Award-Winning, Best-Selling Children’s Recording Artist to Release Two-Disc Album Laurie Berkner ‘Laurie Berkner’s Favorite Classic Kids’ Songs’ October 23rd

 “The queen of children’s music.” – People Magazine
“A kind of sippy-cup Sheryl Crow.” – Time Magazine
“One of the hippest children’s artists … Berkner’s a blast.” – Family Fun

Laurie sings the classics!

NEW YORK – Best-selling children’s recording artist and preschool television favorite Laurie Berkner will release a two-disc album, Laurie Berkner’s Favorite Classic Kids’ Songs, on October 23rd (TwoTomatoes Records, distributed by Razor & Tie, running time 129 minutes, for ages 0 – 7, SRP $13.98/CD; $12.99 for digital download). The album includes 51 well-loved, traditional children’s songs, plus six “bonus” tracks of favorite Laurie Berkneroriginals.

Says Laurie Berkner, “I grew up with many of these songs, and I’m sure parents and grandparents will remember a lot of them from their own childhoods. I’m excited about sharing these classics with kids who may not have heard them before and also introducing my versions of songs that might already be family favorites. In the true folk tradition, I’ve added some of my own lyrics and my own spin to many of these traditional songs. I’ve kept a folk or rock feel for most of the numbers, with a little reggae thrown in here and there for fun!”

While beautifully capturing the up-to-date sound of The Laurie Berkner Band that fans know and love, Laurie Berkner’s Favorite Classic Kids’ Songs is the only album Laurie has ever released that is comprised almost exclusively of traditional songs. Highlights include a rollicking “When The Saints Go Marching In,” an “Amazing Grace” that achieves its depth of meaning by parsing away the non-essentials, and a funky, hip-hop take on “This Old Man,” with additional rhymes penned by Laurie. Other highlights include a duet performance of “There’s A Hole In The Bucket” with Laurie Berkner and Brady Rymer that’s filled with spontaneous hijinks, a “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” that hits a home run in the third inning with its swinging jazz style, and “Old King Cole,” featuring the fantastic fiddle of Kenny Kosek (Laurie Anderson, Steve Goodman, John Denver, James Taylor, Jerry Garcia), as well as renowned jazz trumpeter Warren Vaché (the Benny Goodman Band, the Concord Super Band, Bucky Pizzarelli, George Wein, Howard Alden).

Laurie Berkner’s Favorite Classic Kids’ Songs takes Laurie Berkner back to her roots. When she started out as a preschool music specialist in the early ‘90s, before she was writing her own kids’ music, Laurie sang every traditional song that she knew and found herself scrambling to discover more so she would have new songs each time her classes met. These tunes taught Laurie a great deal about music as a living cultural connection to the past and served to remind her of what, as a child, she had loved about music.

Laurie explains, “I made my first recording, Whaddaya Think of That? because I wanted families to have a way to listen at home to the songs I was singing with their kids in the classroom, especially the ones I had written, which they wouldn’t have known otherwise. I included traditional songs, too, because I wanted some of the music to be very familiar. With each consecutive album, my own originals became more and more of what the kids wanted to sing, so I got away from recording the traditional songs I grew up with. Now, with Laurie Berkner’s Favorite Classic Kids’ Songs, I’m doing the opposite and exploring many of the songs that were so formative for me and helpful in my early days as a music teacher.”

A former preschool music teacher by day and indie rocker by night, Laurie Berkner started marketing her music more than fifteen years ago from her living room on her own label, Two Tomatoes Records. She is now widely recognized as a pioneer in the “kindie” music genre and was crowned “the undisputed queen of kindie rock” by USA Today. The Wall Street Journal noted “Her music is distinctive because it speaks to kids without talking down to them, charming youngsters without boring grown-ups.”

Laurie was the first artist to ever appear in music videos on Nick Jr. and was featured in nearly all the episodes of the channel’s Jack’s Big Music Show. She currently stars in the animated musical short-form series Sing It, Laurie! on the Sprout preschool channel and makes regular appearances on Sprout’s Sunny Side Up Show.

The Laurie Berkner Band features: Laurie Berkner, vocals/guitar; Susie Lampert, keyboards; Brady Rymer, bass; and Bobby Golden, drums/percussion. Visit www.laurieberkner.com for more about the band, including press photos and tour dates. Media assets and press photos are also available here: www.razorandtiepublicity.com.

Laurie Berkner’s Favorite Classic Kids’ Songs will be available wherever favorite albums are sold, at www.laurieberkner.com, and at all digital retailers, including iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Spotify, and more. Digital pre-sale begins on iTunes on September 25, including several tracks for immediatedownload.

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LAURIE BERKNER’S FAVORITE CLASSIC KIDS’ SONGS TRACK LISTING: