MR. DAVID’S ROCK’N MUSIC FOR KIDS

Get Your Limited Edition Copy of Mr. David’s Rainbow of Butterflies

It’s finished! It’s complete! IT’S AWESOME!!

RAINBOW OF BUTTERFLIES, Mr. David’s newest single featuring a choir of more than 30 children from the Bay Area, wil be released as a limited edition recording this week.

Listen to a 20–secon clip of teh song below. We guarantee it will make you want to put those disco pants on and start boogying.

Thank you to all the kids and their families for coming out to the studio (two times!) and lending their voice to the song. We’ve also been lucky enough to have the single (and Mr. David) mentioned in the Silicon Valley Moms Blog by Akemi, so check it out.

You can buy the single for $10 (we know—it’s a single—but all the money is going to benefit Campbell Parent’s Participation Preschool).

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE RAINBOW OF BUTTERFLIES

The school is also holding its annual carnival and silent auction this Saturday, May 17th and Mr. David will be there to perform. Everyone is welcome to attend, so if you’re in the mood for a spring hoe-down, click here for more information.

Campbell Parent’s Participatio Preschool Silent Auction & Carnival
When: Saturday, May 17
Time: 11:00AM to 2:00PM (Mr. David performs at 12:30PM)
Where: Campbell Community Church
860 Harriet Ave., Campell, CA

 Rainbow of Butterflies Song Clip: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A Song for Lois

My wife’s mother recently passed away from cancer at the age of 57, having fought eight years against the disease. It was difficult for us to see her go through the last months, but she always had a smile on her face. She was a good, brave woman. In her memory, I’ve written and recorded this song. It’s not a children’s song per se, but one for anyone who’s lost a loved one. I hope you enjoy it.

—Mr. David

 Lois: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fids & Kamily Poll 2007

Wow. Are we behind the times. Just realized the Fids & Kamily Awards for 2007 came out with the 2007 winners. Have to admit that we were disappointed Jump in the Jumpy House only made it on the honorable mention list this year. Congrats to our comrades The Hipwaders who were named to the #5 spot. (BTW, we’re planning a show with them this June. We’ll be officially announcing the date very soon.)

What’s even better, is this Jumping Monkeys podcast we found where Stefan Shepard of Zooglobble, Amy Davis of The Lovely Mrs. Davis Tells You What to Think and Bill Childs of Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child talk about the winners. There’s a funny bit in here when Stefan talks about Mr. David "as close as kids music gets to Bob Dylan." (Hey, we definitely agree. And, of course we’ll take our publicity anywhere we can get it!)

 You can listen to the podcast by clicking here: Jumping Monkeys

Find us on Facebook? Download your free Mr. David song

Download for winter

CROCODILES ARE HUNGRY

To download song, right click here.

Crocodiles are Hungry is the first song on Jump in the Jumpy House. I think you’ll really dig this one. In fact, let me know what you think!

Mr. David has produced three albums for kids and their families. To purchase any of Mr. David’s album, click here.

ALBUMS

Mr. David’s First Album

The Great Adventures of Mr. David

Jump in the Jumpy House

I’ve just setup a profile on Facebook. I’m hoping to spread the word about my new CD "Jump in the Jumpy House." There’s jus so many different places to put your face these days, I’m getting a little overwhelmed by it all. Anyhoooo, I suppose it’s worth it if I can encourage just one more family to take a listen to my music.

We’re going to start putting one song each season for people to download for free this year. The first is Crocodiles are Hungry, one of my favorites off the new album. It’ll put a jump in your step during these cold winter months! Please tell us what you think of it. If you have any problems downloading the file, send us a message.

Mr. David.

 Crocodiles Are Hungry: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Get Mr. David’s Christmas Single and Donate to UNICEF

I got together with my longtime producer Rich Ajlouny to co-write a Christmas single for the holidays called Christmas Memories. We also recorded our version of Frosty the Snowman. I think you’ll enjoy both songs.

You can download them from my web site for free or you can purchase a signed copy of the CD and we’ll donate the proceeds to UNICEF. (CLICK HERE)

If you don’t know about this organization, you should. It’s official name is the United Nation’s Children’s fund, and they work with children in 191 countries throughout the world (mostly the ones who are living with war, disease, poverty, violence and discrimination.) They do a lot of good work where it’s needed most.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF.

