Because Babies Grow Up

We love music in our house. We are always singing a song or making up a melody to accompany our conversations. We listen to music constantly in the car. Now that we live in such a rural area, we spend a lot more time listening to music. We were recently contacted by Sara Fischer Hodges about her husband’s new album, KiddyDittys (A Kid’s Album for Adults). I was excited to work with Sara in sharing John Jeffrey Hodges latest CD.

We’ve been listening on and off again to this CD for several weeks now. John’s voice is deep and crooner-like. He brings energy to his music without being hyper like some kid music out there (I’m thinking camp song CDs, here). It’s a nice change of pace for evening listening or long Sunday drives.

Brent and I also really like his lyrics. This album is written from a parent’s perspective and covers everything from the humorous side of parenting (Garbage Day) to the sentimental (Your Father). We chuckled through the whole song Garbage Day because it was so true to life. They lyrics start “If you don’t do what I say, I’m going to take those toys away and put them in the garbage on garbage day. I’m gonna throw those toys away!” How often I have felt that. I have even made that threat a few times.

John Jeffrey Hodges brings a fresh perspective to the for-kids music scene. I like that his songs are from a parent’s point of view and remind me of all the aspects of parenting. He is unique as is the artwork on his CD. Sara shared this story with me about the cover:

The cover art for KiddyDittys (A Kid’s Album for Adults) was painted by Dave Osmun (“Oz”) of Temple, NH.  Dave is one of Jeff’s oldest and dearest friends.  He’s an amazing human being and one of the most talented people you will ever meet.  Oz has been confined to a wheelchair for over 30 years as the result of an accident.  He is a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down, and paints with a paintbrush attached to a stick which he holds in his mouth.

The painting on the cover was done specifically for this project.  Jeff and Oz met as teenagers in the small town of Siasconset (‘Sconset), MA, on Nantucket Island’s eastern shore, where their families spent summers – and where both Jeff and Oz return each year to spend time with each other and many of their childhood friends who have known each other for close to 50 years.

The painting reflects the ‘Sconset bluff as well as Sankaty Lighthouse and Sesachacha Pond.  If you look closely, however, you’ll see that the painting also represents a subliminal guitar.  This painting was Oz’s concept and we could not be more proud or happy to have this incredible piece of art as our cover for this album.

There are two copies of KiddyDittys (A Kid’s Album for Adults) available to participants in the Fall Fling. If you haven’t already, please comment on the post, Join the Fall Fling to enter the giveaway. Please leave a comment here for an additional entry.