Interviews
I have a special treat to share. We are in the process of reviewing (i.e., falling in love with) the new CD La Bella Stella from Recess Music. It’s the latest in Recess Music’s series Celebrate Earth. I’ll share our review and the fun we’re having with the album closer to its March 27, 2012 release.
Today we are privileged share our email interview with Recess Music’s founder and CEO, Nancy Doan. I’m inspired by her story and how she used her talent to add value to the music industry and the lives of our little ones.
BBGU: How did music become important in your own life?
Nancy Doan: For as long as I remember I have loved listening to music. My earliest music memories are staying at my aunt and uncle’s farm, eating breakfast in the kitchen with the radio playing the hit songs of that time. Musicals from the 30’s and 40’s on TV also were also a favorite. Fred and Ginger, (Astaire and Rogers), were something to behold! The musical interest of my life was set!
BBGU: Why was it important to you to pass music onto your children?
Nancy Doan: I wanted my kids to hear music that I considered part of our musical heritage as a country… Oh Susannah, Home on the Range, I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy as examples. Also, music from the “Great American Songbook”, like In Your Easter Bonnet, White Christmas, Catch a Falling Star are special to me and I wanted my kids to know them. They were happy, uplifting, and easily sung in the car.
BBGU: How did you feel when your children wanted to pass your love and their love of music on to their own children?
Nancy Doan: How great is it hear your kids talk about something that was meaningful in their childhood? That they want to pass the same experience on to someone else? How happy that made me. Those years of being the taxi service to dancing, gymnastics, school games and events, etc, etc, etc, actually served a purpose. Clearly, we built family memories.
BBGU: How did the Celebrate Earth series come about?
Nancy Doan: My first music compilations were done just to share with my kids and contained the music they remembered from childhood. Then I did compilations for my best friend’s parents. They were elderly and on a very fixed income. I made sets of albums which contained all “big band” music from when they were young adults, during WWII. They were so excited and expressive about the joy they felt when they listened to “my music”, as they called it, that was a special moment for me.
I had found something that I could do for others that added joy. I wanted to find a way to do that for other people and especially kids, like my own.
I was also becoming “green” in my life and I thought, “What a great way to add joy to kids lives as well help them look outside of themselves for meaning as well. The idea of the Celebrate Earth Music Series was born.
BBGU: I’d love to hear your thoughts on using music to teach children. Please share!
Nancy Doan: Studies about the impact of music on people of all ages are many. Music therapy is proven to benefit people. Children love to jump, clap, dance and wiggle to the beat of music. Don’t we all? We remember music experientially, relating it to times and events in our lives. Music carries meaning.
We have music to teach the ABC’s, music about the itsy bitsy spider for teaching finger play, music that celebrates “America the Beautiful”, that we share nationally. Music is a good tool for conveying thoughts, ideas and information…including ideas about taking care of our planet.
BBGU: How do you envision families receiving and acting on the music and message of the Celebrate Earth series and specifically La Bella Stella?
Nancy Doan: When I began to work on La Bella Stella, I remembered being very young, in my room at night, where my bed was placed close to the window. I loved laying in bed and trying to count the stars, looking at the moon and making hand shadows on the wall using the moonlight. While creating the La Bella Stella album I thought of children doing the same thing in their beds, looking at the same moon, counting the same stars, or searching for the big dipper.
I like to think of parents taking their children out on a beautiful summer night, laying on the grass in their yards, and together counting the stars, looking for the man in the moon, and talking about traveling in space. Something as simple as that will be remembered by their children for years to come, just like my kids remember us singing together in the car.
Thank you so much, Nancy for your time and for sharing your passion about enjoying our Earth, protecting its resources and teaching our children to do the same.
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Amber’s note: We were first introduced to Bari Koral’s music when asked to review her new CD Rock and Roll Garden (out today!) I fell in love with her sound and her mission. Totally starstruck I gathered my courage and asked her to give us her take on kids music, play and the relationship with have with the children in our lives. I just love how Bari’s personality comes through in her typing so I’ve left it just the way she sent it to me.
