A few times a year, I pull back and look at just how much new family music is coming across my desk here at Rock Father HQ - not only physical CDs (which still prevail in the kids and family realm), but also digital albums. The pile is never-ending, and that's one of the reasons why I've started the...
If you think that I've crossed over to The Dark Side, you may be correct... or just completely mistaken, as I've probably been riding shotgun with Vader for more than thirty years at this point. You see, there's KIDZ BOP - a Global phenomenon that I was 100% against for the longest time... or was I? Then it really...
Twice in the past month this has happened to me - that uneasy feeling when a new album arrives by one of your favorite artists and doesn't manage to live up to expectations. It always puts me in that weird spot where I almost don't want to say anything at all, if only because I don't want unfamiliar listeners...
Hailing from Orange County, California "by way of New Orleans," it's no surprise that JAZZY ASH has crafted a new album steeped in the musical heritage of her southern roots. With the release of HOME, Miss Ashli has evolved a bit since I first posted about her "Leaping Lizards Music" program here on The Rock Father nearly a year...
It's incredible to think of any musical artist being able to release a staggering 34 full-length albums over the course of their career, but in an incredible 56 years of recording for Smithsonian Folkways, that's exactly the number that ELLA JENKINS recently reached, with the release of "123s & ABCs."
Jenkins, a Chicago resident, is often referred to...
When ROBERT M. CHARDE sent me a copy of his new family album, FOR LITTLE EARS OF TENDER YEARS, my immediate response was to admire the cover art - a well-dressed, quite dapper-looking banjo-playing iguana that wouldn't be a bit out of place adorning an album by LES CLAYPOOL or PRIMUS. While the cover art was surprising, it wasn't...
Over the past year, I've started seeing a increase in storytelling albums arriving for families. Taking a very theatrical approach, these albums tend to have a very "live" feel, and one of the latest to cross my desk is MYTHS OF ANCIENT GREECE by HELEN SLATER. It's nearly impossible for me to avoid clarifying that yes, this is a...
Before I even started listening to BOSSY FROG PRODUCTIONS' latest release, 15 SONGS EVERY KID SHOULD KNOW (AND WILL LOVE!), I was already reworking the title into other variations. "15 Songs Ever Parent is Tired Of (So Play 'Em Again!)"; "15 Songs You Already Have 15 Versions Of (So Here's 16!)"; "15 Songs We Probably Won't Have to License...
I have a problem with RECESS. No, not the music contained on the new album from Chicago's JUSTIN ROBERTS, but with use of the word "recess." It just might be the most-overused word in the Kindie Rock realm right now... so much so that it's fast-approaching the same level of annoyance that I have for the word "amazing." RECESS...
This album brought tears to my eyes. From the spoken word declaration, "I Am the Light," ALASTAIR MOOCK establishes SINGING OUR WAY THROUGH: SONGS FOR THE WORLD'S BRAVEST KIDS as an album unlike any other in recent memory - not because of the terrifying journey that spawned it, but because of the inspiring way that Moock and his family are using...