Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child

Kidzapalooza Lineup

2008-05-11T13:36:00.002-04:00

Video:

Text version here:

Tiny Masters of Today
Homemade Jamz
Suzy Brack and the New Del Lords
The Terrible Two's
The Jimmies
Peter DiStefano & Tor
The Q Brothers
Paul Green's School of Rock All Stars
The Dream Jam Band
Perry Farrell

We might be there too.

Playlist & Stream for 2008-05-10

2008-05-10T09:00:00.002-04:00

Today, world premiere music from Recess Monkey, a frankly sort of weird segment 4, and much, much more...

My voice is slowly making its way back to full power...

Be sure to check out Aric Bieganek's CD release party at 11 this morning at Cup & Top, and head over to Amherst Toy Box for their birthday party and live music from Roger Tincknell!

Here's our playlist:

Segment 1
TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
-Ella ID
TMBG - Birdhouse in Your Soul (Flood)
Sones de Mexico Ensemble Chicago - Esta Tierra Es Tuya (Esta Tierra Es Tuya)
Gustafer Yellowgold - I Jump on Cake (Wide Wild World)
ID/Toy Box promo
Tom Waits - Midnight Lullabye (The Early Years)
Barenaked Ladies - Things (Snacktime)

Segment 2
Psapp - Everybody Wants to be a Cat (Tricycle EP)
ID/safe passage psa
Nields - Going to the Zoo
ID
Jimmies - Cool to be Uncool (Make Your Own Someday)
Fountains of Wayne - Peace and Love (Welcome Interstate Managers)
ScribbleMonster ID
ScribbleMonster - A Monster Goes Rrrrarrrgh (Best of Friends)
ID

Segment 3
Recess Monkey - S-L-Double E P-Over (Tabby Road)
Big Bang Boom - Put Your Pants On
Justin Roberts - Field Trip (Pop Fly)
ID
Beastie Boys - Intergalactic (Hello Nasty)
Mr. Leebot - Brock Brock Chicky (Activate!)
Mr. T Experience - Unpack Your Adjectives (...and the Women Who Love Them)
ID

Segment 4
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
Brandi Carlile - Have You Ever (The Story)
Danny Adlerman - Africa Calling (One Size Fits All)
TMBG - Turtle Songs of North America
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Mbube (African Playground)
Daddy a Go Go - Get Your Yo Yos Out (Rock of All Ages)

Segment 5
Deedle Deedle Dees - Nellie Bly (Freedom in a Box!)
ID
Ambrosia Parsley - Everybody Came (For the Kids Too)
Ralph's World - Poka Dot Shirt (Rhyming Circus)
Velvet Underground - Rock and Roll (Best of Velvet Underground)
ID/book time with Ella

Segment 6
Dean & Britta - Ginger Snaps (L'Avventura)
Frances England - Fast Train
ID
Dan Zanes & Friends - La Piragua (Nueva York)
Dog on Fleas - Green Grass of Summer (When I Get Little)
ID
TMBG - Clap Your Hands (No!)
TMBG - Spare the Rock

Coming up on the big show...

2008-05-09T08:32:00.003-04:00

World premiere music from Recess Monkey, and it's a song that will never leave your head. Ever.

More new music from Big Bang Boom and Frances England and Ralph's World.

Plus, and this is critical, an analysis of whether Kelsey just might be a witch.

Also tomorrow, be sure to check out Aric Bieganek's CD release party at Cup & Top and the all-day birthday festivities at our sponsor Toy Box in Amherst, including a 1:00 performance by Roger Tincknell.

Nields Benefit for Safe Passage 5/18

2008-05-06T10:51:00.001-04:00

I'll be hosting this:

Join The Riverlution as we team up with The Nields and Universal Kids to support Safe Passage. The Nields will be performing a kids' show at Universal Kids on Hawley Street in Northampton at 11am on Sunday, 5/18 to help raise money for Safe Passage. For admission, bring a piece of your child's artwork, along with a donation for Safe Passage. Anyone who comes to the concert can stay and play for free after the concert!

