousticadia in Edmond
This is a big outdoor music festival. It promises to be a lot of fun for everyone. For more information I will refer you to this article from the Edmond Sun: Acousticadia makes child's play full of musical fun, and to the Acousticadia website.

Sunday, June 11, Dino Daze at the Sam Noble Museum in Norman
Many things are going on at the museum June 10 and 11. For more information I'll refer you the museum website.

I hope I'll see you at one of these shows!

"Paws Claws Scales and Tales" on XM Kids!

XM Kids has added "Paws Claws Sclaes and Tales, Reprise" from my new CD to their rotation!

To me this is a very big deal. We listen to XM Kids all the time around here and we love it! We think of it as the national headquarters for children's music. The playlist is heavily influenced by listener requests from all over the country and they do a weekly countdown of the 13 most requested songs. Way cool!

As I understand it, my song will by played infrequently for about two weeks, and if it doesn't generate any requests they'll drop it. If it generates requests they'll play it more often.

Once it gets bumped up in the rotation, it's more likely to generate requests, since people have a better chance of hearing it to begin with.

So during these crucial first days, your request can make a big difference!

If you are an XM Kids listener, please call in to request my song! (If you can, call before 6/14/06!).

If you don't have XM Kids (you should get it), please pass on this info to someone who does! XM radio is built in to many new vehicles, and it's part of the satellite TV service, DirecTV. So you might know somebody who has it, even if you didn't know you knew it!

XM Kids is channel 116.

You can make a request online, by going here: XM Kids.

Better yet, call in and you can hear yourself on the air! The DJs are very friendly and are great at talking with kids. Evalyn has been on the air several times, usually requesting "Baby Kangaroo" by Joe McDermott. She's even told a few jokes! Her first call was at age three.

Here are some tips for calling in to request "Paws Claws Scales and Tales" (or any song you want to hear!):

- The number is 866 328 2345
- Call anytime a live DJ is on the air.
- If you get the answering machine, hang up and try again. Keep dialing until you get through.
- Be prepared to tell your name, where you live, and the song you want to request
- In our experience, D. Dynamite is the easiest to get through to (evenings), then Kenny Curtis (mornings), then Absolutely Mindy (afternoons)
- You won't go on the air live. You'll hear yourself five or ten minutes after you hang up the phone.
- Relax, stay calm, and just talk. The DJs are patient and they will only use the best bits of your conversation on the air.
- It's ok for mom or dad to make the request, or to speak first and introduce the child

Have fun!

Villa Villekulla Hula and Hummingbird Hum

This month's podcast episode is a double-wide, to make up for missing last month. You'll hear two songs from the new Paws Claws Scales & Tales CD, and I chat with two adorable guests about how they helped me make these two songs into great recordings. The songs are "Hummingbird Hum" and "Villa Villekulla Hula" and the adorable guests are my wife Lisa and daughter Evalyn. I hope you have as much fun listening as we had making this podcast episode.

Congratulations to our free CD winner for May, Mary Rowe of Marble Hill, MO!

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

Show Notes

Here are some links related to the show. Have fun exploring while you listen!

Tim Cain, and "Drum Thang"
Pippi Longstocking
Harry Potter
Hummingbirds
Ukuleles
Paws Claws Scales & Tales CD

Go here to listen to or download the new podcast: http://www.montyharper.com/Songcast/060524MontyHarper.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

Paws Claws Scales & Tales CDs are Here!

The CDs are here!

They arrived Wednesday, and our living room is full of them. But we have already gotten rid of more than two hundred copies! That includes pre-orders and radio stations (see below!). The folks at the post office duck down behind the counter when they see me coming! Just kidding - actually they've been very helpful.

So, if you pre-ordered a CD, it's on its way to you right now. You may even already have it!! But you don't need me to tell you that.

The release party is tomorrow in my back yard. We'll be cooking hot dogs out on the grill for a picnic lunch and a concert will follow
with CD signing and all that jazz. Rumor has it there will even be a cake that looks something like the CD cover. I'll try to post a photo or two.

I have two new podcasts "in the can" - I just need to get them edited, but they'll be available soon, so please stay tuned.

Speaking of staying tuned, here are some radio stations that have already said they will play music from the new CD. You can tune in to all of these online using your web browser, and most of them take requests - hint, hint.

"Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child" hosted by Bill Childs & Ella (daughter) on Valley Free Radio, WXOJ-LP in Florence, MA
Schedule: 8-10 am on Saturdays. ET
Description: Music for kids - both officially kids music and other stuff that kids might like. Playlists range from folk to world to guitar-pop to straight-up rock.
Website: http://www.sparetherock.com
You can tune in on the website. This show is also available as a podcast, which you can subscribe to on iTunes!

