The Laurie Berkner Band Blog

New Shows!

We have a bunch of new shows coming up this Summer/Fall!  Some are in celebration of our upcoming DVD release - you can pick up the new DVD, Party Day! at the merch table at any of the DVD Release Concerts - before they are available to the general public!

This coming Fall, we will be changing our concert theme to Animal Party - we can't wait for you to see the fun tricks we have up our sleeves for this one.

Sunday, June 5th at 2pm: West Long Branch, NJ (Birthday Party Concert!)

Friday, July 1st at 6pm: Kennett Square, PA

Saturday, July 16th at 11am: New York City (DVD Release Party!)

Saturday, July 23rd at 11am and 3pm: Tarrytown, NY (DVD Release Party!)

Sunday, August 7th at 2pm: Grand Prairie, TX (DVD Release Party!)

Saturday, September 17th at 11am: Baltimore, MD

 

Avocado and Chocolate

Laurie's two favorite foods are avocado and chocolate... so how lucky were we when Facebook fan Gail Lehman sent us these two recipes COMBINING the delicious duo!?

Jenn Cohen's Chocolate Mousse (Vegan, raw, gluten-free)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup pitted medjool dates, soaked.

1/4 cup agave nectar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 to 2 avocados, pitted

1/4 cup raw cocoa powder or more to taste

1/4 cup water

Place dates, agave necter & vanilla in food processor and process til smooth. Add avocado, cocoa and water & process til creamy. Refrigerate before serving.

Tach's Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients:

4 avocados

1/2 cup melted dark chocolate chips

1 Tbsp coconut or olive oil

Puree four avocados. Then add 1/2 cup of melted dark chocolate chips, using a small amount of coconut or olive oil to melt the chips. Mix the melted chocolate into the pureed avocados until well incorporated. Serve immediately (my personal favorite) or chill first. If you like, you can sprinkle with hemp seed (for extra protein) before serving.

 

Thanks, Gail, for sharing!

"Best Of The Laurie Berkner Band" on Amazon

We were excited to learn from one of our Facebook fans that Amazon is doing a sale of "The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band" MP3's for just $5!  What a fun surprise!

Click here to check it out, or just go to Amazon.com and search for "Laurie Berkner Band" and "Best of"

 
Here is the song list (click on the songs for lyrics):

1. Bumblebee (Buzz Buzz)
2. Rocketship Run
3. Victor Vito
4. We Are the Dinosaurs
5. I'm Gonna Catch You
6. Moon Moon Moon
7. Pig on her Head
8. Fast and Slow (The Rabbit and the Turtle)
9. I'm Not Perfect
10. I Really Love To Dance
11. BOOTS
12. Five Days Old
13. The Goldfish
14. Monster Boogie
15. Song in My Tummy
16. I Know a Chicken
17. Under a Shady Tree
18. Pig on Her Head (alternate version)
19. Moon Moon Moon (alternate version)
20. Open Your Heart (new song!)

Love those unexpected deals :)

Healthy Recipes

Here are some great recipes from our fans that are both sustainable and healthy!

Adam Cohen
Healthy Strawberry Crisp

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon all spice
3/4 cup sugar
egg substitute for 1 egg
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 cup soy milk
20 strawberries
1/4 cup walnuts

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix sugar & apple sauce.
Add in egg replacer.
Add & mix in soy milk.
In a separate bowl sift together dry ingredients.
Mix wet & dry ingredients together.
Fold in strawberries.
Grease a pan & pour mixture in and sprinkle crushed walnuts on top.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes.

Tastes a bit like Kellogg’s Special K With red berries!

Preparation time: 20-30 minutes


Christine Kreitler Euker
During the summer we all LOVE going out to the garden to get a bunch of fresh veggies and some fruit. Then we make all kinds of creative things out of the veggies and fruit for snacks. Like for the Woodstock anniversary, we made peace signs and music notes with veggies and then had them for a picnic lunch. It's great because my daughter who is 2 helps us plant them, water them and then pick and eat them! What a great JOB well done!!

Sue Cowlbeck Kloetzer
Fruit Yogurt Push ups!

We have reusable push up pops, but regular reusable Popsicle trays work great too!

Stuff your favorite fruits into the bottom, middle or even at the end of the container and fill with any flavor low fat yogurt. Pop it in the freezer for a few hours for an amazing tasty summer treat!... Read More

Fresh blueberries and Strawberries from our local farmer's market is a huge hit, along with peaches in our house!

