I am so excited to be featured this week over at On A Good Day! Yay, Obstacle Course. Whoo, Whoo, Whoo!
Tag Archives: family friendly rock songs
Farmers’ Market Fun! Saturday 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Only two farmers’ market gigs remain on my calendar and the next one is this Saturday at Serramonte! Join me from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.
Saturday, June 13th
9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Daly City Farmers’ Market at Serramonte Center
Serramonte Center – in the parking lot near Macy’s
Daly City, CA 94015
View Location
Video Premiere: Rock ‘n Roll ABCs
Here it is! A new song and video from my album Obstacle Course.
“Rock ‘n’ Roll” ABCs” is for the little ones that like to rock!
Obstacle Course is out August 5, 2014. Click here to pre-order your copy today and receive an immediate download of the title track “Obstacle Course”.
Animation by Jovanna Tosello
Enjoy the music!
kk
Listen to: Nana
This is a fun and playful song all about me and my nana! This song started as a little ditty I used to sing to Owen on Saturday mornings…
Owen and mama two days together
Owen and mama two days together
or if it was a three day weekend I’d sing
Owen and mama three days together
Owen and mama three days together
or if I had a week off of work I’d…well, you get the picture.
He was just a baby at this time and I can still see his little smile whenever I sang him this little tune.
When I was writing songs for Obstacle Course, I decided to turn this little ditty into a song. I added verses and changed the chorus from “Owen and mama” to “me and my nana”. I thought nana had a nice ring to it and depersonalizing it would hopefully welcome others to join in on the fun. But guess what? I don’t call my grandma Nana, I call my grandma Oma. What do you call your grandma?
Give it a listen. I hope you’ll sing along!
“Nana” is a track on my upcoming album, Obstacle Course. Please check back soon for album updates or sign up for email updates by clicking the “Follow This Blog” button in the right sidebar.
– kk
Owen’s Picks
I love when a song catches Owen’s attention. He’ll stop whatever he’s doing, tilt his head to the side and ask “What’s that song?” and then declare happily, “I like it!”
Here are four songs that recently received my opinionated three-year-old’s nod of approval and, thankfully, are all fun songs the entire family will enjoy!
We heard this song on a Sunday drive out to Oma and Opa’s house. Moments after it started Owen declared “I like this song.” Although I much prefer the German version this tickled me to my 80’s core.
99 Red Balloons – Nena
This song comes on at the end of the movie “Marmaduke”. Owen and I have watched “Marmaduke” three times, yes three times. Every time this song started Owen popped up from behind the couch (he’d lost interest in the movie by this point – sadly I was still glued to the TV) and asked, “What’s that song?” Another 80’s gem.
What I Like About You – The Romantics
This is a sweet and beautiful song from a new family album by Walter Martin (available May 13th – can’t wait!). Owen heard it for the first time one Saturday morning on Spare the Rock Spoil the Child (we listen most Saturdays via PRX.org). As soon as it came on he stopped, listened and asked “What’s that song?” then declared that he liked it! I like it too, I like it a lot.
Sing to Me – Walter Martin featuring Karen O
We heard this next one also while listening to Spare the Rock Spoil the Child. It was Owen’s top pick from the 3/22 show. This made me very happy because it totally ROCKS! We listened to it five times and danced all over the living room. I’m definitely going to check out ScribbleMonster and see what else they’ve got going on.
A Monster Goes Rrraargh!- ScribbleMonster
What songs has your little one responded to lately?
Listen to: The Fort
I wrote this song one day while waiting for Owen to wake up from his afternoon nap. On this particular day Owen slept a lot longer than usual. I found myself with precious free time but no idea what to do.
I decided to build a fort out of a large cardboard box. I cut out a window and a door and – voilà – a fort! I was super excited to see how Owen would react when he saw his new fort. So I sat down and waited for him to wake up…and waited…and waited…”Hmmm?” I thought. “What should I do now?” I had to do something with all the excitement I was feeling over yes, a cardboard box.
The first verse of the song was basically already written
I’m building a fort today
I’m hoping you will come and play
It has a window, it has a door
When you get here it will be so much more
Fun at the fort today, down at the fort today
and the rest just followed.
So now, here is the full song for your listening pleasure!
I hope you enjoy it!
“The Fort” is a track on my upcoming album, Obstacle Course. Please check back soon for album updates or sign up for email updates by clicking the “Follow This Blog” button in the right sidebar.
– kk
Debut Album Coming Soon
I’ve been keeping quiet about my album because it has been taking much longer to complete than I originally anticipated. I am getting close to finishing so…it’s finally time to start spreading the news!
I am excited to announce and share a preview of my debut family music album, Obstacle Course!
The album artwork is by my friend, Denis Zimmermann, of Zimmermann Studio. Denis is also the artist behind the illustrations you see around my site.
