[Dixielandjazz] Young Audiences

[Stephen Barbone]

NOT OKOM - But an INTERESTING musical take on playing to YOUNG (VERY
YOUNG) audiences.  A real tribute to some musicians who figured out how
to CREATE a market.

(Knock, Knock)

Cheers,
Steve

July 31, 2003

Youngsters Sing Along While Grown-Ups Stay Sane

By DAVID BERNSTEIN

       HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — The scene on a recent Saturday was the
3,200-seat outdoor pavilion at the Ravinia Festival here, the venerable
summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. But on this day it had
been turned into a mosh pit. Young fans rushed toward the stage, dancing
and hopping about. Several giddy ones were clinging to the side of the
stage. Some were shouting "Justin! Justin!" to the star onstage, yelling
out requests.

This was not the Justin Timberlake of 'N Sync fame, however; this was
Justin Roberts, a singer-songwriter known mainly in Chicago. And the
fans
weren't exactly rowdy teenagers. They were younger; some were toddlers.

As chaotic as the scene was at Ravinia, it was normal for Mr. Roberts,
who at 33 is a rising star in the world of children's music. His young
fans
behave like older concertgoers. They want autographs, they wear concert
T-shirts, and some of them know his songs by heart.

He is also part of a new breed of children's entertainers — singers and
musicians who had until recently performed with adult rock 'n' roll or
pop
bands that didn't quite make it big on the grown-up circuit. Some have
discovered successful second careers through musical makeovers and are
building sizable followings among the young and their parents.

The performers include Dan Zanes, a Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter
formerly of the 1980's roots-rock band the Del Fuegos; Gunnar Madsen
of the quirky San Francisco-based a cappella group the Bobs; Elizabeth
Mitchell, a founder of the major-label pop-folk band Ida; and Laurie
Berkner, a singer-songwriter from the Upper West Side of Manhattan who
left behind a rock band in the late 90's.

None among this new generation of performers have sold out their musical
sensibilities for cardigan sweaters or hand puppets. They make music
that is clearly meaningful for children yet tolerable, even enjoyable,
for parents. Many of these rockers (though not Mr. Roberts) are parents
themselves.

Mr. Roberts's career as a children's musician began in 1997, when he
played with a Minneapolis-based band and taught at a Montessori
preschool.
"As a teacher, I was having to listen to all that sing-songy, repetitive
stuff that was not so good," he said.

So in addition to "Itsy Bitsy Spider," he turned the youngsters on to
Sam Cooke and traditional Irish jigs. He wrote his own songs and
recorded
some as a Christmas gift for friends. One friend, Liam Davis, a
Chicago-based producer and member of the power-pop band Frisbie, urged
him to
record the songs professionally. So he did, turning them into his debut
children's album, "Great Big Sun" (1997).

Mr. Roberts now works full time as a musician and has made two more
albums — "Yellow Bus" and "Not Naptime" — selling 20,000 CD's in all,
he estimates (available at www.heardiagonally.com).

His music is an eclectic mix of styles inspired by traditional folk,
rock and country and by other children's classics, like "Schoolhouse
Rock," which
he listened to in his youth. His songs are typically upbeat and playful,
telling stories of rocket ships, cookies, even a brontosaurus with a
sweet
tooth.

In "98.8," he sings a rockabilly-style tune about a child who tries to
convince his mother he is too sick for school ("I'm not good/ I'm not
great/ My
temperature is 98.8/ Watch out I'm on fire/ You say I look fine/ What?
You calling me a liar?") "Not Naptime," a Buddy Holly-like song, could
be
the protest anthem for preteens. He also explores real problems children
face, like divorce ("Momma Is Sad") and nighttime fears ("Thought It Was

a Monster").

Claire Green, president of the Parents Choice Foundation, the nation's
oldest nonprofit evaluator of children's media products and toys, said
the
emergence of savvy new children's musicians was wonderful for parents,
especially ones eager for music that doesn't drive them crazy. The
music,
she said, is an alternative to albums put out by Disney, Nickelodeon,
Sesame Street and other companies that dominate the children's genre
with
music that is almost invariably cheery, often preachy and typically sung
by a cartoon character or somebody dressed like one.

While Ms. Green praised some of the commercially successful music sung
by characters like Barney and Elmo, she said there was "something a
little bit more personal from the folks like Justin."

Chicago might be considered the capital of cool kids' music, with its
thriving live children's music scene and family friendly recording
artists like
Mr. Roberts. One of the best known of them is Ralph Covert, whose adult
group, the Bad Examples, has been a popular bar band in Chicago since
the late 1980's. Mr. Covert, who started playing children's shows seven
years ago after the birth of his daughter, Fiona, recently released his
fourth
well-received album, `Peggy's Pie Parlor" (available at
ralphsworld.com), and plays sold-out children's rock concerts around the
country.

Other adult-rock musicians, including the Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy,
Jon Langford of the Waco Brothers and Tim Rutili of the bluesy rock
outfit
Red Red Meat, play children's shows on occasion at Chicago's Old Town
School of Folk Music.

One Chicago mother, Rachel Allard, 34, said Mr. Roberts's music was more
a guilty pleasure for her than it was entertainment for her 20-month-old

son, Max. "I actually listen to him more than my adult CD's," she said.
One of her favorite tunes of his, she said, is "Dad Caught Stars," a
lullaby
about catching fireflies. "It just reminds me of those perfect nights
when I was a child and used to catch them in jars," she said.

Despite their growing popularity, these performers are not yet rich or
famous. Mr. Roberts, for example, still books his own shows, produces
his
CD's at his own expense and lacks a national distributor. He gets by
only by touring and peddling his music wherever he goes.

Still, he said, he is satisfied with his career, even if it is not as a
rock star. "I have the greatest job in the world," Mr. Roberts said.
"Having kids come
up and say, `You're my favorite singer and this is my favorite song,'
that's a pretty wonderful thing to be doing."