Tom Waits: Not Coming Here, Also Insane, Wonderfully Insane

2008-05-06T09:53:00.001-04:00

Watch all of it:

...and shout ERA!

2008-05-05T09:58:00.001-04:00

Here's the brand-spanking-new Deedle Deedle Dees track based on an incident in my life when I was around Ella's age, performed by half of the band (and Chris had just learned the song on the sidewalk outside Jalopy):

Update 2: Stink.

2008-05-04T20:19:00.005-04:00

That was fun.

We had a dozen bands play at Jalopy (great hosts, they were). You can see pictures here. Here's one of them, from the crazy rocking finale with representatives from just about everyone who was left joining AudraRox on "I Like to Pretend":

Can't even see everyone there; just at a glance, I know Uncle Rock was off-camera playing piano and various other folks were strewn about the stage.

The Deedle Deedle Dees (well, the half of them who were there) did play their brand new song about my wearing a dress to elementary school. I'll try to get the song uploaded for your listening pleasure at some point.

Update: Gwyneth has a report and pictures and videos up.

Update 2: Jeff has pictures.

Playlist for 2008-05-03

2008-05-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

We're off to Brooklyn; rock!

Thanks to Aric for coming in and chatting about his new CD, Live at the Northampton Parents Center. Find out more about the Center here.

Stream the show here:

Segment 1
TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
-Ella ID
TMBG - Dr. Worm (Severe Tire Damage)
David Tobocman - I Count to Ten
Elizabeth Mitchell - Who's My Pretty Baby (You Are My Little Bird)
Hayes Greenfield - Fiddle Dee Green (Music for a Green Planet)
Johnny Bregar - Moon
ID

Segment 2
Barenaked Ladies - Pollywog in a Bog (Snacktime)
Michelle Shocked - When I Grow Up (Short Sharp Shocked)
ID/prep to rock
Replacements - A Toe Needs a Shoe (Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash bonus material)
Justin Roberts - She's a Yellow Reflector (Pop Fly)
Big Audio Dynamite II - Rush (The Globe)

Segment 3
John Carlin - Run Around (First Time for Everything)
Trouble Hubble - I'm Pretty Sure I Can See Molecules
Mr. Ray - Number Song (Songs from the Kids' Lounge)
Bari Koral Family Rock Band - Day at the Beach (s/t)
fIREHOSE - Whisperin' While Hollerin' (fROMOHIO)
ID/book time with Ella (Adrienne Kress - Alex and the Ironic Gentleman)

Segment 4
Scribblemonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
Telephone Company - Mustache (The King's Surprise?)
Gustafer Yellowgold - Beard for All Seasons (Have you Never been Yellow?)
Submarines - Fern Beard (Honeysuckle Weeks)
Mates of State - Jellyman Kelly (For the Kids 3)
Duplex - Freaky Rhesus (Ablum)
ID

Segment 5
Aric Bieganek live in-studio
Car Seat Driver
Pizza Song
Central Park Kitty
Lemonheads - Outdoor Type (Car Button Cloth)

Segment 6
Lucas Miller - Go Wild, Read! (I Was a Supa Dupa Pupa)
John Carver - Jungle Swingers (Down at the Zoo)
Lyle Lovett - Church (Joshua Judges Ruth)
Frances England - Best Friends (Family Tree)
ID
TMBG - A Shooting Star is Not a Star
TMBG - Spare the Rock

Fanny Fanny Fan Fan

2008-05-01T18:33:00.001-04:00

Become a fan of the show on Facebook.

Why, yes, I am avoiding grading. Why do you ask?

Prepare to rock

2008-04-26T10:28:00.003-04:00

I posted this before, but it got kinda buried quickly with all the other stuff of late, so: hey, if your kids want to be on the show, send us (show AT sparetherock DOT com) an MP3 of them saying their name(s), where you're from, and "Are you prepared to rock?" Not-great-quality is okay, so don't not do it just because you don't have a studio setup or anything like that. And if you see us around town, ask if we have the recorder with us; we often do. We got a couple of great ones at the Brady Rymer show last night...send us more!

