What We're Listening to Right Now #2: Laurie Berkner

A couple of months ago, I shared nine of our favorite children's music albums with you. It was a good list, but it was incomplete. For the sake of space and time, I had to leave off many of our favorites.

One of those was Laurie Berkner. I think the very first song I ever heard of hers was "Rocketship Run" (still one of my favorites). But where my kids and I really fell in love with her was at our little music class. There, week after week, class after class, her song, "We are the Dinosaurs" was requested over and over again. All the kids loved to march around the room, stopping to pretend to eat and sleep and ending with a huge gigantic roar.

Interestingly though, I didn't discover who the artist was until one of my friends recommended Laurie Berkner as one of their favorites. I checked out a couple of her albums from the library, and I was thrilled to discover "We are the Dinosaurs" and "Rocketship Run" among the songs. (This also happened to be during Christmastime, so we checked out Laurie's Christmas album, and it went on our "must buy" list almost instantly.)

Anyway, I'm telling you all of this because soon after the children's music post went up, I was contacted by Laurie Berkner's publicist to see if I'd be interested in receiving her two latest albums: The Ultimate Laurie Berkner Band Collection and Laurie Berkner Lullabies. I had already been planning a Favorite Music Albums: Part 2 post (still in the works), and Laurie Berkner was going to be one of the featured artists.  Of course I said yes.

We have been enjoying them immensely ever since. We are the kind of old-school family who still own a CD player (actually, two), and I hope we never have to give it up because it's so easy for my kids to operate. And operate it, they do. They have been popping in Laurie's CDs, cranking up the volume, and dancing to her music all around the house. Our favorite songs (from these albums) are "Walk Along the River," "The Cat Came Back," and "Fireflies."

We love Laurie's music because it's vibrant and exciting without being obnoxious or cheesy. (One of our requirements for children's music is that is has to be appealing to the kids and the adults in our family, and Laurie Berkner's music is.) The Laurie Berkner band is made up of Laurie and three other fantastic musicians (Susie Lampert, Brady Rymer, and Bobby Golden). Their sound is both unique and classic, and what I mean by that is that it's distinct enough you'd recognize it anywhere, but it's also something that has a lasting, tried-and-true quality about it; I can definitely see my kids sharing it with their kids someday.

Many of the songs Laurie sings are original compositions, and she just seems to get kids. She understands their interests, their senses of humor, and their imaginings. Her songs cover a wide range of topics, as evidenced by her latest project: six digital albums of already released songs grouped by categories: animal songs, food songs, movement songs, etc. I believe they'll be available in June.

I also had the privilege of doing a little interview with Laurie as I prepared to write this post. Her answers were so genuine and thoughtful, and I'm excited to share them with you. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little bit more about Laurie Berkner:

 Who is one of your favorite children's artists? Who inspires you?

It's hard to pick a favorite chidren's artist, there are so many good ones these days!  We have actually been listening to a lot of The Beatles in our home again recently, and I always get inspired all over again hearing their music.  I am also really inspired by listening to kids and what they say.  They are the most natural poets, and they talk about the kinds of things I want to sing and write about.  Also, while this may not have been your question exactly, as far as other children's artists go, my biggest inspiration is Brady Rymer [the bassist in her band].  Getting to know him as a person and a musician has been one of the highlights of my career.  He is really such a wonderful and talented human being who is always thinking about that connection with the kids.  I feel inspired by him every time we play, rehearse or record together.

One of my children's favorite songs of yours is "We are the Dinosaurs." We sang it for many weeks in a row at a little music co-op we participated in with a group of friends, and even when it wasn't on the agenda for the day, the children would still make us sing it. Even though it is not included on these most recent albums, can you tell us a little bit about what inspired that song?

That song was one of the first ones that I wrote after asking the kids in my music class what THEY wanted to sing about. It was so brilliant when one of them yelled out "dinosaurs!"  I just started playing a marching beat in a minor key and making up words.  Soon it got pretty exciting - so exciting that there was a lot of roaring and yelling, so I added parts where the kids could eat and sleep in between and hopefully hold off until the end where the roaring actually is part of the song! Over the years I saw how this song gave the kids a chance to express feelings in school that they weren't usually encouraged to express, specifically acting big and strong and powerful and angry.

 

Are any of your favorite songs from your childhood represented on your albums?

"The Cat Came Back" was absolutely one of my favorite songs.  I recorded that on my first album.  As I wrote more and more of my own songs, I found that I wasn’t recording as many traditional songs but, of course I still had many favorites!!  I am actually in the process of recording some of them right now for an album I’ll be releasing later this year.  Stay tuned! [Super excited about this!]

What do you like to do besides sing?

I love to ride my bike, I love to knit, I love cooking and reading about food, and I love reading with my daughter. 

Do you have any tips for how to incorporate music into daily life with kids? (I'd love to hear about how you do this with your own daughter, if you feel so inclined.)