"Kids Radio Mania" hosted by Kid DJs Jenna and Joey & live call-in host Crazy Dave on KDPS Radio in Des Moines, IA
Schedule: All day Saturday and Sunday
Description: Lively mixture of pre-teen music, children DJ's, call-ins, jokes and prizes.
Each weekend a specific artist or theme is featured and a song from that artist or theme is played at least hourly along with interviews and give-aways.
Website: http://www.KDPSradio.com
You can tune in from the website!

"We Like Kids" hosted by Jeff Brown on KTOO FM in Juneau, AK
Schedule: Tuesdays, 6:30 pm AT
Description: Mostly music for school age kids. Many times the songs are selected around a theme.
Website: http://www.ktoo.org/
You can tune in from the website!

"Family Groove" hosted by Will Hale on KFAI in St. Paul, MN
Schedule: On Demand
Description: Family Groove is a weekly internet radio program custom made for grade school age kids. Its parent-friendly nature also opens a multigenerational dialogue, proving you're never too old to feel young and introducing kids to music they won't have to outgrow. Children are directly involved as regular hosts, guests, and producers.
The intention of Family Groove is to build a bridge to allow kids a smooth transition in the growth of their awareness and appreciation of music.
Website: http://www.kfai.org/programs/famgrv.htm
You can tune in from the website; in fact it's the only way to hear this show!

"Nacho Celtic" hosted by Carlos Alden on KPBX-FM in Spokane, WA
Schedule: Sundays, 2:00 - 3:00 PM PT
Description: Carlos Alden's bi-polar show: first half folk music, second half children's music.
Website: http://www.kpbx.org
You can tune in from the website.

"XM Kids" hosted by Kenny Curtis, Absolutely Mindy, Jinx Blog, D. Dynamite on XM Satellite Radio, channel 116, broadcast nationwide!
Schedule: Always On
Description: XM Kids broadcasts a variety of programming for kids, mostly music served up by the four DJs. The playlist is heavily influenced by listener requests. It includes corporate stuff from TV and movies, but independent children's artists are also very well represented. Programming also includes live performances from the XMKids "Rumpus Room."
Website: http://www.xmradio.com/programming/channel_page.jsp?ch=116
XM Kids is on XM Satellite Radio, which is a subscription service and also requires an XM receiver. However, XM Radio does offer a free three day trial during which you can listen to XM Kids on the website.

For even more children's radio, visit Kids Music Planet!


---

Quotes about Monty Harper and the Paws Claws Scales & Tales CD:

"This is the CD you'll want to get! It's full of unforgettable songs about pets and
animals and kids! I find myself humming and singing the new material from Paws,
Claws, Scales and Tales throughout my workday."
- Sandy Shropshire, Children's Librarian, Moore, OK

"Monty's songwriting shines... Fabulous child-centered songs for home and school!"
- Fred Koch, Chicago Parent magazine, www.BestChildrensMusic.com

"Purrfect music for critters of all sizes!"
- Jeff Brown of "We Like Kids!", KTOO-FM, Juneau, Alaska

"Monty Harper is a masterful musical storyteller who makes great songwriting look
easy."
- Will Hale of "The Family Groove" Kids Internet Radio Show, www.willhale.com

More about Texas, plus Yukon

I didn't get to blog from the rest of my Texas shows, but they all went really well. Tuesday we were at Eastridge and Wooden Elementary in Red Oak and Wednesday we were at Venus Elementary in Venus, TX, and Coleman Elementary in Cleburne, TX.

See my previous post for gushing about how fun it is to sing for an enthusiastic, well-behaved elementary school audience. One of the librarians was so excited about the music that she and her principal are purchasing CDs for every classroom teacher!

It was a great trip all around. Lisa and Evalyn had fun at home with Chad Monday and Wednesday. He's only a month younger than Evalyn, so they had a blast playing together. I hear they shared a kiss, right on the lips, Evalyn's first, I think. But Evalyn says she doesn't want Chad to be her boyfriend - there's someone at school she's interested in that way. Did I mention she's five years old?

Even the traffic in Dallas was better this trip. All the construction through downtown has long been cleared up, and my trips from Plano down to south of town and back went smoothly. (I only witnessed two minor wrecks.)

Lisa and Evalyn came down with me the second day. Evalyn was fascinated with the tall buildings and the highway interchanges. They finally got to meet John, after so many years of him bringing me to Dallas/Ft. Worth area schools. He tried to take us to lunch, but we couldn't find a smoke-free restaurant that wasn't McDonald's, which was fine with Evalyn - she got to play in the play place and eat McNuggets! Come on, Texas, if Oklahoma can pass a law for smoke-free restaurants, you can do it too!

That evening I sang through all the songs on my new CD for Cassie and Sarah (while Chad and Evalyn chased each other around the house).

