The Laurie Berkner Band Blog

Special Weekend Announcement!

As many of you may know, Laurie recorded a new song for the Pajama Program's "Open Your Heart" campaign.

The song can be downloaded for free (Click Here) or listen here:

Click to Play "Open Your Heart"

Now, we want to see YOUR kids rocking out to the song in their pajamas!

  A screen shot from an "Open Your Heart" video of the kids from Northeast Cooperative Preschool during Pajama Day!

Want some dance move suggestions?  Have no fear - Lucy (Laurie's daughter) made up her own moves, which she will happily share.  To see them, check out the Valentine's Day webcast.  Otherwise, we'd love to see your very own moves!

How to enter:

1) Videotape your kids, family members, and friends dancing to "Open Your Heart" in their pajamas (please be sure it's playing in the background so we can sync it up!)  Length doesn't matter - you can do the whole song, or just a few seconds!

2) E-mail the file to us at [email protected].  If it's too big, simply upload your file to any file-sharing site.  We like Google Docs the best (just Google it!)

3) Be sure you send us a file (not a Facebook/YouTube video).  We need to be able to download it!

4) Submissions must be received by 3/12.

We can't WAIT to see what you send in!

The Olympics: Laurie's View

One of the sports I have been so drawn in by in these Olympic games is ice dancing.  I was surprised to find how moving I found Charlie White/Meryl Davis and Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir's performances both in the original dance and the free dance.  I was glued to the TV when they were on. 

When I first saw Davis and White do their original program that was inspired by traditional Indian dance I was thrilled and excited and was rooting so hard for them to win the gold.  They skate so well together and the dance was so unique and detailed and so awesomely fun to watch.

Then after some other competitors performed, I saw Virtue and Moir do their program.  It was so romantic, passionate and alive, and so skillfully skated. The depth of emotion that they conveyed with their bodies and the symmetry of their movements was mesmerizing.  I couldn't believe it, but their performance truly was even better than the other. 

I had the same experience watching these two couples skate their free dance programs.  Davis and White were amazing, and then Virture and Moir were even MORE amazing.  I found myself crying at the end of both of their performances.  And they are all teenagers in college.  So unbelievable.  (On top of it all, there were these incredibly cute videos shown of Davis and White skating together back when they were about 10 yrs old.)

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What has been YOUR favorite Olympic moment?

Green Office #1

We are in the process right now (among many other projects!) of "greening" our office.

What does that mean?

A few weeks ago, Laurie was approached by a company that specializes in helping people create an environmentally-friendly workspace. 

Yesterday, we met with Michele, our "green consultant".  She came to the office and we spent 2 hours looking at the ways we function as a business and as individuals. 

We were happy to hear that we are headed in the right direction with many of the decisions we are already making!

Some of the initial things we found that we can (and will) improve on are:

• Making sure all our light bulbs are CFL's (right now we have a few lamps that still have incandescent bulbs)  She encouraged us to keep looking for CFL's if we're not happy with the color of certain ones - they keep getting better everyday.
• Re-wiring our appliances so that non-essentials (including TV, DVD player, Cable box, CD player, etc) can be switched off via a power strip when not in use.
• Canceling ALL magazines, catalogs, and extraneous mail pieces.  This is particularly important for us because many companies automatically send catalogs when we order from them online.  How silly!
• Changing our filing system so that we have most of our documents as backed-up PDF's rather than hard (paper) copies.  This is going to be a big one for us!
• Keeping the windows open in the office - indoor air quality is SEVEN times more toxic than outdoor (even in NYC)!  Furniture/carpeting glues and construction materials contribute to a lot of indoor pollution. UGH!!
• Keeping plants in the office to help absorb CO2 and VOC's.  Ficus Trees are supposed to be good for this, among others. (Of course this would mean we'd have to actually WATER them on a regular basis... hmm...)
• Looking into using soy-based printer ink.  We're interested to see how the quality of these inks work for office use - we already print a lot of our postcards, and other printed materials with soy ink, but it's done professionally.
• Using green cat litter/food for Dora, the office cat.  There are a LOT of options for this.
• Ordering biodegradable balloons for our upcoming Birthday Party Concerts.
• Putting aerators on the faucets in our kitchen and bathroom sinks.  This reduces the amount of water that comes out of the faucet, but the water pressure stays the same.

The next step will be for us to receive a report on even more ways we can reduce our carbon footprint and get started on making these changes. 

More to follow!

My Family Montage - Video Blog

We asked our Facebook Fans to send us videos of themselves as they rock out to "My Family".  We LOVED this project and hope you enjoy the video!