Listening to music together, especially if you are dancing or singing along, is a great way to share music with your kids (and it lets them know you are actually enjoying it along with them).  I also love to make up songs about anything we are doing -- standing in line at the store, walking to school, playing in the sandbox, cooking dinner (one caveat is that this gets less acceptable to do in public as your kids get older!) or make up rhyming games that we play at the dinner table.  And don’t forget about going to musical performances!  Kids' concerts, musicals, orchestra performances, church choirs, there are so many ways to experience music as an audience member with your kids. Often, seeing people perform live is extremely inspiring to a budding musician.

Many, many thanks to Laurie Berkner for taking the time out of her busy schedule to answer those questions. I'd love to hear about your favorite Laurie Berkner songs in the comments!

I was provided with copies of The Ultimate Laurie Berkner Band and Laurie Berkner Lullabies from Waldmania to review. All opinions are my own.

SingingPages: Three Thanksgiving Songs

Did you know Thanksgiving is this Thursday? I don't know if it's because it's as early in the month as it can possibly be or what, but it seems to have arrived very quickly this year. So prepare yourself for an onslaught of Thanksgiving-themed posts this week.

First up, a few Thanksgiving songs. Last week, it was my turn to teach our little music class. (Remember the music class of my recent rant? I think a few moms purposely avoided it last week for fear of breathing too loudly.) Along with some of our frequently-sung songs, I wanted to teach a few new ones with a Thanksgiving flavor, so I scoured the internet for ideas, and I found some really fun ones:

1.  Did You Ever See a Turkey?

I got this idea from Read It Again! If you go to the link, you'll see how super creative I am since I copied her turkey exactly. That's what you have to do if you have zero artistic talent - rely on other people's. Um, but I did make mine out of felt, and I used smaller googly eyes, so, you know, I took a few creative liberties. :-)

To the tune of "Did You Ever See a Lassie?"

Did you ever see a turkey, a turkey, a turkey,
Who struts around the farm yard with feathers so bright?
There are red ones and brown ones and orange ones and yellow ones.
Did you ever see a turkey with feathers so bright?

I had ten different colors of feathers, so each child got a chance to choose one to go behind Turkey Tom. We only did four at a time (so it would fit with the song), so we had some really unique color combinations! Also, one of my friends had a great song that was able to use all ten of the feathers. I can't remember it, but if I get the lyrics to that one, I'll add them here.

Turkey Tom with all ten feathers

2. Yummy Pies

I had to do this one. Mike is a pie-maniac around this time of year; he literally makes seven or eight (different) pies for Thanksgiving. (I think he mainly makes so many because he thinks having leftover pie for breakfast is the ultimate way to wake up in the morning.)

I got the idea for this song/flannel board from Trails and Tales. I copied it almost exactly except for swapping out the apple pie with pumpkin. I mean, it's Thanksgiving...I had to have pumpkin pie! Plus, it added another color to the mix, which I loved.

To the tune of "Three Blind Mice":

Pies, Pies, Pies
Pies, Pies, Pies.
Yummy pies,
Yummy pies.
Strawberry, blueberry, cherry, too.
Pumpkin and Key lime, to name a few.
Chocolate and lemon, how about you?
I love pie!
That's no lie!

Then we played the game suggested by Kathryn at Trails and Tales. The children closed their eyes, and I removed one of the slices of pie. Then they opened their eyes and had to try to figure out which one was missing. This game was actually a huge hit with Aaron and Max when we were practicing for music class at home.

I know these pies are made out of felt, but they kind of make my mouth water.

3. Thanks a Lot

And finally, what's any singing time without a little Raffi?I was not acquainted with this particular Raffi song, but I saw it on Storytime Secrets and loved having a song that encouraged a grateful attitude. It's from the album, "Songs of Our World," or you can hear Raffi himself singing it here.

I printed off pictures to go with the words (most of them came from the open clip art library because I have zero artistic talent, remember?). Then I laminated the pictures and attached them to craft sticks. I gave one to each child, and as we sang the words, they held up the appropriate picture (or didn't, as suited their fancy).

Thanks a lot.

Thanks for the sun in the sky.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks for the clouds so high.

 Thanks a lot.

Thanks for the whispering wind.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks for the birds in the spring.

 Thanks a lot.

Thanks for a moonlit night.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks for the stars so bright.

 

 Thanks a lot.

Thanks for a wondering me.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks for the way that I feel.

 Thanks for the animals.

Thanks for the land.

Thanks for the people everywhere.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks for all I've got.

Thanks for all I've got.

This has a really lilting, repetitive, almost sing-song-like tune that will put you into a hypnotic trance if you're not careful, so just beware.

I did sing one other Thanksgiving song but didn't make any visuals for it (although I brought along some paper plate pilgrims and Indians that Max made at preschool). This was a song that I grew up with, so I played it more for old time's sake (and its awesome jazzy tune) than for anything else. I'm not sure how readily available it is anymore, although it looks like the original songbook can be purchased from here. (Mine was from an old cassette that I stole from my mom.)

The words, although not entirely politically correct, go like this:

The Pilgrims and the Indians
Had a pow-wow a long time ago.
The Pilgrims and the Indians
Felt like having a party and so,
The Pilgrims and the Indians
Cooked a turkey and Indian corn.
Sat down and ate together,
And that is how Thanksgiving was born!

And now your Thanksgiving has a soundtrack! I'd love to hear if you end up singing any of them with your little ones!