BRIGHTER LIGHT BRIGADE TRAVELING TOGETHER

Families who enjoy adventurous road trips will appreciate the newest album from "Traveling Together" by Brighter Light Brigade for listening to during their car rides. Featuring vocalists Amyliza de Jesus and Marla Vannucci along with multi-instrumentalist Dean Jones, "Traveling Together" from Nashville-based Brighter Light Brigade is being released by 8 Pound Gorilla Records on October 7, 2022. 

This kindie rock album is recommended for ages 4 - 10 and their parents with a runtime of 21 minutes. Kindie rock is a style of children's music that melds the adult sensibilities and styles of singer-songwriters with themes aimed at kids providing family friendly educational and entertainment experiences. "Traveling Together" will be available upon release for $8.99 as a digital download or $10 for an "old fashioned" CD. Being that compact discs were brand new technology when I was in high school it makes me feel old to call them old fashioned but they are also playing '80s music on the "Oldies Music" radio station here in Detroit so I guess that speaks for itself. 

Throughout "Traveling Together", the words to the songs are more like poetry than song lyrics, giving them an uncommon depth of meaning and emotional expression. Highlights include Goodbye Summer, a song with a ‘90s indie rock/punk feel about summer coming to an end. The Wilco-inspired Don’t Judge a Box, with its engaging mix of country, folk, and pop, encourages looking beyond differences to see commonalities. The lyrics are inspired by de Jeus and Vannicci's "day jobs" as licensed mental health professionals. 

My Favorite Song is all about that song that gets stuck in your head, and there is a good chance this one will. Favorite elements include a terrific organ interlude by Dean Jones and the way that Marla Vannucci’s vocals reflect the tune’s uncomplicated joy. A storytelling number, Rufus the Rooster, was co-written with a 90-year-old music therapy client of Amyliza de Jesus. The client even contributed some grand production ideas like having a fiddle in the mix. This led to Nashville’s esteemed fiddling maestro, Aaron Till, being given the job of personifying the rooster! The gently honest Different was a collaboration, through the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Words & Music Program, between Amyliza de Jesus and a local elementary school student. The student sings on the track, as part of the BLB Kids Choir.

For more information about this musical group, visit teambrighterlightbrigade.com 

Trippin Round the Mitten

I took my eight year old twins to one of Randy Kaplan's local performances promoting his new children's album Trippin' Round the Mitten and have to say we really enjoyed ourselves.  While Kaplan's songs are written primarily for an audience between 5 and 12 years old, he prides himself in performing music that is not-JUST-for-kids and entertaining to audiences of all ages.  He does this be incorporating witty references and educational references into songs with familiar beats from a variety of musical genres.  Mixing in comedic interludes to the songs he provided a family-friendly experience filled with intelligent retrospect, humorous moments and toe-tapping tunes.

The twins favorite song from his live performance was "You Can't Always Get What You Want." This song, which is actually is from a previous album Five Cent Piece, tells the story of a young boy being reprimanded for trying to get out of taking a bath to the tune of The Rolling Stones' classic song.  My kids were all smiles during the performance!

As a huge sports fan myself, "Balls" was one of my favorite songs performed during the concert.  A R.E.M. "It's the End of the World" style ballad that provides an inventory of all the different types of balls used in sports. This song put a smile on my face just like my son's.  Kaplan did a great job interacting with the kids in the audience during this number pretending to do a psychic reading of their minds and taunting them with the question does a hockey puck fit into the list.



"Mr. Spaceman" from Kaplan's new album, Trippin' Round the Mitten, was another song my daughter, who loves astronomy and includes among her career aspirations the job of astronaut, specifically appreciated.  It takes inspiration from the Holy Modal Rounders' parody of Johnny Cymbal's "Mr. Bassman" changing the lyrics to a tongue-in-cheek lament from a father expressing reservations about his son's plan to join Elon Musk's mission to colonize Mars.  Kaplan, a certified high school English teacher, shows the educator side of his personality mixing in some science class lessons along with the quirky story of the song.

Other songs from Trippin' Round the Mitten include "Beach Song" (a spoof of The Dead Milkmen's song that protests going on beach vacations), "Super Nude" (describes Kaplan's son's superhero alter ego), "Cat & Mice" (a jazzy song about a dad and son bonding while mom is away), "Every Second Counts" (the true-to-life rendition of a typical chaotic morning in the artist's house), "Trippin Round the Mitten" (a song about the uniqueness of the State of Michigan) and "On the Phone on the Toilet" (which addresses the disconnection that can occur from being too connected to smart phones and the Internet).  "On the Phone on the Toilet" was released in advance of the album and rose to #2 on the SiriusXM Kids Place Live "13 Under 13" chart.  It really provides an impressive perspective of today's social media society.

In appreciation of the Randy Kaplan performance we attended, A Geek Daddy wants to share our experience with you by providing one lucky winner with his album Trippin' Round the Mitten.  Must be a US resident over the age of 18 to participate.  Just complete the entries below before 11:59 pm ET on Friday, August 18, 2017 for a chance to win:

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Trippin' Round the Mitten is available at iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and at Randy Kaplan's live shows.  For more information, please visit www.randykaplan.com

Randy Kaplan is a three-time recipient of the ASCAP Plus Award, has released six family albums of children's music along with eight albums for adults.  His work has been awarded top honors by NAPPA (National Parenting Publication Awards, now National Parenting Product Awards), been voted a Top Five CD in the Nickelodeon Parents' Pick Awards, and has appeared on the Top Ten lists of NPR, and People Magazine.  His music has been in the rotation of songs played on SiriusXM's Kids Place Live for more than a decade.

Tunes like the "Donut Song" clearly demonstrate why Kaplan has earned these accolades.  For his wacky originality that is a great source of entertainment that families can enjoy together, Randy Kaplan has earned A Geek Daddy nod of approval.  If you have young kids in your household check this musical artist out!