Please stay tuned for album updates!
Secret Show: Saturday, May 11th – The Sherman Elementary Garden Party
This Saturday, May 11th, I will be performing at the 6th Annual Sherman Elementary Garden Party!
The Garden Party is open to the public and admission is free. Come on by and see what the students at Sherman are growing in their garden! There will be a DJ, food, face painting, a “trashion” fashion show, live music (me!!) and lots of other fun activities.
Trashion fashion is fashion made out of garbage or more likely recyclables. I’m thinking of making a colorful necklace out of some lids I’ve collected. I’m calling this a secret show because I’m not on the flier and aside from posting it here I feel like being a little mysterious about it. But I will be there with my guitar and some songs. If you are in the area stop by around 1:00 pm.
Saturday, May 11th
11 – 3 pm
Sherman Elementary Garden Party
1651 Union Street
My set at 1:00 pm
15 Family Friendly Rock Songs
I often come across people looking for music suggestions for a project involving kids; a playlist for a child’s birthday party, a slideshow intended for kids. “But I don’t want to use children’s music” they say. Doh! Ok, that’s fine. There are plenty of great non-children’s music rock songs for everyone to enjoy. But I promise to share information on the fabulous kindie artists out there and the fantastic music they are creating in upcoming posts.
Here is a list of family friendly rock ‘n’ roll songs. It’s a little Queen heavy because my son loves Queen. He also loves AC/DC but it’s difficult to find appropriate Bon Scott era AC/DC to place on this list. I did include two so proceed at your own risk!
1. “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” – Queen
This is one of the first songs my son Owen responded to. It will be on every kid friendly playlist I make. Both this clip and the next are from Queen’s 1985 performance at Live Aid.
2/3. “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions” – Queen
I loved these songs as a kid. I imagine today’s kids will as well. The stomp clap of “We Will Rock You” into the dramatic “We Are the Champions” I mean, c’mon!
4. “Peek-A-Boo” – Devo
I think this song is fun. It may have a creepy underlying meaning but to me it’s just about playing Peek-A-Boo. The music video is super creepy and would probably scare young children so I have linked to this live audio with a static image so you only have to look at one somewhat creepy picture.
5. “Sir Duke” – Stevie Wonder
This song ALWAYS makes me smile. It’s about music and dancing. “You can tell right away a letter A when the people start to move.” This song is a letter A all the way. Who doesn’t dance to this song? I used to think it was weird when I watched concert footage and saw people crying in the crowd. I cried when I saw Stevie Wonder. Partly because there was a huge traffic jam and it took us hours to get there but mostly because, well, because it was Stevie.
6. “It Must Be Love” – Madness or the original by Labi Siffre
This song is just oozing with sweetness. How cute is this video of Labi Siffre? How cute is Labi Siffre? I learned to play this song on guitar from this video. Thanks Labi!
7. “Rock Around the Clock” – Bill Haley
I read somewhere that this song is considered to be the first rock song but Wikipedia says no. Wikipedia does credit the song as “widely considered to be the song that, more than any other, brought rock and roll into mainstream culture around the world.” Why not play this song for your kids or teach them to play it in their band? Counting, rocking and a little music history.
8. “You’re My Best Friend” – Queen
A beautiful anthem to love and friendship. I used this for a slideshow I made for my grandma’s 90th birthday. It would be great for a kid’s slideshow as well.
9. “Three Little Birds” – Bob Marley
Repetitive lyrics, positive message, birds…perfect for kids.
10. “We’ve Got the Beat” – The Go-Go’s
Your twelve year old daughter is starting a band? This song should definitely be on the set list. Everyone gets to sing there’s a cool bridge with clapping.
11. “Rock Lobster” – The B52s
“Down, Down”. Get those kids moving.
12. “Let My Love Open the Door” – Pete Townshend
I just love this song.
13. “Rock This Town” – The Stray Cats
I love this song! It does have lyrics that mention drinking and getting in a fight so it might not be an option for everyone. I substitute the line about drinking with “I order a juice in a box”. Clever right? But juice in a box could upset people too. You know, all that sugar. The line about fighting? Well, it’s pretty much the best part of the song with the stops and the attitude. “Look at me once, Look at me twice, Look at me again and there’s going to be a fight”. I think you have to let that be.
14. “High Voltage” – AC/DC
At eighteen months old this was Owen’s favorite song. He would request it by name. We’ve heard it probably 300 times and have never tired of it. To me that is a huge testament to the awesomeness of AC/DC. This will always and forever be a favorite of mine.
15. “Let There Be Rock” – AC/DC
This song is what it’s all about…ROCK!! The following lyric, “The white man has the schmaltz”, might be questionable to some. It doesn’t bother me but we listen to the entire early AC/DC catalog…a lot.
Kristin Kellner 