Derby, Kansas

I did two shows at the library in Derby, KS today - both were great fun, and we are already on the calendar there for next summer! Evalyn was in charge of the camera for most of the day, and as you can see below she took some interesting shots. 

Triceratops Bop

Tyrannosaur Crunch

Eyeball

Elbow 

Hutchinson and Pratt, Kansas!

Great day today in Kansas! We figured out that the last time I was in Hutchinson was fourteen years ago! We won't let it go that long again. The Hutchinson crowd were fantastic participators! Then we drove to Pratt for an evening performance, where we had a small but very enthusiastic crowd and we were nearly overrun by rampaging dinosaurs! 

Horned lizards, a.k.a. "Horny Toads" popping up in Hutchinson.

Triceratops Bop

The Hutchinson library had the greatest decorations - it was like walking into a cave with stalactites and bats hanging from the ceiling. Here I'm posing with fans in front of the gnome home. 

Evalyn snagged an awesome chair for reading in Pratt.

Pinch your nose and sing along...

Library Bookaneers

Long-necked dinosaurs!

Altus and Hollis

Yesterday Lisa and I woke at 4:15 AM, dropped Evalyn and Nutmeg off with Grandma, and hit the road for the nearly four hour drive to Hollis, in the SW corner of Oklahoma! Lisa is such a wonderful supporter, driving all that way so that I can rest and put my energy into the shows! 

It was the first program of the summer for Hollis, and I think this was my biggest audience there yet! 

Can you say, "Concertina?"

Triceratops Bop!

We grabbed lunch at Fat Daddy's in Altus before the second show. Good thing we decided to split a sandwich - we both were stuffed!

We had a super audience at Altus! Just the right mix of parents and kids together, with everyone participating. We had a great time!

I use this black-footed ferret to introduce a song written by fourth graders at Richmond Elementary here in Stillwater. We'll have a naming contest for my noodley little friend on Facebook soon.

Talking with some fans after the show.

Summer Reading is Under Way!

I can't believe we are already four shows into this summer's library tour! I've been focused on finishing up school residencies and the summer just snuck right up on me!

Our first four shows have been fantastic. Here are some highlights! Thanks to Lisa for taking these photos!

In Hugo, OK - Circus City, USA!

In Valliant we carried our sound equipment up the stairs to set up in their cool loft. We had plenty of helpers!

"You're a Dinosaur" - This was a pretty shy group overall, so Evalyn volunteered to be a dinosaur! 

In Perkins, OK.

My Perkins audience were great participators!

The Seismosaur Stomp

We had a fun group in Meeker, OK!

More stomping seismosaurs!

You Can't Trash This!

Thank you all for voting in our recycling song competition!! It was a close race! The winning song was "You Can't Trash This!" by 4th graders in Mrs. Holland's and Mrs. Powell's classes. And now here for your viewing pleasure is the video they got to make! Many thanks to our videographer, Brian Collins!

Recycle Time!

Fourth and fifth graders at Will Rogers Elementary wrote these songs with help from Monty Harper during a recent residency, made possible by the Oklahoma Arts Council. The songs were inspired by the City of Stillwater's new curbside recycling program!

Please listen and vote for your favorite below! The class who wrote the winning song will get to make their song into a video and will win a pizza party from the City of Stillwater! The poll closes Wednesday May 8 at 10:00 PM.




Please note: Due to an early glitch in our settings, the song "Recycle the Party" is displaying 70 invalid votes. The glitch is fixed but the votes cannot be removed. We will therefore need to subtract 70 votes from "Recycle the Party" when we determine the winning song.

Sangre Ridge Residency - Songs of Ember

I worked with the Sangre Ridge fourth grade this December

To help them write songs based on The City of Ember.

I wrote and recorded four songs with four classes.

On December 18 we performed for the masses...

Each class presented their song for the whole school that morning.

Even though the songs were still brand new, the kids did a great job singing!
I followed along with the guitar the best I could!

That evening we gathered to perform for parents.
Fourth graders welcomed fellow students with cheers as they came in through the door.

Then they all gathered in one of the classrooms. Everyone was excited and nervous!

We had a huge turn-out, with parents seated all the way to the back of the room!

Each class had their turn on stage.

We used the projector so everybody could follow along with the words.

You can listen to and download the kids' songs on BandCamp:

The PTA was also kind enough to purchase CDs of the songs for all the kids! The talented folks at DiscMakers took different pieces of artwork the kids made to illustrate their songs and combined them to design a really cool cover / CD label.

Many thanks to the Oklahoma Arts Council for their support, which made this project possible!

This week I begin a new residency at Will Rogers!

Wondertorium 10/19/12

On October 19th I did a series of performances at the Wondertorium here in Stillwater. Many thanks to Shannon and Lynda and Debbie for passing along these photos so I can share them with you!

Recording at Bell Labs for EODLS

I spent today at Bell Labs in Norman recording a song for the EODLS (Eastern Oklahoma District Library System)! It's sounding fantastic - one of my best vocals ever. Thanks to Chris Wiser (organ, producer), Dr. Rock (drums), Travis Linville (guitar), and Trent Bell (Engineer) - who was sick as a dog but refused to cancel the session. It's always fun to hear a song taking shape in the studio. I can't wait to let you hear it too!!

Dr. Rock, packing up after a hard day's drumming. If you think he seems blurry, you're right, he generally looks like that.

Travis on the left tuning up for some brilliant guitar work, Chris on the right, supervising.

Me singing joyfully. Chris took this one - thanks, Chris!

Chris overdubbing some organ parts.

50 Things a Pirate Kids Singer Would Say!

In preparation for "Talk Like a Pirate Day" Wednesday, here come... fifty #ThingsAPirateKidsSingerWouldSay - via my Twitter feed! I invite you to join in the fun and post your own #ThingsAPirateKidsSingerWouldSay, re-tweet the ones you like best, and sing pirate versions of your favorite kids songs all week! My first such tweet is based on a traditional welcome song for small children with a menacing twist. Enjoy!


https://twitter.com/montyharper

Talk Like a Pirate Day Video!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is next week (9/19/12)! To get in the mood, check out this new video for the song I wrote with me scurvy mate, Mr. Billy!

Not only that, but we have put five piratical songs together in a package you can download for just $2 on my BandCamp page! Please enjoy TLAPD, and share with your shipmates!