Some of the special artists who have checked in so far this year with brand new music include:

• Straight No Chaser - A smooth-as-silk acapella group who graduated from college and went their separate ways, until their smash 8 MILLION YouTube views brought them to the attention of the CEO of Atlantic Records
• Sherrie Keys - Who sings with Revelation Choir at the 26,000 member West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, and whose first album (to be released next year) includes songs written by Michael McDonald, Marvin Winans and Al Green
• Doug Hammer - A gifted solo pianist who brings us 3 cuts, one of which is an original composition with a gorgeous lead vocal from a vocalist with the equally gorgeous name of Améthyste

Here are the latest songs added to the site:

• Doug Hammer: Carol of the Bells (traditional instrumental)
• Doug Hammer: Hark the Herald Angels Sing (traditional instrumental)
• Doug Hammer: It’s Christmas Time (contemporary vocal)
• The One Eyed Jacks: Merry Little Christmas To You Too (contemporary vocal)
• The One Eyed Jacks: Santa Claus Is Ready To Go (contemporary vocal)
• Sherrie Keys: What Child Is This? (traditional vocal)
• Straight No Chaser: Hark The Herald Angels Sing/Angels We Have Heard On High (traditional vocal)

These all deserve your attention, but in our humble opinion, that Sherrie Keys rendition of “What Child Is This?” has already joined our personal collection of annual Christmas favorites…wow!

Check ‘em out…with all the other great holiday music and music inspired by the season! “Where can I find all this great music?”, you ask?

Right here!!: Feels Like Christmas

Marla Lewis has been singing all her life (including an appearance on a national radio talent show at age 3!), started piano lessons at age 5 and wrote her first song at age 12. With such a rich musical childhood, it’s no wonder that she’s so heavily invested in music for children. She’s brought us FIVE songs this time from her first two albums, and you’re going to love them. Check out Jackson Avenue, Mighty Jackie The Strikeout Queen, My Room’s A Mess, Sambas Swaying in the Trees and We All Laugh in the Same Language.

M. Ryan Taylor has a little gift for children who observe Halloween with four fun, spooky tunes from his album Thirteen For Halloween. Check out Five Little Pumpkins, Skin and Bones, Unlikely Company and Welcome Said The Spider. 

Chuck Brown & The Chuckleberries has just made a major move: They’ve just made their ENTIRE first album available for free download, plus added an additional free never-before-released song. To download those, you’ll need to visit their website. But, to celebrate, they’ve brought us a very cute song to share with you. It’s called Galapagos…and it’s the story of someone who decided to vacation on the remote island…when they were rather better suited to a nearby theme park. Funny stuff…!

Conductor Jack is the kids music persona of Jack Norton, and he’s brought us a couple of delightful bluegrass pieces: Old MacDonald Had A Band and Uncle Noah’s Ark…from his album Toot! Toot! All Aboard.

Didi Pop is a character created by Deborah Poppink, who was a music teacher in Los Angeles for 15 years. From her album, DiDi PoP, she’s brought us 3 great songs to share with you: Feed The Pet, Look At Yourself in the Mirror and Yellow Car. 

Rock Daddy Rock’s debut album celebrates the everyday life of kids and their funny, gross and wonderful behaviors. Life lessons give each song an educational purpose or (as one mom said) “the chance to ponder behavioral issues without sounding moralistic”. From their first album Silly Short Songs for Silly Short People, they’ve brought us The Lecture, When You Grow Up and Your Room’s A Mess.

We decided to try something a little different this time. We were approached by the folks at Melodies About Me. They create personalized CDs for kids…you know, they kind where you get your child’s name sung as part of every song on the album. Unlike a lot of the customized stuff we’ve heard in the past, we enjoyed some of these songs a lot, like Dooby Dooby and especially Purple Sock Blues…and they liked the idea of giving away a couple of their songs. So you can take the poor-man’s route and just SING your child’s name every time the recorded name on the CD comes up…or you can visit their site and order your own customized CD. Fun!

Next up, Stephen DiRaffaele rolls in with 3 energetic tunes from his album, I Like Being A Kid: I Like Being a Kid, Candy Apples and Let’s Get Funky.

The Blankies is a cartoon band with songs for Pre-K and Kindergarden ages and their parents (or teachers) that like more sophisticated sounding children’s music. Four different singers and an eclectic variety of music styles keep the albums from being redundant. They’ve offered us 3 songs for download: Be Nice, Five Senses and Robot.

Kat Vellos has created Musiplication…dedicated to helping children who struggle with certain types of learning by employing other familiar tools, such as rhythm and music. She’s brought 2 songs: 5 on 5 and Double Dutch.

Here’s the story of Tot-a-Doodle-Do: co-producer Heidi Niehart had an idea for a television show that would incorporate follow-along activities for children and their parents. She approached her friend Penny L. Cohen, Speech & Language Pathologist who has worked with children for many years to see if she would be interested in co-producing the program. The two set out to develop a show that would entertain and educate toddlers and pre-schoolers. They’ve brought us two songs: Animals Everywhere and Transportation.

