NW Kids sponsors the Fambly Ramble concert series, kicking off March 5th
There are so many reasons why Portland’s a great place for kids to grow up. Even when it rains a lot, there’s always something going on inside at museums, play spaces, libraries, and community centers.
When it comes to live music, we’re the place to be; in fact, national children’s music blog Zooglobble calls Portland the “Kindie Capital of the World”! In a city that boasts artists from Mo Phillips, Pointed Man Band and Mister Ben to former PBS TV star Aaron Nigel Smith and his One World Chorus and recent GRAMMY nominee Lori Henriques, plus daddy rocker sing-alongs with the Alphabeticians, Tallulah’s Daddy and Micah and Me, there is no shortage of good music happening on any day of the week.
It’s not so easy for bands from other towns to perform here, though. Venues like the Village Ballroom, Mississippi Studios, public libraries and the odd summer festival have offered occasional shows with top nationally acclaimed family artists, but unlike cities like Austin, New York and Philadelphia, there’s no regular “home” for Portland families to experience the best artists working in the independent family music genre.
Leave it to Portland’s puppet impresario Red Yarn to cook up something just right. His brand-new “Fambly Ramble” concert series kicks off on Saturday, March 5th at the Clinton Street Theater, headlined by Parents’ Choice Award winning band The Harmonica Pocket. Based in Port Townsend and part of Seattle’s vibrant Kindiependent collective, The Harmonica Pocket performs with a hula-hoop, a ukulele, vocal harmony and a suitcase of props. Featuring imaginative renditions of American folk classics plus an array of silly, sweet originals from their award-winning albums, their shows mix music and dance into a giggle-inducing and highly interactive show. Red Yarn will open with “Deep Woods” folksongs and puppetry, for which he has gained thousands of fans.
Details about the show and tickets ($8 advance) are available here.
Two more Fambly Rambles are slated for this spring at the Mission Theater in NW Portland:
Saturday, April 23 at 4pm – Gustafer Yellowgold & the Red Yarn Band
Saturday, May 21 at 4pm – Tim Kubart & Mo Phillips
Food and beverages will be available for purchase at all shows. Kids will enjoy travel-related crafts before each concert, sponsored by NW Kids and SCRAP PDX. Hike It Baby! will lead walks to each concert.
Andy Furgeson (aka Red Yarn), himself a father of a two year old, is launching the Fambly Ramble series “to expose Portland kids and parents to some of the brilliant family music that I’ve discovered since dipping my toe into the national kindie scene. If you think that most music for kids is saccharine and stupid, then you simply haven’t done your research! There is so much high quality, emotionally resonant, sonically rich family music out there.”
He also wants to enhance the family music nexus here in Portland, building on our reputation as a music-friendly town. “I want top-notch national acts to experience the enthusiasm and engagement of our local family music audiences. Portland families are the sweetest and most supportive crowds ever!”
NW Kids is a sponsor of the Fambly Ramble series.
Give a listen and get excited!
soundcloud.com/redyarn
soundcloud.com/theharmonicapocket