Music – Page 9

Meet Alphabet Rockers; coming to DC this week

July 19, 2015

This article was written by Carolyn Ross of Kindiemusicdc, promotor of musicians playing in the DC area. Alphabet Rockers will be performing on July 21 and July 22 at Wolf Trap’s Theatre-in-the-Woods and July 23 will be entertaining crowds at Frederick’s SummerFest Family Theatre.

Harvard University graduates can often be found on the short list for U.S. Attorney General, Fulbright scholar, even the Nobel Peace prize. But making independent kids music? With a down to earth intuition about what appeals to kids and the power of music and movement, Kaitlin McGaw is not your typical Harvard grad. Along with co-performers Stefanie Liang and Tommy Shepherd, the founder of the L.A. based Kindie Hip Hop troupe, Alphabet Rockers, McGaw has made quite a name for herself in a field not highly populated by ivy leaguers.

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New CD (and live shows) by Mr. Gabe and the Circle Time All-Stars

July 8, 2015

Mr. Gabe has entertained our entire family live and now in the comfort of our home and car with his newest CD. We first met Mr. Gabe when he performed at Songs and Stories at Politics Prose when our son was just a year old. Our little guy liked watching him strum his guitar and learned to know words to familiar kiddie songs. We since have followed him around to Boogie Babes, Takoma Park Library and other places he’s performed.

Mr. Gabe and his band, the Circle Time All-Stars recently released a new CD title Metro Train. Parents will instantly connect with the lyrics as they were inspired by Mr. Gabe’s experiences as a suburban dad. Kids will love listening to the title track, Metro Train, as they hear familiar DC Metro stop names and recall their experiences riding the Metro. Our son loves the catchy tune Good Daddy/Bad Daddy and sings along, especially when he can say “Bad Daddy” (perhaps because he gets to pretend to scold someone). Kids will enjoy Fly to the Moon about space travel as they imagine themselves as astronauts. Monster is a track asked for by name by our son, which isn’t a surprise because he loves Monsters, Inc., Monsters University and just about everything associated with the franchise. Parents will welcome this song as the lyrics help alleviate any fears kids may have about monsters.

All of the songs are catchy and have lots of rhymes, which matches well with our son’s new fascination with rhyming everything he can. Mr. Gabe describes the music as “classic country, faux Russian folk music, and Latin-tinged R&B.”

Purchase the CD on CDBaby and on iTunes or connect on his website to download it. In addition to hearing samples of all the songs you can get a free download of “Brian the Lazy Lion.”

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Interview with local mom & musician plus giveaway

May 21, 2015

Carolyn Ross of Kindiemusicdc interviewed Here Comes Trouble’s front-woman, Kelly Donohue. Admittedly, I hadn’t heard of the band and my interest is now peaked; a band who writes songs that are “funny and a little brash” seems right up my alley. After all, my son is almost four and the variety of music we’ve listened to is finally starting to move on from familiar kid sing-alongs to songs like Sugar by Maroon 5 and Centerfield by John Fogerty. With that being said, our family is super excited to celebrate at the CD Release Party for “Goo on my Shoe” and expand the music we listen to. Share this post on Facebook for a chance to win 4 tickets to the party (details are at the end of the article).

Band Members: Jon Babu, Jennifer Jones, Kelly Donohue, Colleen Dyer, Jacob Chmara (Photo credit: Paper Bird Photography)

If you’ve ever thought you’d like to be a rock star, or otherwise just have your voice heard, then you understand something of what drives trademark lawyer and Gaithersburg, Md. mother of two, Kelly Donohue.

As the front-woman and principal songwriter for her band Here Comes Trouble, Donohue is pursuing her dream of making it big, and making it happen right here in the D.C. metro area.

Here Comes Trouble or HCT plays original Kindie (independent kids) music inspired by Donohue’s own family life. Not unlike many area parents, just a few short years ago Donohue and her husband John Babu were commuting to their jobs, helping kids with homework and living well in the ‘burbs . But something was missing. It wasn’t until while seeking potential entertainers for her son’s 5th birthday party, and coming up short of what she was looking for, Donohue stumbled upon what was absent from her life, and as it turned out, sorely needed; Music. The music that was once central to her own and her husband’s life, a talent they both essentially abandoned for the legal field, and the existence of which their children knew nothing about. As conservatory trained musicians, Kelly and John each had dreams of pursuing artistic careers, but all too soon practicalities took over and their history as creative types, was all but forgotten. Until that day in the driveway.

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