Parenthood has recently become a lot more fun.
Not because of any revolutionary advances in car seats or sippy cups. And not because someone finally invented a pill to make sleep deprivation and stretch marks enjoyable. No, that stuff is still pretty horrible.
But one thing that is no longer so horrible–and in fact can be downright delicious–is kids’ music.
After decades of largely saccharine, babyish sing-songy kids’ records, the last few years have produced a bumper crop of rockin’, intelligent tunes by indie types-turned-tot troubadours whose music pleases parents and progeny alike.
The next few months bring many of these performers through Chicago and the Midwest at the top of their games, playing some of their biggest venues ever and participating in new hipster kids’ music festivals such as Kidzapalooza (July 22-23) and Jamarama (scheduled to hit Chicago in early November).
Many of these singers peaked as local and regional faves, but a handful–including Dan Zanes, Laurie Berkner, They Might Be Giants and Chicago’s Ralph Covert and Justin Roberts–also broke onto the national scene. Not quite popular enough to fill Disney show-sized venues, these children’s performers carved out touring circuits that employed bookstores, religious institutions, mid-sized halls, festivals and even bars. Their shows are scheduled around nap times and, for extra comfort, brewskis are often served along side juice boxes.
Saturday will see a rare battle of the Chicago kid rock stars as Covert plays Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island and Roberts takes the stage at Ravinia in Highland Park. Who will emerge the victor? That remains to be seen, but as Covert said of the playful competition between them, “When the smoke clears, someone’s gonna be Elvis and someone’s gonna be Carl Perkins.”
While Covert’s record sales (about 125,000) are nearly three times Roberts’, they both hold sway over legions of devoted fans all over the country, and especially in Chicago.
A new, childish direction
Each, however, was at a very different stage in life when their kids’ music careers took off.
For Covert, 43, it was a time when he was watching his young daughter grow up and his long-time rock band (the Bad Examples) wind down. And for Roberts, 35, who had toiled in a few small bands over the years, it was a time when he was studying Sanskrit for 10 hours a day as a divinity grad student at University of Chicago.
Neither dreamed kids’ music would largely define his career, but several CDs later, they both are kid rock royalty. And both are gifted pop songwriters who toss several genres–from ska, punk and reggae to folk, soul and the blues–into each record.
“I just try to make great records,” Covert says. “They’re not kids’ records.”
Neither wants to name names of the artists they are trying to offer alternatives to. But Roberts does allude to a certain “purple dinosaur” whose music he finds insufferable, and Covert says “there is so much crap out there in terms of kids’ records because they just shoot for the babies.”
Getting the dads to dance
Therein lies the key. While this genre is technically called kids’ music, it really owes its success to parent appeal. Many adults confess to playing the CDs long after they’ve dropped off the kids, others burn copies for their childless adult friends, and often the dads are the ones dancing at shows while their grumpy children sit frozen.
“I do hear that from moms, who will say, `My kids like the CD, but my husband is really your No. 1 fan,'” says Roberts.
How do these artists relate to their new, not-so-young fans? Covert says he was long used to “connecting” with the ladies in the audience from his adult rocking days, but Roberts seems to blush over the phone when asked whether children’s performers attract admiring single moms.
“I was always seriously dating or married during my time at this, so not really,” he says. “But I have had a few things like that.”
When it comes to crafting cool kid rock, both Justin and Ralph (as their young fans call them) have had some adept adult help. Roberts credits his producer Liam Davis, of the local rock group Frisbee, with pushing him to get his songs recorded and take the endeavor seriously. And Covert wouldn’t be in the game if not for Minty Fresh label head Jim Powers. The man who made the Cardigans a huge hit in America just happened to have a young son in Covert’s Old Town of Folk Music Wiggleworms class, and convinced the club vet to do his first “Ralph’s World” record, which Powers co-produced.
It was 2001, and back then Covert regarded his kid’s music prospects as child’s play. “It’s silly to say that this is the [musical] direction I’m going to pursue,” he said in a Tribune interview. “I’m not going to have 5-year-old backup singers.”
Not the same old song or dance
Indeed, after years of doing adult shows, the artists do find they’ve had to adjust to a variety of factors, including shorter attention spans.
