We are excited (perhaps this word is insufficient) to announce that the latest Bobbledy album has just been released! In fact, it is speeding its way toward the mailboxes of every Bobbledy Club member as I write these words. In fact, it might already have landed in yours. In which case, you might already know that the record in question is called Absurd is the Bird. And that this is what it looks like.
And the flip side of things.
But what does it SOUND like? you ask. It’s a reasonable question. Music is for listening to, after all.
I would very much like to tell you that I channeled my inner Robert Plant and sang lead vocals on every track. Robbi would love to be able to brag that she added rich, funky bass lines that would make your soul sing and your toes tap.
But those would be plain lies. The truth is, this album is the masterwork of that gentleman on the far right. You know, the one playing various instruments at once.
But who is this mystery man?
With no further rambling and lies, let me introduce you to the one and only Jordan Allen White—composer, singer, puppeteer, player of more than 40 musical instruments, and the genius mind behind Absurd is the Bird.
In addition to all the other laudatory things I might say about Jordan, he is a friendly sort of chap.
He spends most of his time standing next to railroad tracks while hugging his guitar. Do not worry. He always moves when he hears trains coming.
Occasionally, he performs for beluga whales, singing songs about how great it is to weigh thousands of pounds and be wet all the time.
“But don’t you have to be a true god of rock to get to play for whales?” you ask. And the answer is yes. And Jordy has earned the title. He’s been at this for a long time, releasing four previous albums over the years.
But Absurd is the Bird is Jordy’s first album specifically for children.
I asked him to tell me a little bit about what he was thinking when he wrote and recorded these songs, and this is what he said:
This album celebrates all the silliness and magic and awe-inspiring coolness of music. Words are important—but how we say them is even more so. And how we SING them is most important of all! This album is an homage to all the great artists who shaped me and taught me to trust my heart—that’s where you find the beat…
And who are these heroes of Jordan’s? He cites Sesame Street songwriters Joe Rposo and Jeff Moss, Muppets collaborator Paul Williams, and Broadway composers Steven Sondheim, Alan Menken, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. But his greatest influence…?
Most of all, however, I credit Jim Henson and all of the wonderful people who surrounded him. Jim taught me to be free —to find my ‘inner child’, to trust my own thoughts and to not criticize—and to be mesmerized by the simple stuff. He made me want to create entertainment that is joyous and silly and heartfelt and real. I wouldn’t be who I am as an artist without him. Muppets rule.
Given these influences, it should come as no surprise that the music on this album is joyous and energetic and free. From the bombastic silliness of the title track to the spirited call to imagination of Boomchakawadawada to the stirring chorus of When In the Forest, the songs are an artful blend of country, show tunes, and good old fashioned bounce.
The songs themselves are great, but the orchestrations are nothing short of incredible. When is the last time you heard an album that features more than 40 instruments?
Robbi was so impressed that she decided to draw each one.
If you don’t know what some of these are and you are a Bobbledy Club member, don’t worry. The Absurd is the Bird mailing comes with a list explaining what each of these instruments is and what it does.
It also comes with liner notes written by Jordy himself. They explain what he was thinking when he wrote each song.
Of course, you are sitting there drooling over all this delicious, song-drenched design.
If you’re not a Bobbledy Club member, it’s time to take a good, long look in the mirror and ask yourself why not. And then, upon coming to your senses, click yourself over here and set things right.
Or, click yourself over here and listen to a free sample—the title cut, Absurd is the Bird.
As I mentioned, the envelopes have been stuffed and the album has been sent.
We’ve done our part, so now it’s time for you to do yours:Â
1) If you are a Bobbledy Club member, put this sucker into your computer or DVD player, turn up the volume, and dance.
It will probably look a little something like this:
1a) If you are not a Bobbledy Club member, become one for goodness sake, and we will send you a copy of this album.
1b) If you are stubborn, self-defeating, and unwilling to join the Club but still want a copy of this album, order one here!
2) Fill out the drawing sheets (you will have a chance to create your own rock band) and send us a photo or scan to post on the blog
3) Let Jordy know what you think of his album. As fun as it is to make music, books, art, etc., it sure is nice to hear from people who enjoy and appreciate it. If you have thoughts to pass along, drop us a line, and we’ll be sure he gets the message.
4) If you like this album, check out Jordy’s site. Buy his other albums. He is a wildly talented guy (not to mention extremely handsome).
