Monty Harper here. I'm a songwriter, performer and recording artist with more than twenty years of professional experience. I write songs for and with kids, songs about scientific research, and songs for clients. I teach songwriting and I perform for schools, libraries, and festivals in Oklahoma and often elsewhere around the country. This blog is where you'll find photos, songs, video, and announcements related to my latest projects. Enjoy!
Today's program at the library in Allen, OK was a lot of fun! Small library, small group of kids, very informal. I love it when I can be chatty with the kids and it doesn't get out of hand. We had a lot of great laughs together. Chicken wings to all!
Roundy Round
Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet
Me and my wonderful audience!
This is how Evalyn keeps herself entertained during the show.
You know, I never really know what to say in these blog posts any more. What do you want to know?
Time our alarms went off: 5:00 AM
What we read in the car: Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos, the latest Newbery. Intriguing mystery / coming of age story with lots of good laughs, but awfully hard on old ladies.
Where we had lunch: East Gourmet chinese buffet - yum!
Hours in the car: five
What we did with the dog: Dropped her off at Lisa's mom's
When we got home: 6:00 PM
Alarm for tomorrow: 5:00 AM
What do you guys think, am I due for a haircut?
Waiting for a bussed in group to arrive before starting the show, I entertained by reading a book to the kids.
I performed for three Kindercares in Norman today. These were fun gigs for small groups with no set up or tear down of sound equipment. I'll have to look into getting more of these!
We always love coming to the Ada library to perform! The librarian let us know, this was my seventeenth year there! Lisa took some great photos, as usual...
"Dream Big" - in my PJs for the slumber party theme! Can you find Purple Monkey in this photo?
I performed today in Perkins and Meeker. Two great groups with totally different personalities. The Perkins group included a lot of really young kids who were laughing at everything and participating right from the get-go. Lisa and I had fun trying to get the equipment loaded in at Meeker during a heavy downpour! The Meeker group was a bit smaller and a lot shyer, but they were up dancing around too by the end. Here are some photos, thanks to Lisa!
This evening was my first program of the summer, at Cushing. I debuted two new songs, "Pet Rock," and "The Yawn Along Song." Our theme this summer is "Dream Big," and my program is a "Sing-along Slumber Party." All the songs are connected in some way to the nighttime theme. We encouraged kids to come in PJs and bring their stuffed buddies and blankets. It was a lot of fun!
The sidewalk in front of the library. My shadow has a belly button. I never knew that!
The skunk talks to kids before the show.
That's Evalyn in the foreground. The kids are singing underwater.
I just completed a songwriting residency at Skyline Elementary here in Stillwater. The fifth graders used their graduation theme for inspiration, so the songs are about transitioning to sixth grade with an outer space flavor. Have a listen! Enjoy!!
I've been writing songs all month (one 40 minute session per day) with the 4th graders at Richmond Elementary. We are down to our last week together, and the three songs are finished - one for each class: "Technical Hamburger," "The Battle of the Green-eyed Potato," and "The Ancient Chinese Pickle."
It may sound like frivolous fun, but students practiced many different skills in the process of writing, including brainstorming, organizing ideas, teamwork, language skills, music skills, and critical thinking.
AND visual art! Chris Ramsay from the OSU art department and his students Kris and Leslie visited each class twice to help incorporate visual art into the writing process. Our first art project helped the kids visualize and focus their song ideas.
The second art project is happening now. The kids are creating pieces to go along with their songs at the final performance and online (see the photos below)! Chris, Kris and Leslie put an incredible amount of work into this and it's brought a whole new dimension to the residency. Thanks you guys!
Each class will perform their song with me at the final concert this Thursday March 8 at 6:00 PM at Richmond Elementary here in Stillwater. The public is invited.
Soon after that I will post the final songs and artwork for you to enjoy. Stay tuned!
Thanks to Marie Wilson for taking these photos:
Chris Ramsay, head of OSU Art Department, on the floor making pickle minions with the kids!
I sing "The Ancient Chinese Pickle," trying out last minute changes, as 4th graders create their pickle minions.
Finished minions posted to the dry erase board.
Another class created living food figures for their song "The Battle of the Green-Eyed Potato."
This week I began working with 4th graders during their music time at Richmond Elementary! I'll help each of the three classes complete their own song over the next six weeks. This year I'm working with the art department at OSU to integrate visual arts into my process. The students will be doing an art project to help inspire their songwriting!
Yesterday the whole fourth grade had music together so we could talk about what to expect.
I met with my first class today and we broke into small groups to brainstorm.
The kids were fantastic - they were very excited and got right down to work on lots of great ideas!
This residency is funded in part by a grant from the Oklahoma Arts Council. I'll post more as we progress!!
One year ago today I was having the time of my life celebrating my successful kickstarter.com campaign to raise the money to record Songs From the Science Frontier, having a cake smashed in my face live online! (Enjoy the video below!)
It's been a great, busy year for me, as you can see here on the blog.
I thought today might be a good day to post a preview of coming attractions...
Feedback from the CD so far is overwhelmingly positive and I hope to do more this year to get word out about it! I've created a live show around the songs, which I'm promoting to schools right now, and I also plan to tour regionally with it during Spring Break. I'm planning more songwriting residencies here in Stillwater, and I'll be performing again at the USA Science Festival in Washington, D.C. in April. I've put together a fantastic lineup of nine Born to Do Science programs for the library; one a month from September to May and I'm really looking forward to that!
Evalyn's first day of school was Friday and she's very excited to finally be a fifth grader!!
Many of you are wishing me happy birthday on my facebook page, and I appreciate it very much! Thanks!
If you'd like to do me a birthday solid, please make sure you've "liked" each of these facebook pages. It's a great way to keep up to date on what's going on with my performances, recordings, and Born to Do Science:
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