“There is a tyranny to kids’ shows that is as cruel as any audience can be,” says John Flansburg of They Might Be Giants, a group that divides its time between kids and adult audiences. “You can lose them like that, and there are kids who will be spacing out no matter what you do. The one big thing I’ve figured from doing kids’ shows is that public school teachers are vastly underpaid.”
More shows to come
The kid rock doesn’t end this weekend. On July 22 and 23, Lollapalooza sets up shop at Grant Park, launching its first ever children’s area called Kidzapalooza. This separate stage and mini-fest will showcase a full line up of bands (including Atlanta’s rocking Daddy A Go Go and the Godmother of cool kids’ tunes Ella Jenkins) along with cameos by mainstagers including the Lolla founder and Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell.They Might Be Giants play Milwaukee’s Summerfest July 10 with a grown-up show, and mid-month they pop into Cleveland for Kidsfest, where they will headline with Roberts and Covert.
Why all this cool kids’ music is happening now is hard to pinpoint. After all, Roberts says, “There have always been people who had kids but wanted to do cool things.”
Covert started making kids’ music when former Old Town School administrator Jacqueline Russell asked him to teach the rock-friendly Wiggleworms class (a music/sing-along class for kids). He believes the genre’s recent popularity resulted from a combination of Russell’s enthusiasm for boundary pushing, a group of local parents who were receptive to the music, and local performers who accidentally fell into the genre.
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Kidzapalooza producer Tor Hyams sees it as Gen-X thing.
“A lot of the kids who grew up with Lollapalooza now have kids but they still want to be cool,” he said. “And so there is this new breed of hipster parents between 28 and 38 who still want to go hear great music but they want to bring their kids. I think this is the most alternative underground scene there is.”
Whatever the reason, the music has served as a blessing to many young parents who feel their youth slipping away with each new child, new minivan and new home in the ‘burbs. Bands that allow you to dance around your kitchen–and even your favorite old club–to the same tunes your 3-year-old is grooving to make parenthood feel just that much less like the end of your dang life.
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10 upcoming kids’ music shows
JULY 2 Justin Roberts, Ravinia Pavilion, Highland Park. 11 a.m. $5/$3 for lawn; 847-266-5100.
JULY 2 Ralph’s World, Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island. 11 a.m. $5-$15; 312-559-1212.
JULY 9 Justin Roberts Trio at Summerfest in Wrigleyville. 12:30 p.m.; $5 donation.
JULY 23-24 Kidzapalooza featuring Daddy A-Go-Go, Ella Jenkins and Candyland as part of Lollapalooza at Grant Park. Kids under 10 free with ticket-holding adult. Adults $60; www.lollapalooza.com or 888-512-7469.
JULY 23 Justin Roberts, Summer on Southport. 2 p.m.; $5 at the gate.
JULY 24 Justin Roberts, the Sheffield Garden Walk. Noon; $6 at the gate.
AUG. 6 Ralph’s World, Ravinia Pavilion Highland Park. 11 a.m.; $3-$10; 847-266-5100.
AUG. 6 Wiggleworms 20th Anniversary featuring Old Town School of Folk Music staff singing rock versions of kids’ songs, Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island. 11 a.m.; Free with voucher; www.charteronepavilion.com.
OCT. 2 Dan Zanes at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Noon and 3 p.m.; $11-$15; 773-728-6000
EARLY NOV. (tentatively) Jamarama with headliner Laurie Berkner, Rosemont Theatre. For more, see www.jamaramalive.com
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10 cool kids’ CDs to start your collection
DAN ZANES AND FRIENDS, “FAMILY DANCE”: This CD by the ex-Del Fuegos frontman makes our 3-year-old girl happy enough. OK, call a song “Jump Up” and the kiddies are going to respond accordingly, even if it’s got a sittin’-on-the-porch-pickin’-an-acoustic-guitar vibe. But Zanes excites the toddler set with folk tunes such as “Rock Island Line,” gets them dancing to a Rasta-rapped “The Hokey Pokey” and inspires child and parent alike to sing along with such catchy ditties as “All Around the Kitchen.”
