The Laurie Berkner Band Blog

Check out what we did!

The making of our new Candy Cane Jane video

Producing a music video is a big job.  It takes lots of people, lots of time, and lots of money to make just one video (let alone an entire DVD!)  Laurie's label, Two Tomatoes Records, is a small company working out of a one-bedroom apt on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. We have always needed the help of partners like our distribution record label (Razor and Tie) and other companies we’ve worked with in the past (Nick Jr., Seventh Generation) in order to produce and make these videos available to you.

Recently though, after countless requests for more from so many of you (that makes us very happy to hear!) we decided to take matters into our own hands and produce our own music video IN HOUSE.
 
Laurie wanted to put out something fun for the holidays, and since she already had the holiday song “Candy Cane Jane” on the Rocketship Run CD she had an idea…why not make this our first animated holiday video?!
 
So over the past month, our three-person office here at Two Tomatoes Records jumped into the pool of production school (the internet) and learned all about producing an animated music video.  We felt just like the little engine that could... or the little Tomatoes that could.
 
Here’s what we learned it takes to make an animated music video:
 
1.    Help from our friends:  David Stott over at Match Productions volunteered his time to help Shannon in the office in finding the right illustrator and animator (see below for more information on these great people).  He also oversaw the video production from start to finish.

2.    Patience: Candy Cane Jane and Gum Drop Joe went through many stages before we got them just right.

3.    Finding talent close to home: We recorded Shannon doing some dance moves that became Candy Cane Jane’s dance moves in the video.

4.    Teamwork: We all worked together to watch the various versions of the video as it came to life and made sure that Candy Cane Lane was a fun place!

5.    Help from our marketing and online office Tomatoes: to make sure our fans knew about the video (grassroots style, of course).

6.    Help from our fans: Now that the video is out we’ve been working to let all of our fans know about it.  Through Facebook, email blasts, our website and more we’ve been finding new ways to reach out and get the video to all of you for the holiday season!  You can see it on YouTube and download it on iTunes.


Special Thanks…
 
Our animator, David Gregg, was amazing!  And illustrator, Nancy Lee, (who also did some of the illustrations on the Party Day DVD) stepped up to create the looks for Candy Cane Jane and Gum Drop Joe. Here at the office, we had a great time seeing the different stages of our loveable characters and watching it all come together.  Who says you need a big production company to make things happen?

Here’s hoping we can do it again very soon and keep bringing you fun videos to enjoy with the entire family.

From all of us to all of you, happy holidays!

(Katie, Corinne and Shannon in the Two Tomatoes Office working on Candy Cane Jane.)

NOOK Party Day Press Release!

 

 

 

For Immediate Release                           November 29, 2011

LAURIE BERKNER AND BARNES & NOBLE

ARE CELEBRATING!

 

Announcing Party Day By Bestselling Children’s Recording Artist  Laurie Berkner, Barnes & Noble’s First Original NOOK Kids™

Read and Play^™ NOOK Kids™ Book

 

Available Exclusively on Barnes & Noble’s NOOK Color™ and

NOOK Tablet™ Starting December 15^th, 2011 

“The queen of kids’ music.” – People Magazine

 

 

When one little ladybug calls up a banana slug, a cucumber beetle and an ant, you know it’s going to be a Party Day!

 

Superstar children's recording artist Laurie Berkner’s joyous song comes to life in Party Day, an interactive musical adventure eBook available exclusively on Barnes & Noble’s NOOK Color and NOOK Tablet, due out December 15th (you can pre-order today and the book will be delivered automatically to your NOOK on the 15th).  The NOOK Book™ is based on the title track from The Laurie Berkner Band’s new DVD, Party Day! (Two Tomatoes Records/Razor & Tie) which entered the Billboard Top Music Videos chart at #1 when it debuted this summer.  Party Day is both NOOK Kids’ and Laurie’s first-ever original NOOK Kids Read and Play™ book, featuring animation and interactive games.

 

In Party Day, a merry bunch of insects get together for an all-day beach jamboree.  They play instruments, dance, build sand castles, tell stories and watch the waves until the sun goes down.  Laurie's simple lyrics and infectious melody, together with vividly-hued illustrations by Julia Woolf capture the childhood feeling of never wanting a perfect day to end. 

 

On NOOK Color’s and NOOK Tablet’s touchscreens, even very young children can use their fingers to play music and animations, as well as participate in six fun “drag and drop” and “find and touch” activities.  The full song with lyrics is included.  Party Day is available via Barnes & Noble’s NOOK Tablet and NOOK Color and www.NOOKKids.com (NOOK Book price $9.99).

 

“We’re thrilled that we got a chance to work with Laurie to adapt her infectious and fun song ‘Party Day’ into an interactive NOOK Kids book.  Kids and adults everywhere will be singing along as they read and play!” said Wendy P. Bronfin, Senior Director of Digital Product Management, for Barnes & Noble.

 

The Laurie Berkner Band has received tremendous critical acclaim.  Time Magazine lauded Laurie as “a kind of sippy-cup Sheryl Crow…Berkner inhabits a kid’s curious perspective in her lyrics and pens folk-pop melodies that bear repeated – very repeated – listenings.”  The Wall Street Journal called Laurie “one of the most popular children’s performers in America … Her music is distinctive because it speaks to kids without talking down to them, charming youngsters without boring grown-ups.”  Stefan Shepherd, NPR contributor and editor of the leading kids’ music news website Zooglobble.com, describes Laurie as being “without a doubt the brightest female star in kids music (and quite possibly the biggest star, period).”

 

A former preschool music teacher by day and indie rocker by night, Laurie Berkner started selling her music over ten years ago out of her living room on her own label, Two Tomatoes Records.  Laurie was the first artist to ever appear in music videos on Nick Jr., Nickelodeon’s 24-hour educational, commercial-free preschool network, and is featured in nearly all episodes of the channel’s Jack’s Big Music Show.

 

 

For more information on The Laurie Berkner Band, including upcoming tour dates,

contact [email protected]

 

 

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), the world's largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 704 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, also operates 635 college bookstores serving over 4.6 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States.  Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through BN.com (www.bn.com), one of the Web's largest e-commerce sites, which also features more than two million titles in its NOOK Bookstore^™ (www.bn.com/ebooks). Through Barnes & Noble’s NOOK^® eReading product offering, customers can buy and read digital books and content on the widest range of platforms, including NOOK devices, partner company products, and the most popular mobile and computing devices using free NOOK software.   General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company's corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

 

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Black Friday Blowout!

Beat the Clock On Friday!
The earlier you order, the more you save!

12 - 4AM ET get 30% off!
4 - 9AM ET get 25% off!
9AM - 2PM ET get 20% off!
2 - 7PM ET get 15% off!
7 - 11:59PM ET get 10% off!

Be sure to check back for discounts happening though the end of the year!
http://twotomatoes.shop.musictoday.com

Thanksgiving Prep!

Happy Thanksgiving!  We wanted to share this song with you so you can start getting into the holiday spirit! (Click to play)

 

(I'm Gonna Eat) On Thanksgiving Day

 

You can also purchase this song for download for $.99: Click here

And for another fun holiday activity while you're getting ready for winter, check out the great Candy Cane Jane coloring pages on our website - just download them, print them off, and color away! Click the image below.