5) Eat your vegetables, if only to make your parents happy. They work so hard, after all.
Hello all!
Well, we are SO pleased to announce that the latest Bobbledy Books Club item should have arrived in all of our club members’ mailboxes by now!
We’ve already gotten some rave reviews, so without further ado, we introduce you to this year’s musical installment, “Where’s My Chicken?”:
For those of you unfortunates who are NOT in the Bobbledy Books Club, you can buy your copy of it HERE. Or, even better, you can sign up for club membership and not miss anything we send out for a whole year! (Okay, sales pitch over).
The yearly album is always one of my favorite projects, because, well, #1: I kind of think of it as time off, because it’s not a book I have to illustrate, which usually means #2: I totally forget about it, until #3: Drew sends us a few rough tracks in an email with some excuses about how they aren’t that great, but then #4: They’re TOTALLY AWESOME!!! And that was the case again this year. I LOVE this album. I love EACH SONG on this album.
For those of you who don’t know Drew, well, he’s a songwriting genius. Here he is, with his dream band of his two kids and our friend Brian and his kid (also card-carrying Bobbledy Club members):
I don’t want to spoil the ruse, but the fact is Drew did most of the work himself, with some essential music-making help from Brian in spots, but no help at all from the kids, who were, in fact, probably demanding that he feed them or clothe them or some such. And in spite of having two kids and an incredibly demanding job (minister) he still was able to whip up a top-notch album of songs about chickens and fish and moles and potty seats and almondine crackers (well, technically that’s a cookie). So, 1,000 cheers for Drew. This album is the bomb.
Okay, so now back to me: I also really enjoyed doing the album art. The title track is “Where Is My Chicken?” so I had this idea of drawing a rooster for the cover, looking for his babe. I did a process post about it HERE, if you’re interested.
And then, of course, I got to draw said chicken (on the back).
I have to admit, I love this chicken. I also have to admit that I was 1000% tempted to draw the chicken beating the drum with drumsticks. I mean, like, chicken drumsticks. You know, THESE:
But Matthew insisted that it was too morbid for a kid’s album. Ah well. It would have been awesome, I’m pretty sure.
And since I’m talking about things I love about this album, I also loved doing the art for the liner notes. Drew wrote up a few things about each song – where the song came from, what he liked about the song, etc. So we made up a little leaflet that included his notes and some illustrations. I tried out a different style, using my computer, and had a really good time. Here’s one of my favorites, for the incredibly sweet lullaby which almost makes my heart break every time I listen to it, “Ducks on the Millpond”:
(It DEFINITELY makes my heart break when I hear Kato singing along with it in the back seat of the car)
Of course, last, but CERTAINLY not least, the magnum opus of this album (as far as I’m concerned): “Cracker in My Pants”. In case you are unsure, it is a Beastie Boys-inspired rap featuring a ripping bass line by Joe Bass (aka Joe Dejarnette) and the vocal stylings of Brian Slattery. My flimsy illustration for the liner notes just does not even do this song justice. But I will put it here for you to look at, while you listen, slackjawed, to Cracker in My Pants.
Go ahead. Be amazed. Be very amazed.
Cracker in My Pants
And, one final thing that I love about this album is that I got to draw Brian Slattery (who was pretty much 90% of Drew’s backup band on this album) as a Banjo Superhero:
In his normal life, Brian is a super-distinguished award-winning writer of post-apocalyptic literary science fiction (while also doing good work for humanity as an editor of public policy publications). He’s just someone who begged to be dressed up in a superhero costume (not literally. He didn’t beg at all.) – since he’s going down in history as the next Pynchon (and that one I mean literally. The guy is a literary genius.).
So all of this is to say: this album is great. You guys should totally go out and buy it, if you haven’t already. BUY IT HERE, in fact.
And the other thing that all of this is to say is this: man, oh man, do we feel grateful and lucky to just happen to know such fricking talented and amazing people. There is nothing that makes us happier than being able to give Drew a place to lay down his tracks, and give Brian and Drew a chance to sit in a room together, cracking up about rapping about crackers (in your pants!). I don’t know, dawg, I feel like I have the best job in the world. So thank you all for supporting Bobbledy Books, so that we can support the creative output of some incredible people.