Maria Alley has created a music program for young children called Do Re Me and Maria. She’s brought us a song about ice cream called Calypso Chill.

Great music becomes at least part of the reason to move with Dancercise Kids. Check out their song Wonder.

As always, you’ll find ALL the songs referenced above on your ultimate source for free, legal music for children: FreeKidsMusic.com

You’ll find all three right here: Great Songs Free

Bruce Holmes sings with an easy comfort…as if he’s already been there and he doesn’t have anything left to prove. His lovely folk melodies accompany his simple messages of home and love and family…the stuff of life. He’s brought us 3 songs from his latest album, Life’s An Intelligence Test: Angels, Shine and We Were A Family, as well as the title track.

Charlie’s Root Fusion hails from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We were treated to an evening of their music recently and enjoyed their energy and superb chops as they presented their unique blend of Swamp Boogie, Chicago Blues, Memphis Blues and Rockabilly. We had a feeling you might enjoy some as well. Fortunately, they’ve given us their kind permission to share with you their tune, Hard-Pushin’ Papa.

“Where do I find these delightful downloads?”, you ask…why, that’s easy!

http://greatsongsfree.com

Gunnar Madsen is a hoot…this guy must be a lot of fun at parties! Awhile back, he brought us his song Ants in My Pants, which we loved…but, just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, he’s here again with Mozart and I’m Growing…both from this new album I’m Growing. It’s smart, sophisticated, vocally-adventurous music for kids. It’s simply impossible to groove with this stuff and complain about how lame kids music is in the same breath! You’ll find Gunnar’s music on the Artists M-N page.

Jeff Hunter has spent a life time writing singing and composing his original songs while mastering the acoustic guitar. Best known for his years with The Previously Lost Dogs playing their original folk fusion and producing five albums…and in Fourteen Strings with world-class violinist Denis English and renowned bass player Jack Grosse. But what bring him here is the release of his first children’s album called Elemenope (L-M-N-O-P). He’s sharing two songs with us: The Animal Train and Insects Are Everywhere. You’ll find Jeff’s music on the Artists E-H page.

The folk music of his native Canada, especially of the maritime provinces, made a strong impression on Owen Duggan at an early age. He loved the jaunty rhythms and lively tunes of Newfoundlander songs. He began singing and playing multiple instruments before he was 10. By the age of 12 he had recorded two long-playing albums of popular songs of folksingers like Burl Ives, the Irish Rovers and Tom Paxton. Later formal studies led Owen to a career in music education and church music and he currently resides in San Antonio, TX with his wife and two kids. His album An Elephant Never Forgets contains a really fun version of The Ants (Go Marching), which he’s brought to share with us this time. You find Owen’s music on the Artists C-D page.

The Dino 5 is a creation of the folks at Baby Loves Hip Hop. Hall-of-fame hip-hop producer Prince Paul has teamed with other successful MCs (Chali Tuna of Jurassic 5, Wordsworth, Lady Bug Mecca of Digable Planets and Scratch of Roots Crew). This funky musical journey tells the story of five best dino friends who come together to teach key life lessons and, of course, have a little fun! From their new album, they’ve brought us a sweet little groove called What About 10? You’ll find the music of Dino 5 on the Artists C-D page.

Mr. Steve (Steve Piperno) & Miss Katie (Katie Burtnick) hail from New Jersey…where he’s a professional musician and she teaches music at an elementary school. From their new album, Are You Ready? Here We Go!, they’ve brought to us a paean to politeness, Please and Thank You. And it looks like they are practicing what they preach. It appears that Mr. Steve has asked Miss Katie to “please” become Mrs. Katie (or Mrs. Steve…or something like that!) in the near future. You’ll find Steve & Katie’s music on the Artists M-N page.

Maureen Conlin is an early childhood music entertainer/educator from Phoenix. She’s a writier, lyricist and composer who is inspired by her young audiences.  She encourages children through her music to create, explore, experience and have fun.  She’s the owner of Happy Notes Music and has recorded four CDs, is a monthly contributor to Kids Celebrate Magazine and provides workshops for early childhood educators. From her album, Nature Notes, she’s sharing her song Ugly Buglies with us. You’ll find Maureen’s music on the Artists C-D page.

And…lastly, but certainly not leastly…we present something a bit different. We’ll call it “baby rock” for the moment. Matt Clark is father to a boy named Rowan. And he’s been inspired by his experiences in raising this lttle fella to write some songs which we found very catchy. They’re not slickly produced or anything… rather, they’re all fairly short and all well worth the time to download and listen. We’ll present two of them here (Top of the Stairs and Too Busy), but you’ll need to visit his website to check out the rest. Matt’s music can be found on the Artists C-D page.
 
To find ALL the above music, just visit FreeKidsMusic.com!

