The Real Victims of this Economy

Greetings from the education desk at Singing in the Bathtub. I am writing today after hearing some dismaying news on NPR about the struggling state of California and the result it has had on the education system there. For those interested parties here is the link to the article:

L.A.'s Urban Schools Hardest Hit By Teacher Layoffs

I don't want to go into too much depth, when the article does a much better job of outlining the issue, but I would like to share my own reflections after hearing this sobering news. L.A. did something great for the struggling inner-city, they created a new model for the public school system, employed young, enthusiastic teachers (where the "old guard" would not tread), and experienced modest successes. Now, their hands are tied by a bankrupt state gov't, and the new generation of teachers are being forced out for those displaced and under tenure (not to mention the future generation of educators who are just getting out of school to find no work).

My mom would be appalled, but let me just say THIS SUCKS! I am in the same boat here in South Florida. Miami/Dade county has put a hiring freeze on all public schools, Broward county has just laid off 14% of it's work force. I have applied for my teacher certification in the hopes of moving beyond the freelance lifestyle that has made the past few years so trying. I have elected to be certified to teach elementary music, but knowing that arts teaching jobs are as rare as hen's teeth, I also was hoping to be your everyday, average elementary school teacher. Looks like this year will be a wash.

I have seen so many arts teachers cut from school budgets like so much worthless trash, now it seems the meager dream of being a general ed. teacher is out of reach for those just coming into the field. Who are the real victims of this economic downturn? The children! My sister made a similar joke after getting out of school, but I'm thinking of making a sign to hold up in on coming traffic:

"B.A. from a top liberal arts college

M.M. from a top conservatory

Over 10 years of experience with children

Will teach for food!"

Bumper Sticker Quote of the Day: "It will be a great day when schools have all the money they need, and the army will have to have bake sales to buy bombs!"

p.s. If any school out there is looking for a unique fund-raising idea, contact my blog about creating original CD recordings for sale. It's healthier than chocolate and much less expensive than wrapping paper!

p.p.s. Just a reminder... I am still waiting to hear from the following states:

Alaska

Arkansas

Delaware

Hawaii

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New Mexico

North Dakota

Oklahoma

Oregon

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Utah

West Virginia

Wyoming

Drop me a line and you could be next contestant in the Great 50 State Coconut Groove Giveaway (see contest details below)

MORE THAN Halfway There!

Ever since Coconut Groove started selling online almost two years ago, I have been keeping track of where my music has wound up. There are those days when I feel like I'm just a small-fry in a big vat of oil when compared to folks like Dan Zanes or the Wiggles, but looking at a Google Map of my CD sales always perks me up a bit.

View CD Sales in a larger map

On iTunes, I have a number of sales in the UK and I have sold/sent copies to such far-flung destinations as Okinawa, Japan and Capetown, South Africa. The digital age of globalization is a boon for the self-promoting musician.

When I was checking the map today I noticed I have hit a milestone. I have sold my music in 25 of the 50 states! This gave me an idea for my first Singing in the Bathtub CD Giveaway!

The first person/family to contact me from the following states:

Alaska

Arkansas

Delaware

Hawaii

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New Mexico

North Dakota

Oklahoma

Oregon

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Utah

West Virginia

Wyoming

Will receive a complimentary copy of Coconut Groove. There are only two requirements to enter the giveaway. 1) You write in and comment on my blog once you receive the CD to tell me how you like it, and 2) You tell 5 people in your area about the CD and direct them to CDbaby.com if they are interested in purchasing a copy. Hopefully I can fill in the map before my next album, People, Places and Things is complete (sometime before this Fall) so I can repeat this success with my new music. Surprise me blog-o-sphere, help me make this dream a reality!

Also, if you have a copy of Coconut Groove, but you don't see your location listed on the map, drop me a line. One day the whole map will be filled with little blue markers!

Update:

I have had my first write-in giveaway contestant, and an addition to the map. Coconut Groove was purchased on MP3 in Virginia, and I am sending a copy to Wisconsin! 27 states and counting. Better get 'em while they're hot cause I'm taking In The Nick of Time nation-wide!

Kid Quote of the Day: "Africa is a country in Asia" (from a 6th grade Geography test)

I Can Neither Confirm Nor Deny...

An off hand comment made by one of my guitar students has been eating at me. Perhaps the wider internet community can help me figure out if this is true...

I was told that a member of the band Survivor (famous for the 80's classic "The Eye of the Tiger") left the group to enter the world of kids' music. I have searched high and low, but mostly at waist height where my computer resides, to find anything that might confirm this rumor. No luck!