So, for those of you in the Bobbledy Books club, the next thing you’ll be receiving in the mail is this year’s album of music by our good friend Drew. Drew has been sending us snippets and chunks and tantalizing tidbits of songs for the past four months, and we’re finally putting the whole thing together. Let me tell you: there are some real gems on this album.
But, believe it or not, we had no trouble coming up with the name of the album. It sort of screamed to us when we were looking through the playlist.
And so [drum roll!] the album is named “Where is My Chicken?” after its title song, “Where is My Chicken?”. It all makes sense.
Now, it hasn’t been released yet, so you can’t buy it yet. And part of why it hasn’t been released yet is because I still have to make the album art for it.
I kind of had in my head from the start a chicken rocking out on the guitar. I talked over my ideas with Matthew, who suggested we really ought to have a rooster playing the guitar. It would just make more sense. And so the sketching began.
I started with a strutting rooster, but decided that he looked better standing straight on with his legs spread, like one does when hitting a power chord:
Once I got his position figured out, I drew in the lines a little darker. And I added some more detail in his tail feathers:
Then I started coloring him in. I did this drawing entirely on my computer – I just bought a set of Photoshop paintbrushes (HERE, if you’re interested) which I LOVE. It made the process go a lot faster than painting with a paintbrush.
Once I got him colored in, I decided all that detail in the rooster’s tail was just too busy. So I took out the outlines and just left the feather details. I kind of love how that worked out.
And finally, I added kind of a sunburst behind him, to make him really sing:
Of course, when I showed it to Matthew, the first thing he said was, “Well, we need to write Drew’s name on it somewhere, and we also need to put Bobbledy Books on there somewhere, and we also probably should include Brian (our friend who played a lot of the music on the album with Drew). And, um, isn’t the song ‘Where IS My Chicken?’ and not ‘Where’s My Chicken?'”
Dang.
Dang, dang, dang.
Sometimes I really zone out when I get into a zone!
Corrections and adjustments to come!
If any of you out there feel like drawing the album cover for an album called “Where Is My Chicken?” I would love to see it! Post it in the comments below, and maybe when you get your copy of the album in the mail, it will have YOUR cover on it, not mine!
As the months have passed since we sent out the first Bobbledy album, we’ve been getting reports from parents everywhere, thanking us or cursing us for the infectious quality of the songs and the frequency with which they have been blessed or cursed with hearing them repeated.
We’ve heard a lot of love for the Bobbledy theme song, with it’s bubbling refrain. Similarly, the title track I Don’t Wanna Brush My Teeth has garnered much affection from the child ranks.
However, just yesterday, we received a note from Eunice, mother of Spencer and Tyler, who should be well known to loyal readers as the most consistent responders to our weekly prompts.
Eunice says: “The boys have been listening to the Bobbledy Books CD a lot lately. They think it’s hilarious, especially for some reason, Mothra. Road trips get pretty rowdy when they’re swaying side to side, waving their hands in the air, and singing Mothra at the top of their lungs (with seat belts on, of course!). I think I have a video somewhere. I’ll try to track it down. It’s pretty funny.”
I begged Eunice to send the video, and she has dutifully posted it to YouTube.
I loved Mothra from the moment I heard it, though my reasons are somewhat esoteric–the absurdity of a song about Godzilla and friends being sung in Spanish (with the exception of the word “Godzilla” itself, which is sung as if being spoken by a Japanese native speaker [go-Jee-ah].” I worried that this degree of nuance would fail to be appreciated by our target listeners.
Turns out, though the source of their delight may differ, they know genius when they hear it, too.
If you do not have I Don’t Wanna Brush My Teeth, you really should consider getting a copy–either for the kid in your life or for yourself.
The songs are amazing: expertly written, hilarious yet poignant, lovingly performed, and carefully produced. They operate on many levels (as the video attests) and appeal to any ear.
I feel no qualms giving the hard sell on this one, given that it’s not my work. Drew Bunting is a very special songwriter and singer, and we’re lucky to know him. And you’re lucky we know him, too.
Click to buy a copy or simply admire the lovely cover artwork. Or, if I’m preaching to the choir, please drop us a line and share your family’s I Don’t Wanna Brush My Teeth story.
This is a banner day in the Barn. This morning, I piled the latest Bobbledy mailing into a bin.
And carried it down to the car.
And took it to the post office, where it will be weighed and measured and sorted and driven and flown and carted and carried and deposited right in your mailbox tomorrow or the day after or maybe even next Monday, depending on where you live.
