Get Ready for Summer with Awesome New Music for Families!
Summer is almost here and so far, 2016 has been an incredible year for Kindie music. What is Kindie music? Kindie artists are family-friendly independent singer/songwriters, duos, and bands that create music parents and children can both enjoy. Kindie music spans all genres including rock, pop, hip-hop, folk, country, and jazz. If you’d like a quick primer on Kindie music, check out this “2016 Summer roadtrip playlist”. As a bonus, all of these songs on the playlist can be downloaded for FREE between May 18 and May 25, 2016. In this article, we’ll give you a few recommendations on some of our favorite albums and songs so far this year.
France England (Photo credit: Frances England)
Frances England‘s new “Explorer of the World” is one of the most consistently brilliant and beautiful albums of 2016. As we noted in our album review, “This album is the soundtrack to the adventures you want to take. Her songs cultivate curiosity and wake up wanderlust by inspiring you to look up and admire the beauty in the world around you. The beauty of the every day. The beauty of the far away.” In addition to the title track (which you can download from the 2016 Summer roadtrip playlist), one of our favorite tracks, “See What We Can See,” is a perfect song for summer.
The Grammy-winning Okee Dokee Brothers released their latest album “Saddle Up” on May 13th. “Saddle Up” is filled with songs inspired by their adventures riding horseback along the Continental Divide. While the album is filled with wonderful “bluegrass pop” tunes, one of our favorites is an ode to the mysterious, elusive, and mythical “Jackalope”.
The Sugar Free Allstars are a family funk super duo from Oklahoma City. In our album review, we described their new self-titled album as a “symphonic funknado that will pick up your family and send them spinning!” There are many songs our family enjoyed on this album, but it is hard to beat the AC/DC and Air Supply inspired funk fusion that is “Monster Truck”.
In March, the musical kaleidoscope of joy that is Mista Cookie Jar, released his latest album “Music is Everywhere”. This album is one of our favorites and includes wonderful songs like “My My My” (the quintessential sob inducing home video soundtrack song) “Gratitude” (a funky song of Thanksgiving), and “Young at Heart” (a soft soulful reflection on childhood). However our favorite song is a funkified folk tune that urges you to “Hold On to Your Dreams”. You can also learn more about Mista Cookie Jar in our recent interview.
One of the newest artists in Kindie music is the sweet and perky pop of Emily Arrow. Emily Arrow’s songs are drawn from children’s literature and bring a warm new dimension to classic stories. Her debut album, “Storytime Singalong, Volume 1” was released in February. One of our favorite songs on the album, “Louise Loves Art” was inspired by Kelly Light’s book of the same name.
These are five of our favorite, but there has been (and will be) so much more great Kindie music this year including The Not-Its, Mike Phirman, L.A.R.D. Dog and the Band of Shy, Red Yarn, Laurie Berkner, Recess Monkey, The Hollow Trees, 123 Andres, Chibi Kodama, Jason Didner and the Jungle Gym Jam, Michael and the Rockness Monsters, KB Whirly, Hullabaloo, The Whiz Pops, Brady Rymer and the Little Band that Could, and so many more!
About Full Van Fun:
Full Van Fun (www.fullvanfun.com) is focused on bringing families together to enjoy a shared experience. We present stories, interviews, tips, reviews, and more about exciting destinations, great music, and scratch-made Farm to Family food that the "full van" (i.e. parents & kids) can enjoy. Sign up for our mailing list and follow us on Facebook so you don’t miss any of the fun!