Reviews and Feedback
From Zooglobble.com
Let’s think about the kids music artists who have released three easy-to-recommend CDs in the past five years. Hmmm…. Dan Zanes, Recess Monkey, Justin Roberts, Ralph’s World, and… who? I mean, if you expand that time frame out a bit, you could add They Might Be Giants, Elizabeth Mitchell, maybe Laurie Berkner. But to be that consistent over that amount of time says something—that’s an all-star list of kids musicians right there.
So it means something to me when I say that with the release of his third album Dragonfly, I’d add Seattle’s Johnny Bregar to that list.
On his first album Stomp Yer Feet!, Bregar was basically a slightly funkier and rootsier Raffi (a compliment in my book), giving old toddler standards a new spin. Bregar is still funky and rootsy, but with his second album Hootenanny and now with Dragonfly he’s been gradually moving up in age and away from standards and towards originals. He’s now given a song about feelings (“What Do You Do?”) a funky spin with an infectious horn and piano line (and even a gratuitous They Might Be Giants reference). “Two Thumbs Up” is a rootsy song about, well, feeling good (and opening a roadside art stand). And sometimes, as on “Shoo Fly Pie” or his cover of the boogie-woogie “Ice Cream Man,” he still recalls the traditional standards with which he started his kids’ music career.
If there are perhaps a few less-than-perfect tracks—I can’t say I have much love for the reggae tune “Salt and Pepper”—they’re few and far between. Bregar tends toward the sweet (the midtempo “Dragonfly” and the wonderful and tender ukulele-laced “Blue Canoe”) and a little towards the gently instructional (“Fireman With a Rocket Ship” or “Honey Bees”), so there’s little “edge,” if that’s your style. But the musical arrangements and melodies are once more top-notch. Kids are used as leavener to the production, lending a slightly ragged (and appealing) chorus to some of the songs (or, on the album closer, “Una Sardina,” the sole voice).
The songs here are targeted mostly at kids ages 4 through 9. The album’s for sale right now only at Bregar’s website, but will be available more broadly starting next week. You can hear samples of the tracks here.
Johnny Bregar hasn’t made a bad kids’ album yet, and Dragonfly is another fine outing, filled with songs whose lyrics will capture kids and melodies will capture parents. (And possibly vice versa.) Bregar might not be as well-known as those other artists who are turning out a high number of quality albums, but he should be. Here’s hoping Dragonfly helps things along in that regard. Highly recommended.
From ParentMap Magazine
Stomp Yer Feet!
It’s music for families with parents who don’t want to divide their CD collection into “ours” and “theirs.” Ballard resident Johnny Bregar’s kids’ CD—and his first solo release—has the low-key sound made popular by Dan Zanes, with jazz-, blues- and folk-influenced arrangements of childhood standards and sweetly humorous original songs. (Stomp Yer Feet! got me and a car full of kids to Mount Vernon and back recently, with little wear on my nerves despite the fact that the 5-year-olds begged to hear I’ve Been Working on the Railroad over and over again.) Standout tracks include the beautifully written Moon—about a child who wants to touch everything he sees—and a gentle, singable Froggy Went A-Courtin’. Bregar’s singing on the CD sounds intimate, as if he’s performing for a very select group. Which he is, considering that wife Maura Ahearne, son Toby and a group of neighborhood kids, a.k.a., The Ballard Singers, provide back-up vocals (and the occasional animal noise). The release is currently available at The Land of Nod at University Village (http://www.landofnod.com) and through Bregar’s Web site, and it’s worth meandering over to pick up a copy.
ParentMap Magazine, April 2006
From Zooglobble.com
After hearing his debut kids’ CD Stomp Yer Feet!, I saddled the Seattle-based musician Johnny Bregar with perhaps an unfortunate tag—the next Raffi. I considered it a compliment, thinking of Bregar’s gifted voice and occasionally soulful reinterpretation of preschooler classics, but there are enough people out there who have such a knee-jerk reaction to the mere mention of Raffi’s name that I didn’t expect it to be a marketing gold mine.
On his second album for kids, the just-released Hootenanny, Bregar neatly escapes the “next Raffi” tag by pitching his songs at a slightly older crowd. Gone are toddler classics such as “If You’re Happy and You Know It” or “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” in are folk classics for a slightly older crowd—the revved-up album opener “Old Dan Tucker” or the straight-up folk last track “Eastbound Freight Train.” The younger kids aren’t completely ignored—somewhere Dr. John is crossing “Miss Mary Mack” off his songs-to-record list because Bregar’s soulful version will work just as well—but this time they’re the exception and not the rule. I also like his gently bouncing version of “Don’t Fence Me In,” with an occasional kids’ chorus that suggests the lyrics don’t just apply to adult cowboys.
Bregar puts a few more original songs on the new album, and for the most part, they’re very good. Songs like “Best Friend” and “Airplane” speak to aspirations of five-year-olds. If there’s a drawback to the songs, which sound great, is that they’re all very Adult Album Alternative-sounding. As opposed to the goofiness of, say, “Pancakes” or “Blah de la” off Stomp Yer Feet!, the songs here are all very polished and may or may not capture kids’ fancies.
The album’s musicianship is always first-rate, and Bregar has a great voice, one of those things you don’t appreciate unless you’ve heard a lot of kids’ music and realize that there aren’t that many kids’ musicians with great voices. He sounds ever so slightly like Bruce Springsteen and a lot like Justin Currie, the lead singer for the ‘90s pop band Del Amitri—in fact, there’s even a hint of Del Amitri’s sound in the album. (Should I start the rumor that Bregar is actually Currie’s alter ego?)
The album’s most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 8. You can hear clips from both of Bregar’s albums here.
Hootenanny is another strong album from Johnny Bregar, with many songs kids and their adults can enjoy. If it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Stomp Yer Feet!, that’s only because that album set the bar so high, and if you were scared by the “next Raffi” tag, it’s OK to come back—Bregar’s now setting his own path worth following. Definitely recommended.
Zooglobble, December 2006
Hootenanny, Johnny Bregar. Home-grown folk revival from a Ballard dad who knows how to get feet stomping! Bregar’s second album includes a mix of covers and originals, including the sweetly evocative “Summertime” and the bluesy “Blackberry Pie.” With neighborhood kids singing back-up to Bregar’s laid-back vocals, Hootenanny is that rarest of discs that appeals to all ages. Just try to sit still!
