First Highlights

So I know many of you have been waiting for the whole scoop on Brooklyn. It's more than I can cover in one post, but I'll attempt to give you a few highlights and observations.

The most nightmarish part of the weekend was that my voice was very nearly gone, even before all the fun started. When I woke up Saturday morning to drive to the airport, I had that sexy, raspy Debra Winger type of voice; and by the time I was climbing out of a cab in Brooklyn (around noon), it had deteriorated to a nasty-sounding Rita Cosby. So I was not as outgoing and talkative as I normally am. Some of you who caught me at my outgoing and talkative peak, around 11 pm on Saturday, are thinking, "Not talkative? Puh-leeeeease. I know more about your childbirth experiences/hair issues/love of Pet Sounds/husband's interest in professional wrestling than I ever wanted to know."

But enough about me. Let's talk about the artists.

The most striking observation of the weekend was this: Brooklyn artists are working their asses off teaching music classes and playing children's birthday parties. In fact, a number of kids' albums have likely been financed by birthday parties. When I arrived on Saturday, the first performance I saw -- at around 1 in the afternoon -- was at a one-year-old's party. Parents and toddlers sat in a circle and sang along as this performer led songs on her guitar. Numerous artists mentioned to me Saturday night that they had either played a birthday party earlier in the day or had a party on Sunday. Music classes for babies and toddlers (like Music for Aardvarks) are also a big part of the culture there, and that may be what has led to the popularity of kiddie rockers playing the birthday party circuit.

All of this -- the classes, the birthday parties, the value parents are placing on making music a part of their children's lives -- have contributed far more to the growth in kids' music (especially the Brooklyn/New York/East Coast scene) than I ever realized. And much of that can be traced back to David Weinstone, the founder of Music for Aardvarks.

One of the most talked-about performances from Saturday night was David's song "I'm a Big Baby." I had the chance to talk with him before he went on, so I was prepared for this. Most people were not. Everyone took it differently, and I think everyone heard it differently. Some were offended, some were amused, some clapped and cheered, some walked out. About David Weinstone -- I honestly didn't expect to like him, and I'm fairly sure he didn't expect anything wonderful (or possibly anything at all) from me. But he was one of the highlights of my weekend. We see eye to eye on so many things, and I felt like we could have talked for hours if given the chance.

Here is video of "I'm a Big Baby." My camera can record only three minutes of video at a time, and luckily, three minutes was exactly what I needed to get to the punchline of this song -- the kiddies are the brightest stars. It goes on (more repeats of the chorus) after this, but the important parts are all here.