 Christmas Memories: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 Frosty the Snowman: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Breaking Through Mainstream Music Media: Children’s Music Is No Easier

My name is Tawnya and I am a partner with Mr. David in his endeavors to push his music into a larger market. I’ve been working alongside Mr. David for more than four years now, having supported him in recording his first, second and now third album. I’m so very proud of the music Mr. David is making. In fact, I feel that Mr. David’s last two albums (The Great Adventures of Mr. David and Jump in the Jumpy House) are some of the best and most unique in children/family music today.

So why is it that we can’t seem to get any mainstream media to pay attention to him? We’ve sent countless numbers of CDs to reporters, editors and writers at newspapers, magazines, television programs, blogs and other forms of internet media. We’ve contacted just about every person we know who deals with family/chldren’s music. We’ve called. We’ve mailed. We’ve emailed. We’ve entered all the major children’s music awards—NAPPA and The Parent’s Choice Awards just to name a few. But the only people—and thank goodness for them—who’ve given us any kind of attention are the bloggers. It’s because of them that we’ve made it this far and Mr. David is as recognized as he is.

Take for example, Mr. David’s second album, released in 2006: The Great Adventures of Mr. David. It won plenty of praise within the blogging community. In fact, it was even named one of the top 10 albums for kids and families in 2006 by the Fids & Kamily Poll. This is important because the judges on this poll are made up of music writers (bloggers), radio people and more, who see a lot of children’s music throughout the year. (Not to mention that it doesn’t cost anything to enter. In fact, you can’t enter. The judges simply name their top picks and their lists are compiled). Now compare this to our experience in mainstream media. Despite submitting (and paying) to enter several awards hosted by the major children’s media groups, The Great Adventrues never got so much as a mention—not even a brief review!

This happened to us once again this fall. We submitted Mr. David’s new album, Jump in the Jumpy House, to the NAPPA awards for music. And once again, Mr. David was snubbed. I can understand that NAPPA gets a lot of submissions and not all albums are good enough to be on that list, but it’s hard to believe that Jump in the Jumpy House is not deserving enough to even be mentioned. We’ve aleady received amazing reviews on the CD from the people at CD baby who said:

We love your "MR. DAVID: Jump in the Jumpy House" CD so much I’m
going to feature it on the FRONT PAGE of CD Baby for a few days.

We’re *really* picky about what goes on the front page.  We get about
200-250 new albums a DAY coming in here now, (about 190,000 total),
and yours is one of the best we’ve ever heard.

Also, people like Warren Truitt of Children’s Music That Rocks (and of the Children’s Room at The New York Public Library) are saying:

"Another awesome CD from a kids’ performer who’s not afraid to stretch out in the words and music departments, and one can only imagine what’s in the future for this guy if his albums keep getting this much better every time out. John, Paul, George, and Ringo would be proud."

We’ve also seen the reaction of the kids and families. At the CD release party for Jump in the Jumpy House, we had more than 300 kids and families rocking out to Mr. David’s music. It looked like a full–blown rock festival. And who do you think was enjoying themselves the most, singing the words to each and every song? THE KIDS!!

You see, this is the problem. The kids love Mr. David’s music, but in order to get it out to the kids, we have to break through the wall that mainstream media seems to be putting in front of us. Even our own local, Bay Area press has never once reviewed any of Mr. David’s albums, despite him being a native to this area—but you can be sure that they’ve talked a lot about Dan Zanes and Laurie Berkner.  (By the way, we love Dan Zanes.) One caveat here: Yoshi Kato of the San Jose Mercury News "Baby Beats" has briefly written about Mr. David’s shows several times in his column (thanks, Yoshi).

So last night Mr. David and I sat down, and I bemoaned the fact that once again we were snubbed. Here’s the kicker though, Mr. David couldn’t have cared less. He looked me right in the eye and said, "I’m not here for awards. I’m here for the kids."

Now, I know how this game works. You either get publicity through advertising (advertising and PR go hand in hand these days more than ever before) or you get publicity through awards which give you expsoure that extends to coverage that will let people know about who you are. Publicity is everything. If nobody knows about you, no matter how good the music is, you’re continue to stand in oblivion. And conversely, you can play music that’s "okay," but still be a star because you are connected to a name or have strong advertising/PR and a lot of financial backing. The sad thing is that a lot of great kids music is being lost because people don’t even know we’re out here. Publicity is even more important in children’s music, because there isn’t a ready-made circuit where a family musician can out out and play and tour regularly, as in mainstream music.

Yes, publiclity is king in this digital age. Even saying that, I have to agree with Mr. David. We’re here to create music for kids. And some kids (not as many as we’d like) are getting to enjoy that. I guess that we’ll just have to do this thing slowly, one family at a time. We’ll build a following, and then, people won’t be able to ignore us. And we’ll build that following because the kids LOVE THIS MUSIC—not because we’ve won an award.

Mr. David is right. Why waste more money on awards that think we’re too off-center or simply don’t want to pay attention to us; awards that are given out to compilation albums before they’re given to original artists? So, that’s it. No more awards for us. No more submissions. No more rejection. We’ll just keep making the music, giving it to the kids we can reach, and hope for the best.

(Maybe we’ll also head out to foreign markets. After all, if the American media won’t pay attention to us, maybe the Europeans will?)

Anything Can Happen-Life According to Mr. David

I keep my life very simple
I wake up
Tune my guitar
Water the plants
Walk Lola through little leaves and Willow Streets
Do the dishes
Scrub the floor
Listen to Punk
Stare out the window
Drive my ‘67 Volvo around
Hand-vacuum it at a little, ugly car wash on Lincoln Avenue
Draw little characters at red lights
Skateboard to the store
And, wait around for something cool to happen
I never really force it
It just happens
I don’t know why
But it does
Sometimes I feel like a surfer sitting out in the water in Santa Cruz
With Sharks below and warm sunshine ahead
My board is rocking back and forth
I see the Giant dipper in the distance
And all the chocolate dipped ice cream cones
Haunting Voices
And bumper cars
The smell of sandy railroad tracks
Taffy
Waffle cones
Corn dogs
Screams
Palm leaves blowing the way they do
Dudes on cruzers soaking it all up
Kids holding hands with cotton candy
I’m not sure why I think of this stuff
I guess because it’s better then the news or war
I’m all for pretending like the world is an Island in Paradise
Cheers
Two Pine Apples full of coconut juice
A twisty straw
And a smile wrapping around the world forever

Mr. David

Community Change is Good

This is kind of random, but I like to spread the word about great ideas. One of our local credit unions in the Bay Area, Tech CU, is running a contest where they’ll award $1,000 to someone who comes up with a great idea for a project aimed at social or environmental change. Anyone, any age can submit their idea, as long as it’s not self–serving. Click here for more details and to enter.

If you’ve ever had an itch to do something for your community, here’s a chance to get money to support it!

—Mr. David.

Mr. David, Jump in the Jumpy House and iTunes

In answer to an inquiry we got about my music on iTunes . . .

Yes! It’s available! You can get all my albums on iTunes. You can also download songs from my MySpace account. Jump in the Jumpy House hasn’t been posted yet because it takes anywhere from 4 weeks to 3 months to get your songs up, if you’re not with a huge label (which we’re not). So, be patient for that one. The others are already there. Here are the iTunes links.

The Great Adventures of Mr. David

Mr. David’s First Album

Here’s the MySpace link: Mr. David on MySpace

My albums are also available on other digital music site, like eMusic, etc.

Thanks!

Mr. David

Jump in the Jumpy House CD Release Concert

Join Mr. David and The Buckwild for the CD Release Concert of Jump in the Jumpy House

When: Saturday, September 1 @ 7:00-8:00 p.m.
(Come early to get your seat.)

Where: Santana Row Park Valencia
(In front of Maggiano’s)

Here’s a direct link to the event listed on the San Jose Mercury News page:

Come early to get your seat–around 6:30 pm–we think this one is going to be full.

Everyone is invited to come, and its free. Bring a blanket or lawn chair (low ones please) and enjoy an outdoor concert in the Santana Row’s Park Valencia (in front of Maggiano’s). It’s going to be great fun.

We’ll be giving away prizes, including signed copies of the new CD, t-shirts, Mr. David balloons and more! We’re also donating 20 percent of all CD sales during the launch party to a local nonprofit for kids (we’re still finalizing the details on this, but will let you know).

Jump in the Jumpy House goes on sale August 25th at CD Baby, Amazon.com, MySpace, The Pokey Pup, and other retailers. Visit www.mrdavidmusicworks.com for a complete listing. We’re already starting to get reviews rolling in . . . and they’re great! Here’s the first from CD Baby . . . read more.

If Jonathan Richman were to make an album for kids, I imagine it would sound something like this. With a lyrical approach that is sharply stream-of-consciousness and keeps tongue planted firmly in cheek, these songs are bizarrely appealing, unassumingly witty, and never dull.