Did you miss out on the fun?  Don't worry!  We currently have two similar projects happening right now that YOU can get involved in: 

1) We are doing a similar video montage and asking fans to send in videos of themselves rocking out to Laurie's new song, "Open Your Heart" that was written for the Pajama Program.  To get a FREE download of this song, Click Here! Then, send the video to [email protected] (subject line "Open Your Heart Montage").  The finished video montage will be featured on YouTube, here on the blog, on our Facebook Fanpage, and on other online sites.  Please send by Monday, March 1st!

2) Nick Jr. is asking you to send PICTURES (not videos) of your family - they could be featured in a Laurie Berkner video and seen on Nick Jr! Click Here to Submit! 

Can't wait to see what you send!

Planning our Birthday Parties

Just wanted to give you all a sneak peek of some of the cool things we are planning for our new Birthday Party Themed Concerts!

We are in the process of designing all new set pieces and props, including:

• A GIANT Birthday cake (made of foam)
• Several huge presents that we will assemble at the show.
• Some fun banners
• A few surprise additions to our backdrop

We love putting together this part of our shows - Laurie and the Two Tomatoes team have a lot of fun picking colors, coming up with creative ways to make props that can easily travel with us, and deciding on the most interesting items to make the show fun for YOU!

Here are some of the ACTUAL documents we are using to create the presents:

The color scheme and sizes of the presents

Sketch of the box construction

         

Panel blueprints                  Lid blueprints

We still have a lot of work to do to finish prepping for the birthday party theme concerts, but we're already really excited (plus, it will hopefully be a little easier to travel with cake and presents than all the luggage that made up the bed for our Pajama Parties!!)

Hope to see you at a show!

Pizza Friday!

Fridays Should Be For Pizza Making!

   Chef’s hat optional but highly encouraged!!  This is my adorable cousin, Everett (Evy)!

 

In my house growing up, Friday nights were devoted to making pizza and watching movies with the family. It’s easy, creative, fun, and DELICIOUS!

What you’ll need:

Pizza Dough (If you’re ambitious, you can make your own.  If not, buy some from your local bakery or pizzeria.  Whole Foods and Trader Joe's also carry it.)

Pizza Sauce

Shredded or fresh mozzarella cheese (fresh mozzarella is AMAZINGLY tasty, but this will require mom/dad slicing it up) 

Toppings of your choice

Flour

Butter, garlic powder, parmesan cheese, other seasoning (optional)

Cooking brush (optional)

Cookie cutters or other objects that can make shapes (optional)

Rolling pins

Pizza cutter (for grown-ups only!)

Spoons and bowls

 

Before You Start

Get your kitchen prepped for the pizza-making adventure by getting all your ingredients ready.  First, set the dough on the counter and place the cheese and sauce in separate bowls.  Then, Mom and/or Dad need to chop up all the toppings.  When the chopping is done, let the kids separate and place the ingredients into bowls. 

 

Let’s Go!

Give everyone their own ball of dough.  You can roll the dough, knead it, or throw it up into the air like a pizza-making superstar!  (Make sure to put some flour on the dough so it doesn’t stick to the counter or your hands.)

Once the dough it flattened, you can raise the edges up to create crust.  Or…you can use one of the cookie cutters to make shapes!  How about a dinosaur-shaped pizza?  Sounds good to me :)

 

Once you’ve got your shapes ready, everyone can take turns on the ingredient assembly line:

1.      Spoon some sauce

2.      Sprinkle on some cheese (if you’re using sliced fresh mozzarella, simply lay it on the dough)

3.      Toss on some toppings

 

For a fun ending, Mom and/or Dad can melt some butter in a bowl and brush it onto the pizza crust with the cooking brush.  Sprinkle on some garlic and parmesan cheese, and you’ll think you’re at your favorite pizzeria!

 

While the pizza is baking (use the appropriate temperature and time based on the size of your pizzas), get a movie ready!!  Once it’s done, enjoy!

-Carly Pichini, the Two Tomatoes Intern

And for those of you who are on a tight schedule, don't have pizza dough, or want a great lunch idea, check out the video blog below for quick and tasty English Muffin Pizza! (you can also do this with pita bread or bagels).

Song Origins

We recently held a Facebook contest and asked what you would like to see on this blog.

Lisa Silberblatt Massat asked:   

"What inspired some of the many great songs you've written? Their origins? Would be so fun and interesting to know!"

From Laurie:

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5 Days Old

I had made a guitar out of a soy milk box by cutting a hole in the front, wrapping 4 or 5 rubber bands around the outside (so they passed over the "sound hole" i had cut out) and taping a wooden spoon on the end for a neck.  Lucy had been playing with it (she was 2 or 3 at the time) and then handed it to me.  I started strumming the rubber band "strings" and the tones that came out were low and twangy.  I felt like I was playing a blues guitar on the Mississippi Delta (even though I really have no idea what that feels like!) and I started singing. The words that came out were those of the song "Five Days Old."  It felt so good to sing them that I left them exactly as they had come out that first time (although I changed the movements from "sitting here" to other things on the following verses).

