Put two dad and mom of preschool-age kids collectively in the identical room and there is a good likelihood they’re going to find yourself having a dialog about “Bluey,” the wildly standard animated Australian TV sequence that is captivated each kids and fogeys alike. It is a youngsters’ present however it could possibly completely entertain the adults within the room as properly, clearly a key consider its resounding success.
The identical may very well be mentioned about Tom Irwin’s newly launched kids’s album, One for the Kiddos, which comes packaged inside a spiral-bound songbook with lyrics and guitar chords, illustrated by Petersburg-based artist Kevin Atterberry. Irwin’s final album, All That Love, was a full band file launched by Clyded Data in 2017, produced by John Stirratt, one of many founding members of the Chicago-based band Wilco.
This newest challenge has the identical traditional Americana really feel that followers have come to like over Irwin’s almost 4 a long time in performing and recording, with maybe a bit extra silliness. A sixth-generation resident of Sangamon County and a doting grandpa, Irwin mentioned that this album is a set of songs written each for his personal youngsters after they had been little and now their youngsters. An energetic and concerned grandfather, Irwin described how the track “Balls All over the place” was impressed through the pandemic.
“I used to be serving to out rather a lot with my grandson at the moment, attempting to maintain him busy, and regardless of the place we went, he’d discover a ball someplace,” Irwin mentioned.
These adventures are thoughtfully illustrated within the songbook by Atterberry with hand-drawn cartoons in brilliant, vibrant colours. Because the songs play, small particulars come out of the pages: a toothy rabbit stealing carrots in a veggie backyard or forest animals shaking maracas and tambourines.
Irwin mentioned he’s hard-pressed to decide on a favourite track on the album, which was produced by Gary Gorden at Inside Out Studio in Sparta, Illinois. Though recorded as a studio album, the tracks have a distinctly dwell, wealthy sound. Tom’s son, Owen Irwin, performs guitar, together with Bruce Brown on mandolin and dobro, Polly Launay on violin, Ross Sermons on bass and Amy Battles on vocals. Battles additionally co-wrote the album’s candy and singable lullaby, “Goodnight Child Goodnight.”
“It is exhausting to decide on a favourite as a result of they alter day-to-day, however “Cheese and Crackers” is a particular one. I truly wrote that for my grandma once I was taking good care of her, and my son was little then too, in order that they had been each in diapers!” Irwin remarked with amusing. “Again then she would get these huge blocks of presidency cheese, boy, she beloved that cheese. Anyway, we had been consuming lots of cheese and crackers collectively, and it made its manner right into a track.”
Irwin sings lead vocal, performs guitar and wrote all of the songs on the album aside from one- Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.”
Starting from merely foolish songs like “Shake-a-puddin” and energetic, up-and-moving songs corresponding to “All Round” to light bedtime songs, every monitor on the album is underpinned by wealthy instrumentals and intelligent lyrics. The mandolin, dobro and fiddle on the album give it a pleasant bluegrass hue, with some electrical guitar thrown in for good measure. An album for the kiddos, actually, however one which possible you may let play on even after the children have left the room.
The One for the Kiddos illustrated songbook and CD will likely be out there simply in time for vacation gifting, with an LP model due out later within the spring. The album may even be out there on numerous streaming platforms and for buy at https://tomirwin.net/store.