Bari Koral Photo by Megan Moloy
Me: Why did you make the switch to kids’ music?
Bari: i was on the road for a very long time, making a living with my “adult” music. i did sell cds, but my main income was by appearances, so in other words- i had to travel to make money. after many many years of this i was starting to take a good look at my life. i had no relationship, i thought maybe i’d like to have a child one day, and here i was, in fargo, ND AGAIN, how was i going to have a child when i was never home to have a relationship? and i just craved having some kind of settling feeling.
around this time my little niece was about 4 or 5 years old and there were some songs of my she was obsessed with. that she just wanted to hear over and over again. i was wondering- why these songs? she did have a knack for a great melody though! she always seemed drawn to what I also agreed where the strongest tunes on the “adult” albums.
armed with this knowledge, and craving a change in my life- i was inspired by some friends in the music business- and one in the family music business to try and write “pop tunes” specifically for children. so i went to a cabin in the woods and tried to write songs from my niece’s perspective, stories and ideas she would really enjoy but i kept a foot in what i considered a good melody because i still wanted the music to be satisfying to me– and to the parents who would be listening.
so, it was really out of a desire for a life change, and a love of my niece and other children where the switch came in. i found out pretty early on that i seemed to have a knack at “interpreting” for children in terms of my lyrics. and i never looked back.
Me: What is different about performing for an audience of parents and little ones?
Bari: it’s really heaven. i have been in the music business now for almost 20 years and playing for children and families is by far my favorite. the expectations are so different. there is more of an openness with children and families- a willingness to let go and just enjoy and be. sometimes when it’s just adults I felt i was working hard sometimes to just loosen everyone up.
i find often with families and children we are just ready to go by note 1. or at least by the 2nd song! and often parents are letting go because their children are letting go. and they see how much fun their kids are having and that makes them happy. and that makes us happy on stage and it’s all just feels great. so, it just all becomes about joy. about celebrating families and being together in a fun and loving way.
Me: When a parent and child share music, what effect does it have on their relationship?
Bari: that is a great question. i think it is a profound effect. my happiest moments with my niece are being in the car and putting on a song i really like and watching her move to it and enjoy it. there we both are, on the highway just having a great time together. music can be such a deep bond. your secret time together with your child. it’s almost like inviting something from another world into your relationship. it can’t be fully explained or understood. there is a bit of wonder about it- it’s an instant mood maker or mood changer, depending what you are listening to. i think it’s a way to bond with a child that is just completely authentic and satisfying.
Me: What are some tips for engaging our little ones in music play? How can we maximize the benefits of sharing music with our little ones?
Bari: play music. so many of the children that are into music in my classes or my concerts listen to a lot of music because they love it and often because their parents love it and are playing music at home. play around- jazz, blues, pop, rock, classical-experiment. it doesn’t have to be all kids/family music all the time. have a few instruments around the house- even shakers that children can shake along to and feel like they are part of the music. if you are listening to classical give your child (ages 3 and up) a pair of paper plates so they can “ice skate” or paper plate skate to the music, like the nutcracker.
my friend danny is a concert promoter and his son is 5 and he may know more about the beatles then i do (and i know A LOT) and this little boy absolutely loves the beatles and can sing every word. this was important to his dad and now it’s important to his son and i know that to danny- that is just about the greatest thing in the world, to share this love of music with his son.
Me: What is one thing you wish you could share with every parent?
Bari: wow. one thing. hmm. not sure if it is one thing- but i’d love to inspire parents to fill themselves up with what they need and love so they can give to others, like their children. i think as parents it’s easy to just give and give and that can make you depleted. i always find i do my best “taking care of others” when i am taking care of myself. why do they tell you to put your oxygen mask on first in an airplane in the event of an incident. it is because you can’t take care of another unless you are taken care of. so- make time to do things YOU enjoy, to fill up, rest, recover, and give back. and then when you give back to your children, it may come from a deeper place of truth and contentment- and… play music!!
bari
Rock and Roll Garden is available on Amazon. Go grab yours today. It’s a must-have for every home with little ones! A comment on today’s post is an extra entry in the giveaway for Laptime Songs for Mommies!
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