From 1989 - 2003, Tom Knight released five popular kindie rock albums that delighted children and their grown-ups. For the last twenty years though instead of recording music he focused on a passion for puppetry. Knight hadn't totally given up on music but incorporated it into puppet shows. He has been traveling the country performing interactive, musical puppet shows featuring hand-made puppets, catchy songs, and lots of audience participation. In addition to his in-person presentations, the artist with a focus on family-friendly entertainment has also created a YouTube show that utilizes puppets and music to get kids enthused about education by making learning fun.
By blending elements of Mister Rogers’ gentle spirit with the boundless creativity of Jim Henson, Tom Knight has become an authentic lyrical storyteller in song, engaging listeners through his evocative music, warm vocal presence, creative use of puppetry in performance and video, and easy sense of humor. Now Tom Knight has produced an album of new content aimed at kids aged 3 to 8 years old. His sixth kindie rock album, LOOK BOTH WAYS, is being released on November 18, 2022. Available at tomknight.com you can purchase a CD for $10 or digital download of the album for $8.
Through the years since the release of his last album, The Classroom Boogie, Tom Knight has continued to perform and write new songs. During the COVID pandemic, however, Tom shifted gears to online performances and even created an original YouTube kids’ series. Adapting to this new way of performing and interacting with kids proved to open the door of opportunity for Tom to create a fresh batch of brand-new material for Look Both Ways.
Look Both Ways' “Alligator Jump/¡Salta Caima´n!” really “jumps” out to the listener with its infectious Latin spirit. This new version of Tom Knight’s popular “Alligator Jump” has been most appropriately fitted with a salsa groove, rounding out its evolution as a vibrant Spanish/English bilingual number with vocals by the supremely gifted Argentinian singer Mica Farias Gomez and Latin percussion by her equally gifted partner, Manu Uriona, who brings a smile to every shake of the maracas.
“Wiggly Tooth” celebrates a universal rite of passage by combining country rock with a honky-tonk piano by Frank Shelton. On Look Both Ways, Tom’s acoustic folk song, “The Garbage Monster,” has transitioned to an R&B bop, showcasing some fantastic bass guitar playing from Daniel Yoong along with Tom Knight’s charming story-song performance. “Stone Soup,” inspired by the traditional folk tale, emerges with new lyrics highlighting community building and mutual aid, voiced as a country-folk bit of Americana featuring fiddle and banjo.
Set to the lovely elegance of authentic Latin rhythm, “Museum Mambo” is the tale of a mouse who visits an art museum, making friends with each painting. In Tom Knight’s version of “Five Snow People,” inspired by a Susan Salidor counting song, “snowmen” become “snow people” and each snow person leaves the group because of a sensory experience: sleepiness, hunger, being cold, or feeling the urge to dance. Look Both Ways comes to a gentle close with a gem of rare purity, “Hot Air Balloon.”
Tom Knight's Look Both Ways earns a Geek Daddy nod of approval. Share the gift of music with children in your life. Pick up a copy of Tom Knight's new album Look Both Ways.