And again, remember that if you send us your favorite spring break/spring activity and your favorite planet (or dwarf planet!), you could win the Pop Rockets' new CD!

Playlist for 2008-04-26

2008-04-25T20:33:00.000-04:00

Fun show with Brady Rymer and the Little Band that Could at First Churches! Thanks to everyone for coming out, and to Brady and the band (and Bridget!) for putting on such a fun show, even with technical difficulties.

Thanks to The Pop Rockets for guest DJing! The first people to e-mail us (show AT sparetherock DOT com) who live locally (i.e., who are willing to come to downtown Northampton to pick it up) with (a) their favorite spring break activity (or just spring activity, for non-schoolers) and (b) their favorite planet or dwarf planet will get a free copy of the new Pop Rockets CD!

Also, welcome to Amherst Toy Box in their first official week sponsoring the show!

Stream the show here:

Here's what we played:

Segment 1
TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
-Ella ID
TMBG - The Secret Life of Six
Damnations - Steeple Full of Swallows (Where it Lands)
Gourds - Education Song (Heavy Ornamentals)
ID
Dan Wilson - Lullaby (EP)
ID (Pop Rockets coming up)

Segment 2
Father Goose - Island in the Sun (It's a Bam Bam Diddly)
Frances England - Spring has Sprung (Family Tree)
ID/prep to rock
Posies - Flavor of the Month
Deedle Deedle Dees - Babe Ruth (Let it Dee)
Pencilhead and the Playground Punks - Free

Segment 3
Arcadia bit
Quiet Ones - Ultrafoot (Make Some Noise)
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Kinder Words (Question the Answers)
AudraRox - All My Toys Are Broken (I Can Do It By Myself!)
SteveSongs - No Good Toys (Little Superman)
Telephone Company - Bomb Pop (Panda Brain)

Segment 4
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
Pop Rockets Guest DJ set:
John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting - The Hoppity Song (For the Kids)
Beatles - All Together Now (Yellow Submarine)
Earth Wind & Fire - Shining Star (Pure Funk)
Naked Brothers Band - Crazy Car
ID

Segment 5
Rose Royce - Car Wash (Pure Funk)
Semisonic & Mary Lou Lord - Sugar Sugar (Saturday Morning Greatest Hits)
ID -
Billy Jonas - What Kind of Cat are You? (What Kind of Cat Are You?)
ID

Segment 6
Steve Weeks - Xavier Xerxes Xeonphanes X (Alphabet Songs Vol 3)
ID/Book Time with Ella
Justin Roberts - She Sits (Pop Fly)
Ralph's World - King of the Alphabet (The Rhyming Circus)
ID
TMBG - D is for Drums (Here Come the ABCs)
TMBG - Spare the Rock

Bumped: Details About the Brady Rymer Show

2008-04-25T06:23:00.002-04:00

Just moving this up to make it easier to find for anyone looking for details (and welcome, Advocate readers):

I think I've hit the high points of this periodically, but in case you're coming here after seeing one of the posters, hearing an ad, etc., here's the key information:

Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could

Friday, April 25, doors at 5:00 p.m.

Lyman Hall at First Churches of Northampton, 129 Main Street, Northampton, MA (enter opposite the Iron Horse Music Hall)

Co-presented by us and Hilltown Families.

Potluck contributions are welcome but not required.

$7 for kids and adults; infants are free.

From the press release:

Brady Rymer toured and recorded with the RCA roots/rock band From Good Homes for thirteen years — sharing the stage with the likes of Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews, and the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir — before parenthood broadened the scope of his music. Five albums and countless live shows later, this veteran performer has established himself as one of the country’s most captivating creators of music for kids and families. Combining a feel-good R&B foundation with traditional acoustic arrangements and a scoop of sunny 70's optimism, Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could have created a distinctive, modern American roots sound for families raised on rock 'n' roll. Every generation connects to this band's strong, straight-ahead grooves, catchy choruses and irresistibly down-home, hip-shakin' vibe.