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Fast and Slow

This song's development was quite different from 5 Days Old.  7 or 8  years ago, after I released "Under a Shady Tree" and before Lucy was born, I was thinking about writing a song cycle.  I wanted to write songs that all had a connected theme or that would tell a story, possibly as a part of a musical.  Fast and Slow was the first song I wrote.  I felt very aware that  I was grappling with my own tendency to race through life, and my desire to slow down and savor it more. (This hasn't changed that much over the years, I have to admit!)  I recorded myself on a cassette tape (I have so many ideas on little ten minute cassette tapes in a box somewhere) and the original words were different, as I recall.  I don't remember them exactly but I don't think the rabbit or the turtle existed yet.  There were just these two characters, Fast and Slow and I thought they would end up being the characters in a longer story.  Soon after, I got pregnant, and many of my creative musical ideas of the time were put on the back burner as I became absorbed in my life as a new parent.  When I finally started working on the songs for Rocketship Run, I remembered Fast and Slow and started to work on it again.  Writing more from a child's eye view, I wanted to make the characters Fast and Slow easier to visualize, so they became the Rabbit and the Turtle (or the Hare and the Tortoise, a nod to one of my favorite fables as a kid) and I started to rework the rest of the words and the shape of the song.  Some of the words hounded me right up until the end of making Rocketship.  I remember one day right before we started mixing, I knew I finally had to finish the lyrics so that I could record my vocals.  I was in the studio at Bob's apartment (where we recorded and mixed the CD) switching line around and trying out different words into the microphone.  I spent a really long time with "Crickets singing their sound, golden leaves on the ground."  I kept thinking, don't crickets have "sounds" not "sound?"  But "sounds" doesn't rhyme with "ground."  Does this make any sense??  Finally, all the different parts came together, I felt satisfied with what we decided, and the song began its life.

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Victor Vito

In the 90's I had been teaching music to pre-schoolers and I hired my first accountant.  His name was Fred Fishkin.  After a few years I decided to try someone new, his name was Vito and his company was Vasco Accounting.  Vito's full name was Vito Sclafani but for years I thought it was Vito Vasco because of his company name.  I used to joke about my accountants and their alliterative names.  I also was writing songs for the kids I was working with, often on my way to work.  The idea that their names would somehow make a good song was swimming around in my consciousness for a few years before I found myself playing with the words in my mouth during my walk from the subway to Rockefeller University (where I was the music specialist at their Child and Family Center) one day.  By the time I arrived at work, I had basically written Victor Vito in my head.   I tried it out with the kids that day and worried a little that the words Rutabagas and Collard Greens might not have been good choices for a kids' song, but they loved it.  Even the kids who said the words were hard still wanted to learn them.

You’re a Mover, You’re a Shaker, You’re An Instrument Maker!

I’ve always wondered--How can I combine my love of arts and crafts and my love of noise?  I think I may have found the answer...  I can MAKE my own instruments.  Follow these suggestions, and you and your child will certainly shake up a quiet afternoon!

-Carly the Intern

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The Shiniest Xylophone Player in the Neighborhood

What You’ll Need:

• Several empty glass bottles (be careful!)
• Water
• Two spoons or pencils
• Food coloring (optional)

Take the bottles, and place them in a line.  It is ideal if you have eight bottles because you can make scale!  ☺  Then, fill them up with different amounts of water.  Fill the bottle to your left up the most (it will make the lowest sound,) and continue filling the bottles up to the right (each getting less and less water.)  The bottle all the way to the right will have the least amount of water and will be the highest pitched.  You can use many different things as ‘mallets’ for your ‘xylophone’:  pencils and spoons work great. Gently strike the bottles with your spoons, and you’ll hear beautiful sounds!  Try adding food coloring to the water to make it look beautiful as well.

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The Star Snare Drummer of the Oatmeal Band

What you’ll need:

• Empty oatmeal container (cylindrical shaped)
• String/Yarn
• 2 spoons (you can also use 2 pencils and attach spools to the end)
• Construction paper
• Crayons, markers, feathers, beads, or other fun decorative items

This was my favorite thing to do as a little musician!  Wrap the construction paper around the oatmeal container and secure it with tape or glue.  Then, have a ball decorating it all over.
Next, use a pencil or pen to poke a hole in the center of the lid and the center of the bottom of the container.  Pull a long piece of yarn through these holes so that you can hang it around your child’s neck.  The drum should hang down to their waist.  Then, use the spoons or pencils/spools to play some tunes!

