Dads Who Rock: Fatherhood Inspires the Passion for Music of Daddy A Go Go, Imagination Movers and Trout Fishing in America
Stay at home fatherhood might sound like the ticket to musical dullsville. But at least three of family music’s top acts find that their kids actually inspire great songwriting. All are top sellers in a challenging business and win national acclaim for sophisticated music that reverberates with parents as much as the kids.
Atlanta, New Orleans and Prairie Grove, AR (PRWEB) May 24, 2005 -- Stay at
home fatherhood might sound like the ticket to musical dullsville. But at least
three of family music’s top acts find that their kids actually inspire great
songwriting. All are top sellers in a challenging business and win national
acclaim for sophisticated music that reverberates with parents as much as the
kids.
John Boydston of Atlanta is a former CNN news producer whose
journey into middle age and fatherhood involved quitting his job and picking up
his electric guitar. After walking away from a successful TV news career to
become a stay-at-home dad, Boydston found a way to merge his two passions:
parenting and rock and roll. “My kids loved dance music, and when I noticed they
loved the Beatles but hated Barney, the Daddy a Go-Go concept was born.” After
his debut Daddy A Go-Go CD "Cool Songs for Cool Kids" made Amazon.com's Top 10
Best Kids' CDs of the Year list, he knew he was on to something – kids’ music
that was Real rock and roll, that spoke to kids and parents alike.
The
songs deal with issues aging baby boomers can relate to: stressed-out carpool
drivers, dad's garage-rock 45 collection, overloaded computer time and a kid's
baseball team that wins despite his dad's coaching. Boydston is also reviving
some cool and quirky tunes from his own childhood, like "Hello Muddah, Hello
Faddah," and "Snoopy and the Red Baron," two current favorite download songs on
iTunes. As the New York Post quipped recently, "this is one hip
daddy!"
Boydston’s songs are growing up along with his two sons, now ages
12 and 10. Older son Jake contributed sound effects to the latest Daddy a Go Go
Cd, “Mojo A Go Go,” and 10 year old Maxwell is a budding guitarist who
contributed impressive riffs on the recording. The family is enjoying dad’s Led
Zeppelin DVD together as he gears up for next year’s new release. For updates,
song samples and more information, see www.daddyagogo.com.
The Imagination Movers, a rock and
hip-hop influenced quartet of young dads from New Orleans, performs for
audiences around the country, singing about messy rooms, healthy snacks, sibling
rivalry and other topics that relate to being a kid – all inspired by the
Movers’ own offspring. True to their show’s blue collar roots, the Movers
perform wearing matching bright blue coveralls. Their stage is often decorated
with boxes, gears and other warehouse items, and they love to solve everyday
problems. They are true-blue DIY Dads.
On their new DVD “Stir It Up” and
regionally aired PBS TV episodes, the Movers bang on trashcan drums and get kids
moving and singing along with their high-energy tunes. The Movers’ two musical
CDs, “Calling All Movers” and “Good Ideas” have earned 11 national awards and
launched the XM Satellite Radio #1 hit song “I Want My Mommy.”
For these
hip daddies (Scott Durbin, Rich Collins, Dave Poche and Scott “Smitty” Smith),
the fun and foibles of daily life provide endless artistic material. “As
fathers, the joy is in doing something that is so relevant to our children,”
says Poche. “We are very lucky to be able to have them serve as inspiration in
such a direct manner and also to have a vehicle to express our mutual
experiences. As with any successful career, the long term benefits far outweigh
these difficulties, but it does not make it any easier to wave goodbye to your
family as you walk onto an airplane.” For the latest news and concert tour
information, visit www.imaginationmovers.com.
The dad duo who make up
Trout Fishing in America are experienced musicians whose repertoire of humorous
folk-rock tunes grew to include family-oriented themes over the past decade.
Nominated for two Grammy Awards for their family CDs, Trout Fishing in America
songs provide an offbeat and always amusing look at life. Ezra Idlet and Keith
Grimwood play more than 100 gigs per year, so their kids are used to sharing
them with legions of fans.
Grimwood’s son is 22 years old. Idlet’s
children are 18 and 16. “There are always benefits and challenges to being a
father. With a career that takes you away from home a lot, the joys and
challenges seem to multiply,” says Grimwood.” The upside is that the kids have
been able to travel quite a bit with their dads (for example, both Keith’s and
Ezra’s kids got to go to the Grammy awards ceremonies this year, while the dads
had to perform a gig). But travel mostly keeps the two musical dads out of the
house and on the road. They’re especially proud of the work they’re doing in
schools – and plan to release a CD soon featuring tunes they’ve been writing
with kids.
Grimwood and Idlet struggle to make their demanding schedule
work for their families. “The important thing about traveling is that when you
do go home, you need to be fully engaged in the family,” Idlet explains. “It
can’t be Disneyland every time you show up. There are things like homework,
yardwork and all the seemingly mundane things that make up family life to attend
to. Sometimes just attending to these things is the best way to recharge after
being gone.” For updates, song downloads and more Trout Music news, see www.troutmusic.com.
#
# #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb243120.htm