I know that my little blog gets scarce traffic, but if there is anyone out there who knows about this, I would be grateful to hear some of this music. Can you imagine that? "Eye of the Tiger" only "kid-i-fied!" Now that's some music I would play for my students... wait a minute... there may be a song there.

Kid Quote of the Day:

Thanks PS22, you guys rock!

Where's Waldo? (and by "Waldo" I mean Dan Zanes)

Tracey and I watched the movie Revolutionary Road this weekend. A word of warning to all my 30 something readers who are going through career struggles, baby drama and/or a crisis of self-identity this movie might just put you over the edge!

Anyway... I bring it up because Tracey perked up during a dance hall scene about 2/3rds of the way through. "Isn't that Dan Zanes?" Sure enough he was the guitarist/ukulele player in the fictitious "Steve Kovac" band playing at the dance hall. He even got up and sang in a brief scene which clinched it. 

His wild salt and pepper hair was slicked back (making him look even more like Steve Martin), so I can't believe that Tracey picked him out, as he was only on screen for a flash. I wonder if he got to meet Leo and Kate? Call me jealous!

In the same day we went to see the movie Hangover (though we should have done it in the opposite order starting with the bummer and ending with a hilariously inappropriate romp). I mention this because there was a family in the theatre with children ranging from ages 4 to 9. Parents, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE YOUR KIDS TO SEE THIS MOVIE. I was appalled! Didn't the title, the R rating and the Las Vegas setting clue these irresponsible people in that this was not a movie for kids? If you ever have any question about the content of a movie there are great sites like Kids in Mind that break down the sex/nudity, violence and profanity on a 1-10 rating (Hangover got a 10-7-10 rating respectively).

Okay, I'll climb down off the soap box for today.

MPAA quote of the day: "An R-rated film may include hard language, or tough violence, or nudity within sensual scenes, or drug abuse or other elements, or a combination of some of the above, so that parents are counseled, in advance, to take this advisory rating very seriously. Parents must find out more about an R-rated movie before they allow their teenagers to view it."

Blog Wars: A Bad Hair Day

Today I am taking a bit of a departure from Singing in the Bathtub's stated mission to whoop up some healthy sibling rivalry with my younger sister Alison author of the "Little Linus Blogspot." As the story goes (and she tells it better on her side of the web), Tracey received a call from a hysterical Alison the other day. After allowing her to calm down enough to speak clearly, Alison told Tracey about a horrible experience at the beauty salon. She had a last minute hair appointment with a stylist who she had not been to before, and apparently it was a hack-job. I couldn't wait to see the result because my imagination was running wild.

She posted a set of pictures today, and you can be the judge:

Okay... what? Perhaps this wasn't the haircut that Alison wanted or asked for (she wanted it to her shoulders), but really? This is an actual style that women have been imitating since Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham sported it several years ago.

Minus the highlights and the trendy tattoo and they could be twins!

NOW... If you want to talk bad haircuts. Let me regale you with a tale that, to this day, three years later still sends shivers down my spine. My mother cut my hair for 27 years until I moved to Florida (and actually my last haircut was done by her when the folks were down last month), so I was mistrustful of hairstylists before this fateful day.

I went to a salon down the road that I had been to before because they offered a student discount to UM students. I had gotten a good cut before, but this time I dropped in and was scheduled with a new stylist. When I take off my glasses to get my hair cut, I am completely at the mercy of the person with the scissors. I am blind enough that it is a exercise in trust and faith. 

The stylist was from India, and perhaps there were some translation issues, but here is how I walked away from the salon that day:

Apparently I was not the only blind person in the salon that day. Are the bangs even close to straight? What's with the duck tail in the back? Not only that but she cut the heck out of the back of my neck with the clippers. I was too shocked to refuse to pay, I even tipped (darn my New England politeness). No one even saw this monstrosity because I immediately went to another salon and had a second haircut to fix the mistake. At the end of the day, I paid $70 to look that good!

Alison got the Posh Spice cut, I got the Amish boy who got a trim with rusty garden sheers!

p.s. In the interest of full disclosure, I also called Tracey in hysterics that day. She's a good calming spirit.

Kid Quote of the Day: "Mr. Nick, did you know you got a haircut?" ~Joseph (age: 3)

Album Review Trifecta!

I've been a bad blogger. Several wonderful musicians have sent me submissions for review, and I put them off due to visitors, school graduations and moving the In The Nick of Time home office. Today I am going to do something never done before at Singing in the Bathtub...

The Album Review Trifecta!

My Name is Chicken Joe ~Trout Fishing in America

This CD/Book set from, friend of the bathtub, Trout Fishing in America, was sent to me by their literary agent soon after my review of Big Round World. It's a first for the TFIA guys, having an illustrated book along with the CD.

