There’s only so many times a parent can endure hearing the Disney smash hit, “Let it Go." If you've been tempted to hide your kid’s copy of the Frozen soundtrack or the device they play it on, you may be surprised to learn there are plenty of alternatives for child friendly music that won’t drive parents crazy. Kids music has gotten a lot hipper with acts that range from rock and roll to hip hop. In this week’s Enlighten Me, Delaware Public Media’s Cathy Carter travels to The Queen in Wilmington to meet one of the genre's stars, along with some of his pint sized fans and the people who drive them - at the venue’s popular Peanut Butter and Jams Kids Concert Series.
[audio:http://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/PBJamGreen.mp3|titles= Delaware Public Media's Cathy Cather visits the Queen in Wilmington to check out the kids' music scene.]
It’s Saturday in Wilmington and concert goers at the World Café Live at The Queen are gathered in front of the stage getting pumped for the show.
But it’s not the typical crowd you’d expect to see at a hip downtown rock club.
No one has a tattoo, unless you count the temporary peel off kind.
There isn’t anyone drinking a craft beer but there are quite a few people sipping juice boxes.
And there is at least one similarity. Several concert goers are rocking some pretty trendy clothing.
Riley Fanjoy is decked out in leopard print leggings, a metallic gray sweater and black combat boots.
This is Riley’s second concert at The Queen. The eight- year old from Newark is here with her grandmother Ellen, a big fan of the venue’s Saturday morning Peanut Butter and Jams kid’s concert series.
“Everybody needs to have music in their lives,” she said. “It touches a part of your brain and your heart that you don’t get to any other way sometimes, and it let people express what their thinking or feeling.”
The weekly kid’s concert series at The Queen is a huge hit, so if your idea of children’s music is the stylings of The Wiggles or certain purple dinosaur, then Justin Moulder of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, says your perception is out of date.
“It’s not like a lot of other children music it’s not dumbed down for kids,” he said. “The whole family can enjoy it without having to explain anything or being too campy. It seems to me that there is an exploding scene of independent artists for children which is amazing coming from where I came from. Musically it’s refreshing.”
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On this particular Saturday, the Peanut Butter and Jams headliner is Gustafer Yellowgold, an animated character and brainchild of musician and illustrator Morgan Taylor. His show is a multimedia experience of live music, storytelling and video projections. As he sets up his movie screen, Lilly Fanjoy watches while clutching a Gustafer Yellowgold doll. When asked why she’s a fan, the 4-year old has a direct reply.
“He’s yellow,” Fanjoy said.
Gustafer is in fact a canary yellow pointy headed space alien from the sun who currently lives in Minnesota. His best friend is a tuxedo wearing pterodactyl and he has two pets, a dragon and a purple eel named Slimothy.
Lisa Lightner of Wilmington says Taylor’s somewhat subversive but addictive pop songs, about Gustafer Yellowgold’s exploits isn’t just for children.
“Some kids music can be kind of annoying to listen to and a little too babyish,” Lighter said. “But now that my kids are a little bit older they're not babies; they are 5 and 8. So I just like the uniqueness of it and the show is really like a show, not just a concert. It’s interactive.”
Morgan Taylor created the character of Gustafer Yellowgold while doodling at his day job as a clerk at a Dayton, Ohio record store. But his main gig was playing in the indie rock band Mink alongside fellow Dayton denizens, Guided by Voices and The Breeders. By 2004, Taylor was living and playing in a new band in New York City. When that band broke up, he wasn’t sure what to do next. That’s when his wife suggested he do something with all the cartoons he’d been drawing over the years.
“I came to kind of a crossroads when I was like, do I want to worry about what Radiohead is doing? Is that the target that I’m going for? And then I realized that well no, what about Jim Henson and Doctor Seuss? I feel like their careers were even more exciting and inspirational,” said Taylor. "Plus Doctor Seuss peaked in his 50s, so I feel like all of a sudden if I’m changing gears and I’m trying to be like a Doctor Seuss type of guy; heck, that opens up the doors to all kinds of things and all of a sudden being 35 doesn’t seem so old anymore.”
Since its creation in 2005, Gustafer Yellowgold has become a phenomenon. First it was books, then CDs and DVD’s. The 2007 pop-inflected debut “Have You Never Been Yellow,” was a fast hit with kids and parents.
“There’s more music than folk,” says Taylor. “Pete Seeger and Burl Ives fill a definite niche and a definite need and style and a vibe but what about making a song that sounds like REM but is about a worm, you know? That’s how a new genre starts. You’re combining two things that’ve never been combined before.”
With its unusual crossover appeal, the Gustafer Yellowgold show has performed as the opening act for such hip adult rock acts as Wilco and The Polyphonic Spree. Morgan Taylor calls his family friendly genre, all ages alternative.
“I’m a fan of The Beatles and was a big fan of alternative rock in the 80s and 90s and so the music itself it’s kind of the amalgam of all those influences put together,” he said. “I’m a huge fan of all that really melodic pop like XTC and ELO, Supertramp and all that. What if I sang a song like that but it was about a pterodactyl who was obsessed with fashion?”
Gustafer Yellowgold has taken on a life of his own. There are six DVD albums, there are Gustafer Dolls and T-shirts, and you can also buy stuffed animal versions of Slimothy the purple eel. But Taylor says make no mistake; this is very much a DIY operation.
“At first I was self-conscience about selling my own merchandise,” he admitted. “But I made the merchandise, so why wouldn’t I want to sell it? I’m not going to come out and put on a façade and pretend that I’m backed by a multimillion dollar corporation and that I have a big crew, it’s just me . I have a little four door car, I pack all my stuff in it and I go to the next city.”
Taylor’s latest Gustafer Yellowgold project is “The Wisdom Tooth of Wisdom,” in which Gustafer has a wild set of adventures as he attempts to locate the owner of the world’s largest molar. But the CD isn’t about teeth. As always, the surprisingly deep lyrics touch on life lessons.
The biggest challenge for Morgan Taylor isn’t coming up with new ideas for songs, that’s the easy part. But how do you navigate a fan base that is growing up?
“If you’re in a band you work for years building a following,” said Taylor. “If you’re playing for children the audience you’re trying to build is aging out every 5 to 7 years so what are you supposed to do? For me, it’s trying to build brand awareness. I try to make the content compelling enough that people want to tell other people about it.”
When the crowd at the Queen stumbles out of the club into the Market Street daylight, there’s no doubt they’ll be spreading the word about Gustafer Yellowgold. That’s not bad for a creation that began with a drawing on a paper napkin.
“It was all a very happy accident,” said Taylor. “All of a sudden I had all these amazing positive reactions in the press and the audiences and fans, and I realized I had a career that all I had to do was be myself. I can be as weird as I want because I’ve created my own niche and I’m having a blast with it.”
This piece is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.