These days we often hear discussions on how families are becoming disconnected. Many people have offered different methods, such as family game night, to help families remain connected or even reconnect. For our family, we have discovered that listening to and sharing music is an activity that we all enjoy and keeps us connected. While making music is clearly a very creative and enjoyable activity, not everyone has that kind of talent, and we often depend on others who are talented to help us pursue our musical adventure.
In selecting music, we generally prefer music that the whole family enjoys. The adults in our family do not enjoy the sappy toddler favorites and much of what the adults like to listen to is not appropriate or not catchy enough for the kids to enjoy. When we come a cross an album that the whole family enjoys, we are thrilled. It is even better when we can incorporate the songs into our daily lives to help us enjoy the good times even more and get past the rough spots with a smile instead of a meltdown.
Uncle Rock's Plays Well With Others is a perfect fit for our family's requirements and preferences. The roots of his music are appreciated by the adults: a little disco, a little grass-roots folksy rock, a great beat, the clear 70's influences, especially the Magic Carpet Ride / Magic Bus medley. The rhythms in most of the songs get us all bouncing and tapping. The lyrics talk about times and events in our lives ("Gettin' Big Blues") as well as things that are interesting even if not in our lives. (We do not yet have a rock and roll babysitter, but if you know of a good one, let us know.)
We prefer the songs to not be all sunshine and cheer, but to have some that help us feel that we can deal with the things that don't go as we intend.One of the songs bring us from frustration to smiles ("Shoe Bandit"). Along similar lines, "Break A Few Eggs" reminds us that messes are good and fun. None of us can resist singing along with "Sugar Talkin'". Our youngest really enjoys the twangy sounds of "Playin' Possum" though she has yet to discover what it means.
All in all, Uncle Rock's Plays Well With Others is a CD that speaks to us. We enjoy listening to the songs and singing them to brighten our days as we go about our daily lives.
Gwyneth Butera is the programmer of Gooney Bird Radio.
1 comment:
My daughter and I love Uncle Rock's album, "Plays Well with Others." We even played this album during a family center community dance and the kids dance away. Highly recommended!
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