As you already know (if you have been paying attention), inside you will find the first-ever Bobbledy children’s album. It’s called I Don’t Wanna Brush My Teeth.
It’s bursting with songs by this gentleman, the fabulous and charismatic, smart and sublime, funny and feisty, tall and powerful, fierce and yet understated Drew Bunting.
Drew’s two sons Elijah and Eddie did not actually play on the album, but they do provide some excellent ambiance, don’t you think?
This album of seven original (and one traditional) songs has a little bit of everything: Toe-tapping beats, triumphant romps, epic journeys, head-scratching weirdness, giggle-inducing lyrics, eye-dampening poignance, and no shortage of chances to dance-til-you-drop.
Learn the true meaning of the word Bobbledy, sing the anthem of playful defiance, take a voyage down the toilet bowl, meet Godzilla’s pal Mothra, discover the importance of listening to your mom, learn the fate of the humble groundhog, develop an appreciation for the underappreicated Dust Bunny, and revel in the pleasures of the imagination.
It’s an incredible piece of work by an amazing guy.
If you want to have a listen, before you buy, here’s a link to the kickoff track Bobbledy.
My favorite moment: the unhinged kazoo solo at the 1:42 mark.
Bobbledy club members (it’s never too late to sign up!) will get their album in a few days, but if you want to order a copy for the kid in your life (or the kid in you), they are available in our store, starting today. If you’re the sort that doesn’t like dealing with actual discs, we’ll be posting a link for downloads from iTunes and CD Baby in a few weeks (but then you wouldn’t get Robbi’s album art…I’m just saying).
A new day is upon us at Bobbledy Books. Since last August, we have been focusing on words and pictures, putting them together and seeing what happens when they wrestle. We have been telling stories in the form of books, stacks of papers attached at one end to create page-by-page progressions of narrative intrigue. We have been sending you letters and birthday cards and crayons and things that you see with your eyes and touch with your fingers.
In a few days, all that changes. In a few days, we are sending you something for your ears to gobble up. That’s right, it’s time to hang up our book writer/illustrator/maker/publisher hats for a while and embrace our newfound identities as music industry moguls.
We’d like to turn your attention to the gentleman sitting in this chair. His name is Drew and he is a rock star.
What do I mean by this? Drew has been singing and writing songs and playing his guitar since he was but a wee lad running wild in the woods of Tennessee. We have known him since college, where he wowed us with his incredible lyrics, amazing tunes, and unstoppable charisma (he used to do a fair amount of punk back in the day).
Drew and I were band mates in college, when we played together in an old time group called the Motherpluckers. Drew played mandolin and sang lead vocals. I did my best to keep up on rhythm guitar while other guys played banjo, fiddle, drums, and stand-up bass. We were not entirely bad.
Drew has recorded three albums of music for adults, but along the way, he has put together a stellar collection of songs for smaller people, too. Knowing this and loving Drew and feeling that he fit in perfectly with our Bobbledy groove, we asked him to record some of his classics, add a few new tunes, and put them all into an album for kids in the Bobbledy club to enjoy.
The result, as Robbi has been sharing for a few weeks now, is a magnificent collection of songs we call I Don’t Wanna Brush My Teeth. It looks a little like this:
The album will be released on the first of June, but we think it’s high time to give you a preview of what to expect when it lands in your mailbox.
To have a listen, click on the word “Bobbledy” below. Because, you see, the song is called Bobbledy.
In writing Bobbledy, Drew set out to compose the Bobbledy Books theme song, an anthem that might capture the grand majesty of the bobbledy experience. In so doing, he attempted to define this elusive term by listing experiences he deemed to be bobbledy. By the end of the song, you may be no closer to being able to rattle off a definition of “bobbledy,” but my guess is that you’ll be smiling and that deep down you’ll know exactly what it means (or at least what it feels like) to be bobbledy.
For the past three weeks, our drive to school each morning has begun with Kato demanding that we “put on that Bobble-obble-obble-obble song.” His request is so earnest that it is impossible to deny him. The moment the first chord sounds, a smile the width of a Canadian province spreads across his face, and the day is already a good one.
If you like “Bobbledy,” know that there are seven more incredible tracks waiting for you. We may post another here in the next few weeks.
For now, crank up the volume on your speakers, let Bobbledy fill the air, and don’t be afraid to dance.
