Cool New Music from Massachusetts

When we started getting into local children’s musicians I never imagined that we would find such an interesting and eclectic group of artists living and performing right here in Massachusetts. And the cool thing is that we find more new artists all the time!

Here are some of our favorite new CDs that have just been released (or are about to be released) by local musicians. Some are from singers we’ve known for a while and some are completely new to us. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

A Cow Says Moock is Alastair Moock’s first kids’ album and it’s due for release later this month. Alastair has a jazzy voice with rough edges that grabs your attention right away. His songs are hilarious and his style has really grown on me. I can’t stop singing these songs! Maria Sangiolo, one of our favorite artists from Connecticut, performs back-up vocals on Ship in the Sky (my favorite song on the album), and my son just loves Twins are Twice as Fun with it’s simple yet catchy refrain. This is a CD you’re definitely going to want to check out.

Drum Like an Animal is an awesome new CD from Tom Foote, a drum instructor in Concord Mass. Many of the songs on this CD are traditional African songs from around the region, while a few are originals, like Drum Like an Animal or Dance All Day (my personal favorite). The sounds on this CD or so rich that they actually make my stereo system sound better than it really is! Ivan loves rhythms and beats and we’ve used this CD in his Physical Therapy class to help him learn to walk to a beat. Drums make everything, even work, more fun!

Sarah Lee Guthrie, Woody Guthrie’s granddaughter, just released her first CD for children, Go Waggaloo. The songs are sweet and somewhat mellow and all have a very traditional Americana sound. Some of the songs are traditional folk songs and others are originals, including three songs with Woody Guthrie lyrics never before put to music. The songs feature Sarah’s beautiful voice accompanied by her family, including the most adorable little kids you’ll ever hear on a CD. I really love the song If Mama Had Four Hands, because I think that everyday, but Ivan loves the title song, Go Waggaloo, because it’s upbeat and fun to sing and dance along to.

Sing-A-Lingo is the creative idea from a family in Medford who thought that it would be a great idea to teach language through song. All of Sing-A-Lingo’s songs are sung in Spanish but they are very easy to sing along to even if you don’t know any Spanish at all. As the songs progress you find yourself singing along in Spanish without even realizing it! The songs are silly and fun, and so is their first video. I love the dance moves! Check out our favorite songs on the CD, Señor Sol / Mr. Sun and Hola Amigos / Hello Friends. Learning a new language is a great way to boost your child’s brain power, so why not do it while also having fun?

Wayne Potash had a great idea for a new CD… Well, actually his son had a great idea for a CD and Wayne ran with it. Why not create a mini-opera about A Day in the Life of an ordinary little kid? From waking up in the morning to eating breakfast, playing to napping, it’s all here. What I really like about this album is that being a “mini-opera” each song is relatively short, which means they become great songs to sing to your own little one while going through your daily routine. I’ve found that it’s so much easier to get my son to cooperate when we have a dedicated bath time song or a memorable clean up song. All I have to do is start singing the song and he understands immediatley what it is we’re doing. This CD is full of great routine songs! I also love that there are exactly 24 songs. Is that because there are 24 hours in a day? Very clever!