Archives for January 10, 2017

Holy Guacamole!  Brooklyn’s award-winning titans of kindie music are back, bringing a taste of July to this Christmas!  Rolie Polie Guacamole is set to warm up the season for families everywhere with the  release of their sixth studio album, Live on the Fourth of July.

Winner of the prestigious Parents’ Choice® and NAPPA Awards, Rolie Polie Guacamole has, through the years, developed a smart musical style that dresses up original tunes and classic covers with vibrant harmonies and deft instrumental layers that sparkle with a kid-and-parent-friendlhy vibe.

In addition to bringing their rocking, upbeat, high-energy shows to music festivals and performing arts centers, Frank Gallo and Andrew Tuzhilin take special joy in the informality and “up close and personal” feel of the numerous sing-along preschool and library shows they perform that have a focus on familiar children’s songs.

On July 4, 2016, responding to ongoing requests from families for a recording of Rolie Polie Guacamole sing-along favorites, Frank Gallo and Andrew Tuzhilin headed to Rutherford, New Jersey to make a live acoustic album with longtime friend, engineer/producer Max Caselnova.  Celebrating an unforgettable Fourth of July, they laid down fourteen classic children’s songs that revel in a true-to-life setting with very few overdubs or added tracks.  The result:  Live on the Fourth of July!

Live on the Fourth of July speaks to younger Rolie Polie Guacamole fans with sing-along gems like “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “Mr. Sun,” and “Muffin Man/Pizza Man,” while offering older kids some of the band’s signature cover songs, such as “Fire Truck,” “Subway Train,” and “This Little Light of Mine.”

Enthuses Frank Gallo, “After years of being urged by our fans to record our sing-along set, I’m so glad we finally took the time to do it!  It was a blast to spend last Fourth of July going back to our acoustic duo roots and working with our good friend Max!  We hope to bring some of that summertime warmth to the colder months of the year with Live on the Fourth of July.”

Rolie Polie Guacamole lays claim to being one of the hardest working bands in kids’ music, and that just might be true.  They’ve released five albums and played well over 1,500 shows nationwide since hitting the boards with their first performance in 2007, receiving top picks from Boston.com, Time Out NY Kids, and Time Out Chicago.

To herald the release of Live on the Fourth of July, Rolie Polie Guacamole has launched an animated sing-along video series on YouTube, kicking off with “Mr. Sun,” illustrated by Alexandra Narvaez and animated by Teddy Gage, HERE.

Previous Rolie Polie Guacamole releases include Chips and Salsa (2015, Parents’ Choice® Recommended Award), Triathlon (2014, Parents’ Choice® Fun Stuff Award), Houses of The Moly (2012, Parents’ Choice® Silver Honor Award, NAPPA Honors Award), Time For Hummus (2010), and Rolie Polie Guacamole (2008).

I love this upbeat music and young children will love dancing and singing along!~ SoCal City Kids.

Live on the Fourth of July is available on the Rolie Polie Guacamole website and iTunes.  Pre-orders may be placed now at both sites.

Self Disclosure: I received a free CD to facilitate this post. 

https://youtu.be/L6qKBBvQc3o

Season Two of the popular Amazon Original Kids live-action series, Just Add Magic, will debut on Prime Video on Friday, January 13!

Based on Cindy Callaghan’s book of the same name, Just Add Magic for kids, tweens and their families, follows the adventures of Kelly (Olivia Sanabia, Extant) and her two best friends, Hannah (Aubrey Miller, Austin & Ally) and Darbie (Abby Donnelly, Suburgatory), who stumble across a mysterious cookbook and discover that its recipes are far from ordinary – they’re magical!

In Season Two of Just Add Magic, the girls’ Last-Ditch Layer Cake breaks every spell in town, which miraculously brings Grandma Quinn (Dee Wallace, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) back to her normal self. Unfortunately, it also brings back an old enemy…Chuck Hankins. Chuck disappeared when he was a teenager, but when he returns 50 years later, he hasn’t aged a day. When he begins to meddle in the girls’ lives, they must put aside their summer of fun in order to save the magic from falling into the wrong hands. As they begin to investigate, they learn that Chuck isn’t just an ordinary troublemaker. In fact, he’s capable of much more than they could ever imagine. Chuck is creating his own magic cookbook and may be seeking revenge on the people who spelled him years ago. His master plan will eventually put one of the trio in grave danger unless Kelly, Hannah and Darbie can find a way to defeat Chuck once and for all.

Just Add Magic stars Olivia Sanabia (Extant), Abby Donnelly (Suburgatory), Aubrey Miller (Austin & Ally), and Judah Bellamy (Home). The series also stars Dee Wallace (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) as Grandma Quinn, Catia Ojeda (Grey’s Anatomy) as Mrs. Quinn, Andrew Burlinson (Parks and Recreation) as Mr. Quinn, Amy Hill (50 First Dates) as Mama P, and Ellen Karsten (Camp Takota) as Ms. Silvers.

A single-camera live-action series, Just Add Magic is executive produced by Andrew Orenstein (Malcolm in the Middle) and Joe Nussbaum (George Lucas in Love, Awkward) with Nussbaum also directing several episodes. Luisa Leschin (Austin & Ally) serves as co-executive producer, Matt Goldman (Wizards of Waverly Place) serves as consulting producer and Pixie Wespiser (Good Luck Charlie) serves as producer.

The first season of Just Add Magic, the most streamed Amazon Original Series for kids 6-11 to date, is now available to stream exclusively for Prime members via the Amazon Prime Video app for TVs; connected devices, including Fire TV; mobile devices; and online. Prime members can also download the series to mobile devices for offline viewing at no additional cost to their membership.

Credit: Amazon Prime Video.