–Mark Caro
JUSTIN ROBERTS, “WAY OUT”: With a voice hinting at James Taylor and John Lennon, Roberts is a kids’ singer-songwriter nonpareil and a favorite in the Carlozo household. Roberts makes music with smarts and heart without succumbing to sugar sickness. “Airplane of Food,” spiced with ska horns and a clever chorus of backup `ahhs,’ captures a youngster struggling to feed his sibling. Another big winner: “Picture Day,” a mischievous lament about a school-photo predicament.
–Louis R. Carlozo
WEEBEE TUNES, “GET YOUR PASSPORT!” AND “THE JOURNEY CONTINUES!”: These discs (also on DVD) take kids on travel adventures from South America to the South Pole, with cartoon critters leading the way. Songs play like mini geography lessons, rich in history–and downright catchy. Chicago jingle writer Steve Wiebe, his wife Karen Wiebe and their world-traveling neighbor collaborated on these CDs, which often have me absent-mindedly singing the down-under melody to “Cuddly Wuddly Wombat.” Along the way, I also learned a lot about New Zealand, Timbuktu, the Trans-Siberian Express …
–L.C.
VARIOUS ARTISTS, “NAPOLEON DYNAMITE MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK”: My 3-year-old daughter Charlie is a big fan of the Jamiroquai disco-funk song “Canned Heat,” from this soundtrack, which has a number of other catchy tunes kids might like. Whenever Charlie hears it she jumps up and down and asks me to do my feeble imitation of Napoleon’s inimitable solo dance from the movie, which is actually hilarious for adults and acceptable for tykes.
–Jeremy Manier
BRADY RYMER, “I FOUND IT”: Rymer, a former member of the roots-rock band From Good Homes, has put out one of the finest new kid rock CDs I’ve heard this year. Blending Motown, E Street rock and power pop, he tells tales of losing toys, cooking with mom and making soup in the bathtub. Anyone who likes Chicago’s tot troubadours Justin and Ralph will love this Long Island dad’s stuff.
–Monica Eng
RALPH’S WORLD, “AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA”: Our fam loves the whole RW oeuvre, but especially this collection of old classics (“Itsy Bitsy Spider”) and modern classics like “The Coffee Song,” featuring the truest lyrics I know: “m-o-m-m-y needs c-o-f-f-e-e.” Throw in the hook-heavy power popping “Sunny Day Rainy Day Anytime Band” and finish it up the heartbreaking lullaby “Many Things to Know” and you have a smoove kiddie-parent disc.
–M.E.
JAMIE BROZA, “BAD MOOD MOM”: Not necessarily the best singing in the genre but a great way to remind kids we all have difficult times. The song “Alone” starts “Sometimes your parents can be mean,” while “Blankie, Piggie, Pacie” talks about the universal need for security objects. But my favorite cut is the fabulously catchy title track that assures my kids I am not the only mom in the world who occasionally freaks out.
–M.E.
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS, “NO!”: There is no way to describe the goofy, eclectic, funky, brainy, rocky sounds here except to say that this is a kids’ CD in the style of They Might Be Giants. Kicking off with the glorious tension and release rocker “No!” it continues with soothing lullabies, “Lazy Head and Sleepy Bones,” the dreamy Beatlesque “Where Do They Make Balloons” and, of course, the absurd (where would TMBG without absurd?) tunes like “Robot Parade” and “I Am Not Your Broom.”
–M.E.
WOODY GUTHRIE, “NURSERY DAYS”: Written and recorded by the original hipster rebel troubadour in 1951, this lo-fi collection features 16 cuts as clever and catchy as anything the current batch of cool kids popsters are cranking out today. We love the graceful simplicity of “Wake Up” and “Ride in My Car” and the subversive wit lurking in “Don’t You Push Me Down” and “My Yellow Crayon.”
–M.E.
DADDY A GO GO, “MOJO A GO GO”: Fans of the Ramones or The Skeletons will feel like they’ve been reincarnated in this fabulous kids outfit fronted by former TV news producer turned stay-at-home dad John Boydston. “Do The Chores,” “I Don’t Want to Go to School Today” and “Of Mice and Mensch” have become instant classics in our household. Check these guys out at Kidzapalooza.
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–M.E.
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