Yesterday, Lisa, Evalyn and I drove to Yukon for their annual Festival of the Child. I performed for six hours, with 15 minute breaks. Needless to say I'm pretty worn out today. We were inside due to the weather, which was good - last time I was down there, it was cold and trying to rain, and we were outside. Joanne says she may not hire me again if I keep bringing bad weather with me! (I'm very flattered that she thinks I can control the weather. ;-)

Anyway, we had fun. Lisa and Evalyn did all the booths and we came home with a pile of Evalyn's crafty creations. Evalyn sang our song "Hummingbird Hum" along with me for the first time in public. She did a fantastic job! We will probably make it part of my summer program.

New podcasts coming soon!

Dispatch II

I love the Internet!

After my second show today I had a voice mail from Disc Makers. I had neglected to include a form I should have when I sent in my master CD. But no trouble - I downloaded it on the library computer where I was at Red Oak Elementary school, filled it out and faxed it in. Unfortunately the order will be delayed so now the expected launch date for those who pre-ordered the CD is May 18.

My second show today, at Red Oak, went fantastic. It took a while to load the kids into the room, so we started a bit late, but we made up for lost time in big enthusiasm. We had Pre-K - 4th grade, and they were great participators, singers, and listeners. Both my shows today made me remember why I do this for a living. I spend many hours marketing, accounting, writing, recording, driving - seems like everything but singing in front of kids. Those relatively rare 30-45 minute chunks of time when I'm actually up there interacting with a great audience are fun, fun, fun!!!

I heard myself today (while driving) on the "Spare the Rock Spoil the Child" podcast. That is one cool show - full of real rock n roll for kids! It's hosted by a father/daughter team, Bill and Ella. Check it out at sparetherock.blogspot.com. Enjoy!

Dispatch from The Road

Howdy, Friends, from Red Oak, Tx, down here south of Dallas.

I performed this morning at Shields Elementary. The kids were fantastic! It was K-2nd. They had a lot of fun. Everyone participated well, and when it was time to get quiet they were self-quieting. My favorite kind of group! My host,John, observed that all the teachers were participating too. That really does make a positive difference.

I'm writing to you from the library at Red Oak Elementary where I will perform here in a couple of hours. John has hired me the past four or five years (neither of us can remember how long it has been) as a thank you to some of his best customers. He is a book salesman who supplies school libraries with new books. I'll be in the area for three days.

Lisa and Evalyn are with me - we are staying with friends in Plano. Yesterday I performed for their son's fifth birthday party. Happy Birthday Chad!

Before we left, I spent a stressful last day working on the new CD. Stressful because it was my last chance to make any changes. Also because I waited until the last moment to figure out what software I needed to add ISRC numbers to my tracks, a technical little detail that can turn into money down the line. ISRC codes are what allow your songs to be tracked when they are broadcast or downloaded online. Without them it's tougher to receive royalties for such uses.

Anyhow, the point is, I spent all day Friday and Saturday morning putting together the CD, and I got it mailed off to the duplicators!! It sounds great! Now all I have to do is wait!

Well, not really - as soon as we get back to the office, Lisa and I will be spending our days preparing envelops so that when the CDs arrive the 15th or thereabout we will be able to send them right out. Pre-order yours today at ReadingSongs.com!!

We also sent a pre-release copy to XM Kids. So if you listen to XM Kids, please call up Kenny Curtis and ask him to play a song from my new CD, Paws Claws Scales and Tales. Right now it's the only way you can hear an entire song. To hear samples, visit the ReadingSongs.com website.

This is my 97th blog post, by the way! I think I will time it so that number 100 will announce the arrival of the new CD. Stay tuned!

PCST Update - Songs are Done!

I just got back from the post office where I over-nighted my songs to Disc Makers for mastering!

So, the songs are done. Whew - now I need to finish the booklet and in three weeks I should have CDs in hand. I'm excited! The songs sound great, if I say so myself. I didn't get the big anxiety that usually goes with saying "OK, I'm done." I just felt a little one, which only lasted for about the past 24 hours.

I shared digital files of the songs with a bunch of my musician friends and asked for their feedback, which was very helpful and calming. Also, over the weekend I talked Lisa into recording some vocals for Villa Villekula Hula, and together we transformed it from an OK song to a stand-out track. She sounds awesome!

Here's the final line-up:

1. Paws Claws Scales and Tales
2. I Took My Dragon For a Walk
3. A Pet Like That
4. Villa Villekula Hula
5. Dog Books
6. Humming Bird Hum
7. It's Hard to Love a Reptile
8. Eleanor Gerbil
9. Fred's Frog Flippy
10. The Cat Came Back
11. Paws Claws Scales and Tales Reprise
(Plus Two Bonus Tracks!)
12. Gimme Vegetables
13. I Go Bananas

I feel like I've been locked up in a cave - I've been doing nearly nothing but tweaking mixes for the past couple of weeks. Now I'm going to creep out and get some fresh air for a few moments, then dive back in to work on that CD booklet and all the other stuff that's been waiting for my attention!

If you've been looking for a new podcast, sorry for the delay - I'll get to it soon!