Celebrate Grandparents Day with “Grandma and Grandpa”
Did you know that National Grandparents Day officially became a holiday on August 3, 1978? In the early 1970’s Marian McQuade, a resident of West Virginia and advocate for the senior population, began campaigning to have Grandparents Day recognized in that state. Through her efforts, in 1973, West Virginia became the first state to proclaim Grandparents Day a holiday. McQuade’s quest didn’t end there and in 1978, President Carter designated the Sunday after Labor Day as Grandparents Day. And this year, that special day is Sunday, September 8.
What better way to celebrate Grandparents Day 2019 than with a delightful new song from Stephen Michael Schwartz? Whether your grandma and grandpa are the ones that you were born with or special seniors that you hold dear to your heart, all grandparents will be touched by this upbeat, special message of love from a grandchild. “Grandma and Grandpa” appears on veteran children’s performer, songwriter and member of Parachute Express, Schwartz’s latest solo album, Ditto Kiddo. Click here to get a sneak “peak” at the songs in this new collection and click below to enjoy “Grandma and Grandpa.”
Chicago-based children’s music artists Wendy Morgan and Darryl Boggs don’t just talk the talk, they also walk the walk. Along with writing music about helping protect the environment, the animals within it and general messages about having love for one another, for years the duo has donated part of the proceeds from their albums to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation and Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots. While the target audience for the music from their albums is at the preschool through early grade school level, Wendy & DB make time each year to work with local middle and high school students throughout the Chicagoland area to create music that is important not only to the students, but to the larger global community as well.
In the follow-up to Legion of Peace, a beautiful album dedicated to an amazing array of Nobel Peace Prize winners, Lori Henriques returns to her light-hearted yet earnest style with her new album What Do You Wish. Originally released as a solo-voice and piano, cabaret style song on Lori’s 2013 album The World is a Curious Place to Live, “Everlovin Water” has been reimagined for 2019 with an arrangement that features a full funk band. With Schoolhouse Rock as inspiration, Henriques takes her passion for good, clean water and teaches children what happens to the water in your body. To capture the essence of “Everlovin Water,” Henriques enlisted the help of her brother Joel, a 
Montana-based Cowboy Andy and the Salamanders follow their celebrated album 
Recorded on land originally inhabited by the Ohlone people and produced at Zoo Labs in Oakland, California, The Love is a massive musical collaboration incorporating more than 60 guest artists who perform alongside Alphabet Rockers founders Kaitlin McGaw and Tommy Soulati Shepherd. The themes of love and belonging continue from Rise Shine #Woke to The Love but this time rather than the focus being social justice, the group is turning their attention to gender justice with the goal of the album being to honor the diverse identities within our society. Once again featuring well-thought out, powerful lyrics, The Love is an album that everyone should listen to.
Josh Lovelace (of the adult rock group NEEDTOBREATHE) returns with a follow-up to his 2017 debut family album, Young Folk. On Growing Up singer-songwriter Lovelace captures universal life experiences that affect everyone no matter their age like friendship, family, the birth of a baby and saying goodbye to those we love. His solo voice is occasionally joined to great effect by children’s backing vocals on the twelve Americana-tinged rock songs in this collection. While there are plenty of hand-clapping and toe-tapping moments on this album, they are tempered by other tracks such as the gorgeous “You Are Loved,” “Let’s Go Drive” which captures the peaceful moments of unplanned family drives, and the beautiful blending of voices on the Frances England duet, “Butterfly” which encourages listeners to reach your light and follow your dreams.
I have to admit that I was surprised and pretty excited to see a family album by Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough come across my desk. After listening to their music for the past twenty years, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this album. I wondered what Howie D’s take on music for families was going to be and how he was going to handle his association with The Backstreet Boys. Would he try to distance himself from the group in order to establish himself as a solo performer of music for children and not mention the group, or would he slide a quiet note of thanks into the liner notes? Well, there is a thank you note, but Howie D did so much more. He completely embraced his history with the group and played up his role as the “lesser known” Backstreet Boy with the amusing opening track, “Which One Am I?” Mixed in with questions asking if he’s that guy from that group (*NSYNC, Menudo) are fun lyrics that pay tribute to each of his Backstreet brothers.
On their newest album, 123 Andrés takes the letters of the Spanish alphabet and elevates them from a single song that teaches the order the letters come in, to 38 songs that give each letter and sound combination their own musical identity. The songs are arranged in alphabetical order and composed using the rhythms and sounds that are found throughout Latin America. Many of the tracks feature animals such as “Cinco cerditos,” “El guepado,” and “Katy la koala” or body parts like “Cabeza, codo, corazon” and “Con mis ojos” while others directly speak to the letter such as “La H no suena” and “Aqui está la Q.” Also included are songs about double letter sounds, “La C y la H chocaron” and “Las llaves” as well as a pair of songs about combinations of consonants – “Amigable” and “Gracias a la letra R.”
I just listened to this album three times in a row while I tried to figure out how I wanted to describe it. Did I want to start by saying this album is light and airy? Or maybe filled with infectious melodies? How about a showcase for Alina’s lovely soprano? After several stops and starts, I think the best way to start is by saying, Love Is Te Quiero is all of these things, but most importantly, it is music to make you smile. From the opening notes of “Love Is” through the closing chords of “Los Pollitos,” listeners will feel their spirits lift while their and minds and bodies fill with joy.