Year 2- Birthday Music Mix

As with last year, this year I made another music mix CD as my daughter’s birthday party favors. I post the set list to give other people ideas for “kids” music. Most of the songs, are not for kids only, but some are. I try to pick music that parents will be willing to listen to repeatedly. Here is the play list, in order:

Say Hey (I love you) – Spearhead with Michael Franti Read more »

Festival Baby

I don’t remember going to music festivals as a kid. I do remember going to a Pete Seeger show and maybe an Oktoberfest, but not quite a festival. This year, I decided to take my little Vintage Clothing business The Style Revival on the road and with me, the whole family.

Crestone Music Festival ’09 in Crestone, Colorado. We were prepared because I had done flea markets so there wasn’t much prep work, but since I would be facepainting too, we needed grandma to come watch our daughter while we worked all day. We parked our little camper behind the booth so she could nap and kept lots of extra food nearby so as not to have to rely on festival food.

Thank goodness my mother-in-law was there. I don’t think we could have juggled it alone. We met the other vendors nearby and there families. We played with the hula hoops, danced to the reggae and bluegrass, ate pizza and just had an all around good time. Other than the late night freezes that weekend while camping, it went pretty smoothly.

I decided I want to do it again next year and maybe even try a couple more festivals. As my daughter gets older, she’ll be able to run off and play with the other festival kids without me having to worry about her. It is a temporary way for me to mimic a communal lifestyle for us and allow her to be exposed to music and culture while enjoying a family camping weekend together.

Munchkin Music

Do you remember when you used to make mixed tapes for your friends? I made them all the time, for every occasion. There were the ones for road trips when your friend was taking off on travels, the angry feminist one for when your friend broke up with her beau, and then there were the ones you made for your lover. You had to have a double tape player and sync up the two tapes before simultaneously pushing down three buttons. There was a moment when everyone switched to compact discs, before MP3s, that I grew concerned for the life of the mixed tape, but then something even better arose from the ashes. Now you can buy a song for a dollar and digitally compose a music compilation on your computer. Yes, times are good.

For my daughter’s first birthday, I wanted to make a CD compilation as a party favor for her friends. Truly, the music was for the parents. It’s kid-friendly, but still groovy enough for adults to listen to without going mad. While cooking dinner, I love to throw on one of the various kiddie CDs made by mom friends to get the family dancing around and keep the little one distracted. To spread the love, here is my playlist, in order, for a family favorite baby soundtrack: Read more »

Music Appreciation

My 16 month-old daughter is a great musician, not because she likes to strum my guitar or bang on my drum, not even because she likes to bang pot lids in a loud rhythm against the kitchen floor. She is more a musician of the synthesizer sort. Read more »