Brady will appear on WHMP 1400 AM at about 8:40 on Friday morning.

It's gonna be a ton of fun. Please come.

Valley Advocate on Brady Rymer

2008-04-24T12:32:00.001-04:00

Nice piece here. Whoo-hoo!

Are you prepared to be on the radio?

2008-04-24T08:30:00.002-04:00

Hey, so at the Brady Rymer show I'm going to bring our new little digital recorder (which is so so sweet) and have kids ask the weekly question: "Are you prepared to rock?"

Does your kid want in on the action? Then record them saying something that includes their name, where they're from, and the key phrase -- "Are you prepared to rock?" -- and send it to me (show AT sparetherock DOT com) as an MP3 attachment. It can have something else in there too if you want; try to keep it around 20-30 seconds at most.

And what the heck. If you're in a band and want to send a prepared-to-rock bit, you can do that too.

I might scare kids at the Brady Rymer show.

2008-04-23T18:52:00.002-04:00

Hmm:

I fear I look a little like Dave Attell.

Wow, I'd forgotten how good that is

2008-04-22T18:52:00.003-04:00

The Replacements' Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash -- first punk record I ever got (given to me on a dubbed tape by, I'm pretty sure, this Brad Witham). That tape stayed in my tape player for months, probably until I got Let It Be (and I still remember hoping my mom wouldn't look too carefully at the track listing, especially, oh, around midway through side 2, when I was buying it at the record store).

Yes, the remastered CDs mentioned here showed up, and they sound incredible. Do I have a point? No. Except that the Replacements changed my life in important ways. They're especially well described in the liner notes by Gina Arnold for Let It Be. It's worth reading all of it (and you must buy these records, right now), but a quick excerpt might be interesting:

That was the thing about The 'Mats. You didn't just listen to them or like them or drop by a gig every now and again. You simply were them. You wouldn't have said that about R.E.M. or Sonic Youth or Husker Du or any of the other well-known bands of the era, much as you may have loved them. You wouldn't have said it about Springsteen, Madonna, or Prince. Unlike those acts, compelling as they all were, once you fell into The Replacements vortex, you took on their attributes--and their battles. It was sort of like that episode of the X-Files where hapless city workers are usurped by an amoeba in the sewer. You didn't listen to The 'Mats, you channeled them.

By the time I was old enough to go see shows (and, more important, had access to a car), they were almost done. I saw them once, on the Don't Tell a Soul tour. It was good, though it was in a mid-size theater rather than something like First Avenue, and by all accounts it was at best a middling show. And yet it was still great.

My point? Again, I have none. There are virtually no 'Mats songs we can play on the show. But if you need to know why you hear them fairly regularly, that's why. And if you have those old records and haven't listened to them recently, listen, now.

Switching over to AM, searching for a truer sound

2008-04-22T10:38:00.001-04:00

No, we're not switching to AM; just saw an excuse to quote a Son Volt song.

But this Friday morning at 8:40, listen to our sister station WHMP 1400 AM to hear Chris Collins and Tom Vannah chat with Brady Rymer.

July at Pearl Street is getting even better...

2008-04-22T06:16:00.002-04:00

...because Uncle Rock is now confirmed opening for the Sippy Cups!

Susan B. Anthony and the Replacements

2008-04-20T17:02:00.002-04:00

What do they have in common? Actually nothing besides this post.

But as for the first:

When I was around Ella's age, we were assigned to do book reports on a biography. As I've mentioned, my mom was an organizer for the ERA in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and so women's suffrage and women's rights was a fairly big subject in our house. So I chose to do my report on Susan B. Anthony. After we were all done writing the report, etc., the teacher informed us that we would be reading the report to the class...dressed as the subject. And that's how I went to school wearing a dress.

Why do I mention this here? Because I told Ulysses S. Dee of the Deedle Deedle Dees this story, and he reports that they will soon have a song based on my experience, "Put on a Dress (Nobody Told Me to Be Susan B. Anthony)." Cool.