The story and title song are a whimsical addition to the  TFIA catalog, with oddly mismatched character names and an almost Spaghetti Western feel. The art work is a nice match for the humorous imagery of TFIA's lyrics. The rest of the album is a collection of greatest hits (some of my favorites including, "Fill It Up," and "It's a Puzzle").

These guys have been at it for decades, and they continue to break new ground and expand their audience. Cheers to Trout Fishing in America for this lovely Book/CD set.

America Heroes #3 ~ Jon Sprout 

I was turned on to Jon Sprout by Lauren Busch Singer, the mind behind Funky Kidz. As I mentioned in one of my last posts, Jon Sprout has the best name for a kids' artist in my opinion. 

Any American History teacher would do well to have the three current volumes of American Heroes CDs. To my ears, Jon Sprout's music has the thoughtful and narrative quality of a Broadway musical. 

This is the third in the series, so the list of heroes doesn't include Washington or Lincoln, but some important figures none-the-less, Wilma Rudolph, George Washington Carver, Cesar Chavez, John Muir and Pocahontas to name just a few. This CD is obviously for the older crowd, and has great educational merit to go with the enjoyable, evocative music. 

Field Trip ~ The Recess Monkeys

I am always surprised when I come across bands like the Recess  Monkeys that I have never heard of before (even just in passing). It's a reminder of how local the kids' music scene is.

This Seattle trio has a nice catalog of music, and this recent release is the culmination of years of working in the kids' music world. They are prolific writers and seem to turn out 1-2 albums a year for the past few years. I haven't had a chance to sample all of their other music, but I certainly will after hearing Field Trip.

(*sidebar*) I find it funny that "High School Musical" is really most popular with the Elementary School crowd. If there really was an "Elementary School Musical," I would nominate the Recess Monkeys to write it. As school teachers, they have captured the experience of living through that period of field trips, play forts, math class and yes, even head lice! (p.s. I was that "red-headed kid from soccer" ...listen to the CD and you'll know what I mean).

The music is catchy and beautifully produced. The album on a whole looses steam towards the end, but there are many memorable hits on this album. Who knows, you might just wind up having to explain why your singing a song about lice to your mother in an elevator (like I did). 

The Mike Brady Wrap-up:

As I type this the seasonal, Miami rains are pounding my patio just outside. For many kids this summer, who will be indoors on rainy days, or subjected to long car rides to vacation destinations, any of these three CD's would be a great companion!

All three of these groups/artists have been honing their craft and putting out fine music for young listeners. Whether old favorites, or new discoveries, there is a lot of great music out there to add to the soundtrack to your summer.

Kid Quote of the Day: "Could you count to a google-plex in your lifetime?" Luka (age 7). "No, but maybe a billion if you didn't eat or sleep for 30-40 years," I replied. "Pretty boring life!" he quipped back.

... And We're Back

Greetings fellow bathtub singers. It's been almost a month since I have posted, and with a little bit of time this afternoon, I figured I needed to dive back in before the motivation is gone.

Recently, I have been reading a book called Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street by Michael Davis. When it says "A Complete History," they are not joking. I am 200 pages in and the first episode only just aired! It's been tough to get through the first few chapters, but I have gained a new sense of respect for what went into creating this, now, archetypal show.

It has gotten me thinking about a myth in the world of kids' music, one which I, myself, have perpetuated. "Young, upstart, children's musician turns the world of kids' music on it's head by writing popular music that both parents and children enjoy together," it's a common theme in human interest pieces on the latest and greatest new kids' artists. I have heard everyone from Ralph Covert, Steve Songs, The Recess Monkeys, The Jimmies and Dan Zanes described in this fashion. I even bought into this myth and marketed myself accordingly.

The fact is, that's just not true. The first episode of Sesame Street aired in 1969, and the music was ground-breaking! Joe Raposo and Chris Cerf have been doing rock and roll kids music since the Woodstock days!

We, the new-wave of kids' artists aren't doing anything extraordinary or fresh for that matter. For every Raffi, Barney, Greg and Steve or The Wiggles who have come on the scene with their sanitized, syrupy sweet brand of kids' songs, there have been folks like Raposo and Cerf, Bill Harley, Johnny Cash, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon (just to name a few) who have made recordings for kids' without compromise.

I have always tried to pay homage to my influences. That is one of the biggest missions of Singing in the Bathtub. I guess I need to be honest with myself, my music isn't ground-breaking. It isn't going to turn the world of kids' music on it's head. My goal is the same now as it has always been, make music that is fun and that I like as a grown up then write words that will enthrall, entertain and inspire the smaller set.

Kid Quote of the Day: "Look Mr. Nick, I lost my tooth... well I really didn't loose it, it just came out when I was eating soup!" ~Mia (age 5)