Exploring 'A World of Music': Toucan Jam to introduce first kids' CD at FPL

BY SARAH K. TERRY, NORTHWEST ARKANSAS TIMES
Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006

What better place for a hush-hush CD release party than a library?

Fayetteville musicians Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mulhollan, who have performed in area elementary schools for the past 11 years as Toucan Jam, will introduce their first CD for kids, "A World of Music," on Tuesday at the Fayetteville Public Library.

The pair say the event is a "secret" because they are planning a nationwide release in August with a publicist in Oregon, the same one who promotes another local duo, Trout Fishing in America. She gave the OK to release the album locally next week, so long as they kept things on the down low, they said.

In the past, Mulhollan and Stjerna have devoted most of their time to their adult project, folk band Still on the Hill, but with the new CD, they are venturing into the children's music market.

"This is a big transition for us, we hope," Mulhollan said, adding that they would like to break into children's radio, receive mention in parenting magazines and generate interest that could lead to booking children's shows across the country.

As for their Fayetteville release party, they have been hard at work creating a new show. Like their regular children's show, it will have an educational component, featuring instruments from around the world such as an oud from the Middle East, a didgeridoo from Australia and goat toenails, a South American noisemaker worn strung together around the ankle.

Also of interest to kids will be Mulhollan's "one-man-band contraption," which he built so he could play the bass drum and didgeridoo while clanging a pair of suspended industrial wrenches and rattling BBs in a tuna can. And Tizzy the Talking Toucan will make her debut, contributing jokes and transitional material between tunes.

Because the show will last only 45 minutes, they will not perform the entire CD. Among the selections will be "Hey Mom!," a laundry list of excuses kids come up with to dodge bedtime; "Changes," a musical adaptation of an American Indian legend about butterflies; "The Month Song," a memory aid for kids trying to learn the months of the year; and "Didgeridoo Song." Keith Grimwood, bassist for Trout Fishing, plays on four of the CD's tracks and will be at the release party as well.

A statewide contest took place among third- to fifth-graders to design the album's cover and drew hundreds of entries. The winner, Kristine Massengale, a third-grader at Butterfield Trail Elementary in Fayetteville, will receive $50 and a certificate at the show. Stjerna also created ribbons for second and third places, honorable mention, the Creativity Award, Most Colorful, the Jammin Toucan Award and the Youngest Artist Award.

The musicians said they took a backwards approach to making "A World of Music."

"We booked the library for the release party and then started recording," Mulhollan said.

"We imposed a deadline on ourselves and just powerhoused through it," Stjerna added. "Night and day, we were immersed in it."

They began recording in December at their in-house Termite Tracks studio. The 13 original songs are targeted toward kids in kindergarten through sixth grade, but were created with an awareness that parents could be trapped in a car with them, Stjerna said. In other words, they're kid-accessible but not cutesy, with catchy tunes, complex arrangements and lyrics that even adults might find humorous or interesting.

"We perform lots of stories and songs that are sophisticated," she said. "At first we worried they would be over the kids' heads, but we've found that kids don't need baby songs."

"Kids don't get enough credit," Mulhollan said. "They can comprehend anything."