ChristianMPFree.com

Singer-songwriter has released Fred Haring has recorded 3 albums over the past ten years. He’s an incisive lyricist and his records feature top-shelf production values. Fred has shared the stage during his career with many artists and bands, including Sixpence None The Richer, Fastball, Wilco, Caedmon’s Call, Vigilantes of Love and Dan Baird (formerly of The Georgia Satellites…Dan also produced one of Fred’s albums).

And now, Fred has decided to make all his music available for free download. Visit his site at FredHaring.com and click on the album titles to find the download links. Enjoy!

SOLO PIANO MUSIC

I first met Richard Douglas Trowbridge Souther in 1975, when he was part of A Band Called David…who toured the country as the backup band for Christian rockers Barry McGuire and The Second Chaper of Acts (often accompanied by legendary guitarist Phil Keaggy). He was an in-demand session musician as well, and a pioneer in new age instrumental music (both solo piano and synth-driven). He performed and recorded under two different names…Richard Souther and Douglas Trowbridge…in order to connect with two different markets, recording for the Meadowlark/Sparrow and MCA/Narada labels. Now he’s reintegrated his split musical personalties to some degree, and uses his complete given name…and he’s sharing with us two beautiful solo piano compositions from his Memories of Twilight album: She’s Like The Circle and Mississippi Tears.

Those songs are available for download now at FreeSoloPiano.com

CHILDREN’S MUSIC

Meet…the Boogers (yeah, I didn’t pick the name, either!). These Chicago-based rockers are big fan of The Ramones…so they bring an energetic punkish sensibility to their music. Their energy is undeniable, and they’ve brought us two songs from their album Real Rock and Roll for Kids: I Don’t Need to Be Worried and This Song’s About Transportation.

Dave Taylor got started early, putting on musical/theatrical shows with his older brother Rick, utilizing Legos and household items as props. At 8, he started guitar lessons, but eventually drifted away from playing music until high school. Then, Dave and Rick reunited musically to collaborate once again. They formed a heavy metal outfit consisting of friends from school. In college, he played bass guitar in his brother’s Christian death metal band…but focused mainly on writing comedic songs. In his late 20s, he realized how much he loved playing music for kids…his nephews and nieces in particular. This was also when Dave realized that in a way, he had been writing and performing kids’ music all along. His new album is called Big Kids Up Front, and he’s sharing his song Big Brown Package with us.

Mr Chris and The Gassy Bubbles are a children’s/family rock & roll group from Toronto, Canada. Over the years, Mr Chris began to realize that more and more parents weren’t relating to the music their children were listening to. Many parents began complaining that their children’s music was ‘too cheesy’ to listen to on a regular basis…so he, as a children’s educator, decided that something had to be done. Along with the Gassy Bubbles, Mr Chris decided to create a different kind of children’s album…one that both parents and children could equally enjoy. The album is called Dance, Shake, Rattle & Roll, and they’re sharing Spider Song with us.

Mr. Willy (aka Willy Welch) is a children’s entertainer, picture book author and recording artist who brings his songs and stories (and sometimes puppets) to schools, churches, child care centers, preschools, hospitals, arts festivals, birthday parties, bookstores and store openings. He has written over 35 songs for Barney and Friends to sing, and is a songwriter for the new “Boz the Green Bear Next Door” DVD series. A graduate of the Boston University School for the Arts, Willy is probably best known for penning “Playing Right Field,” the heart-warming tale of an inept little-leaguer, which has been recorded and performed by over a dozen recording artists, most notably Peter, Paul & Mary…who recorded it for the third time in 1998. Willy’s new CD is called My Backyard, and he’s brought us his song It Comes Naturally.

The Musical Zoo hails from Chicago, and offers interactive music & dance classes for boys and girls aged 18 months to 7 years. They also celebrate birthdays and produce music and apparel for children. So, for today’s “show and tell” time in class…they’ve brought us the delightful Musical Zoo Theme from their Musical Zoo EP.

Last, but certainly not least…children’s singer/songwriter Shad Weathersby and children’s book author/illustrator Mike Artell have created a wonderful new album of music based around the rich traditions of Mardi Gras. They started writing songs for this project a couple years back, but then a lady named Katrina came to New Orleans and knocked things off track for a bit. Finally, last summer, they made it back to the studio to finish it up. The album is called Calling All Children to the Mardi Gras, and they’re sharing with us the title song and King Cake.

All these great kids songs are now available on FreeKidsMusic.com. Enjoy!

• The Darkest Night in December
• Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming (German version: “Es ist ien Ros”)
• What Child is This?

Enjoy them!

• Away in a Manger by Tim Neumark
• The Carols of My Heart by Mel White (beautiful vocal by Denise DiRenzo)
• Hark the Herald Angels Sing by Tim Neumark
• Love & Peace & Joy by Mel White
• Midnight Noel by Mel White
• A Quiet Joy by Mel White (another delightful vocal by Timothy Walton)

Enjoy this music and tell your friends as well…!!