And the second:

These are going to be excellent. I have a fair number of the bonus tracks already, but not nearly all of 'em. Hooray!

Welcome Lucy Rae!

2008-04-19T17:03:00.001-04:00

Ginger Hendrix has some news in the form of a new baby, Lucy Rae Hendrix. Whoo-hoo!

In the Well, That's Weird category: Had Liam been a girl, he would have been Lucy Rae. (Well, Lucinda Rae, but Lucy.)

Playlist for 2008-04-19

2008-04-18T18:30:00.001-04:00

All sorts of great stuff, including brand new music from Frances England, Ralph's World, and more!

Details about the Brady Rymer show we discussed are here. Please come!

Stream it here:

(I'm a dork; I forgot to upload a key file for it to work. Uploading now and is probably working by the time you read this. 4/18 9:30pm)

Here's what we played:

Segment 1
TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
-Ella ID
TMBG - Cowtown (Lincoln)
Dog on Fleas - Give It Away (When I Get Little)
Uncle Rock - There's Love in My Food (Uncle Rock U)
ID
Justin Roberts - From Scratch (Pop Fly)
Laura Freeman - Compost Heap (A Baker's Dozen)
ID

Segment 2
Steve Weeks - Kiki Kangaroo (Alphabet Songs 2)
Monty Harper - A Pet Like That (Paws Claws Scales and Tales)
ID/prep to rock
Guided by Voices - Hank's Little Fingers (Box)
David Weinstone - Big Boom Whacker (Taxi)
Recess Monkey - Aquarium (Aminal House)
CandyBand - It's Your Birthday (Calling All Kids)
ID

Segment 3
Frances England - Free to Be Me (Family Tree)
ID
Deedle Deedle Dees - Rancher Ants (Freedom in a Box)
Arcade Fire - Tunnels (Funeral)
Hipwaders - Art Car (Educated Kid)
Sgt. Major - Nellie the Elephant (Play)
ID

Segment 4
ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
ID
Ralph's World - Gotta Be Good (Rhyming Circus)
B-52s - Wig (Bouncing off the Satellites)
Dream Jam Band - That's Enough for Me (Dream Jam Band)
Lunch Money - Tricycle (Silly Reflection)
Beatles - And Your Bird Can Sing (Revolver)
ID

Segment 5
Brady Rymer - It Was a Saturday Night
ID
Mocean Worker - Right Now
ID/Book Time with Ella
Oren & the Hiccups - Turn Around the Sun (Turn around the Sun)
Gunnar Madsen - Sun Comes Up (I'm Growing)
ID

Segment 6
Dan Zanes - El Pescador (Nueva York)
Mahotella Queens - Mbube (African Playground)
ID
Tom Freund - Hug Trees (Hug Trees)
ID
TMBG - Edison Museum (Long Tall Weekend)
TMBG - Spare the Rock

The Brady Rymer Ad

2008-04-18T17:34:00.002-04:00

Listen to it here:

Details here.

There will be no hair.

2008-04-17T18:29:00.001-04:00

Students at the law school chipped in to raise $500 for Equal Justice Works (our public interest group) and so sometime in the next week or so I will become completely bald.

Hmm.

Hello, People in Northwest Texas and/or Southern Oklahoma!

2008-04-17T11:45:00.002-04:00

My music column will, starting in May (the first issue!), be in Red River Family. Whoo-hoo!

AKL Lineup

2008-04-15T12:29:00.002-04:00

Announced.

Kids' stuff:

School of Rock
Jambo
Q Brothers
Buck Howdy with BB
Uncle Rock
Big Don (?)
Mr. Ray
The Jimmies

Other stuff I notice I like: Beck, Mates of State, Manu Chao, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, David Byrne, Raconteurs, Tegan & Sara, Neko Case, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Alejandro Escovedo, Vampire Weekend, Roky Erickson, Mgmt, M. Ward, Jenny Lewis, and no doubt many more I missed on a quick glance.

Rawk.