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Hey Mister Tambourine Kid, Play a Song for Me!

What you’ll need:

• Two aluminum pie tins or two sturdy paper plates
• Stapler and tape, or glue
• String
• Hole punch
• Jingle bells
• Crayons, markers, feathers, beads, or other fun decorative items

First of all, take the two pie tins and staple them together (please have an adult do this and cover the staples up with tape) or glue them.  Then, use a hole punch to poke holes around the tins.  Take a string, place a jingle bell on it, lace it through one of the holes, and tie it in a knot.  Do this for each hole.  Then, decorate the outside of your tambourine, and shake away!

If you don’t have jingle bells, don’t worry.  Alternatively, you can fill one of the pie tins with anything that makes noise (coins, pebbles, buttons, beads, etc.)  Then, attach the other tin and shake it up!

Thanks to Candy Johnson for suggesting this blog idea!

How the LBB Has Affected Others

Lauren Rua:  I'd love to hear/read about how your music has affected others (parents, children, etc) in a positive way throughout your tour in different locations. I know how it works for OUR family, but I'd love to hear from others across the country too! 

Thanks for writing, Lauren - here are some e-mails we've received (used with permission):

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My nephew came to live with my husband, 2 sons and I a year ago. We have worked hard to make him a part of our family but he has often told us that we are not his family and that Tracy (his birth mother, my sister) is his family.

He was only 3 1/2 when he came to live with us so we are confident that over time, he will come to say that we are his family. He already calls me Mommie and has said several times that our sons are his brothers. Tonight we were watching The Backyardigans and you video came on for "I'm so glad your in my family" and he was mesmerized. Even before the song was over, he was hugging me saying "your my family, I am your family." We danced and sang the song to each other (it's so nice that the words were easy to learn). The video came on two more times duing his tv time and we dance and sang both times. He had to go tell Uncle Rob that he was in his family.

Seemingly small, but huge to me and my husband. We love my nephew so much and have taken custody of him with all intentions of being the ones teaching him to drive, taking photos of graduation and meeting his first girlfriend. He is a permanent part of our life and having him say "your my family" is a huge step in his adjustment to his new home.

     

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Dear Ms. Berkner,

My son, wife and I are fans of your wonderful music. I am sure you are happy to learn when your art touches someone. Here is my little story to you.

I first heard your song "My Family" while watching Nick Jr with my son in the spring of 2009.  At the time, I was preparing to fly to Chicago to visit an old friend and caught your inspiring message of putting a person in your heart and they will become your family.  My friend and I had not spoken for over a decade and she reconnected with me because she had terminal lung cancer.  We were once a couple but grew apart when we both married others and had our own children.  

 After my return home to San Diego, she and I became great friends again and talked by phone weekly sharing stories about our families. She called me her good luck charm and believed that I gave her precious additional time to spend with her three children and her husband. 

 Towards the winter of 2009, she asked me for advice about additional treatment options because her present drugs were no longer working and she had exhausted most of her options.  I develop cancer therapies, so understood her situation. I wanted to tell her that it was time to give in to the disease because the options were very toxic and would give her almost no benefit. But I could sense that she was willing to endure anything for the sake of her family. She made it through Christmas and then was hospitalized in the New Year. 

Today, my dear friend died after a heroic fight. I listened to your song again and committed to keep my lost friend and her family in my heart. Your words echo within me. "Even if you're far away, or if I see you everyday.

When you're in my heart to stay, you're my family." Thank you for this message that gives me much comfort. Please continue to create your beautiful music for us all to enjoy and cherish.

Best regards from Mason

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From Ingrid Spies: 

 I am writing to you to say thank you for having part in saving my son’s life. My son was born with severe eating problems which lead to other health conditions.  When he would have his asthma breathing treatments we would watch Jack’s Big Music Show to get through them. 

Last summer he was hospitalized because he was not eating and was losing an once a day.  At the treatment center they asked me does he have a favorite show or some favorite music, because he just was not eating or gaining weight despite the feeding tube.  My first response was Jack’s Big Music show. 

So they started playing your CD during his feeding times and the miracle happened that he started to eat. Since then we play your CD each time he eats.  While we still have our days that we struggle and he might have to go back on tube feeding I would like to thank you for all that your music has done for our family.

 

Patrick and his mommy, Ingrid, meeting the band

 

Valentine's Day Webcast!

Check out the new Valentine's Day Webcast, starring Laurie, Adam, and Lucy!

Grab a snuggle and sing along!

(Click the picture below - you will be redirected to our website, where you can play the webcast!  Sign up for our mailing list to see outtakes and extras!)

For more information and a FREE download of "Open Your Heart", go to the Pajama Program website (www.pajamaprogram.org)