Helga McCullough
Every morning, my 5 year old and 2 year old go out to the coop and collect chicken and duck eggs. We then hard boil them for snacks or cook them for breakfast or use them in recipes. We love knowing all our eggs come from free-range, happy, healthy chickens and ducks. They are part of the family :)

Kristen Dellasega
we also let the kids pick strawberries from the local strawberry patch and then whirl 'em up with the hand blender and add to fresh water and lemon juice for a low sugar strawberry lemonade...so easy and delish!

Gina Wilhelm Bittner
When we plant our garden, we section off part of it for our son. He chooses what to plant, where to plant it, etc. and then he weeds and waters 'his garden' all summer. When his crops are ready to harvest, he goes out to choose what veggie we should have for supper and brings it in himself...sure makes a five year old LOVE vegetables and makes for many proud moments!

Excited for Kindiefest!

We are very much looking forward to this weekend's Kindiefest, which is being held in Brooklyn!

Laurie and publicist Sarah Rosen will be speaking on 3 different panels at Saturday's festival, and we can't wait to hear what other artists and "kindustry" people have to say!  It should be very fun to learn about some new ideas and better ways to get great music out there!

We will keep you updated about what we learned while there!

In other news, we are still hard at work on our new DVD, Party Day!, which will be released this summer.  It includes some great new songs, some old favorites, and lots of new videos to help you get up, dance, and play along!

 

 

 

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day, everyone! 

We are thrilled to celebrate our wonderful Earth today (and everyday!)

One of the great things about being a kid is all the fun things you can do to help the environment AND have a great time doing it.

Here are some fun, Earth-friendly activities:

1) Go for a walk and pick up litter.  Don't forget to sort between recyclable material and landfill garbage - you can even drop off compostable things at your local compost drop-off! You can play games while you do it, too - try "I Spy" or see who can pick up the most litter!

2) Make an eco-friendly snack. Go to your local Farmer's Market and pick out local and organic foods, then go home and start cookin'. 

3) Use those old bottles or egg cartons to make planters! First, get some seeds (we like Seeds of Change). If you're using a plastic soda bottle, have a grownup help cut the top off so you are left with the bottom 5-6". Next, decorate your bottle bottom with such recycled things as cardboard from cereal boxes (color or paint it!), pieces of cloth from old clothing, pictures from magazines or catalogues, etc. Poke small holes in the bottom.  Then, fill your planter with dirt and plant your seeds! Egg cartons make excellent herb gardens :)

4) Have old CD's and records lying around?  Make this clock!

5) Take some time to talk about nature, why it's important, why we are thankful for it, and ways we can help make it strong and healthy.  Read books, tell stories, and think about what would life be like without trees and nature. It feels good to give thanks!

6) Listen to this song!

Can You Imagine?

7) Next time you want to buy a toy, think about going home and making one, instead!  It's really fun to figure out what you love about a toy, and then recreate it for yourself. You can make trucks out of toilet paper rolls and dolls out of old clothing.

8) Reuse old baby food jars to make beautiful candle holders for your home or gifts!

Enjoy, and let us know what you do today!

West Long Branch, NJ Show!

We will be coming to West Long Branch, NJ on June 5th for our very last Birthday Party Themed Concert!

Join Laurie, Susie, Adam, and Bobby as they party with animals on their heads - plus, they'll be playing some new songs from our brand new DVD, Party Day, which will be released this summer!

For more information and to purchase tickets, check out this link.

We hope to see you there!

(Can't make it?  Here's a list of the other shows we have scheduled, and we have many more to come!):

Saturday May 21, 2011
Live in Wilkes Barre, PA
Kirby Center, 2:00pm


Friday July 1, 2011
Live in Kennett Square, PA
Longwood Gardens, 6:00pm 


Saturday September 17, 2011
Live in Baltimore, MD
Pier Six Pavilion, 11:00am 


Saturday September 24, 2011
Live in Canton, MA
Life is Good festival


Sunday September 25, 2011
Live in Canton, MA
Life is Good festival

Love Me For Who I Am - Congratulations, Brady!

All of us here at Two Tomatoes Records and the Laurie Berkner Band want to congratulate Grammy-nominated family music artist Brady Rymer on his new CD, "Love Me for Who I Am", that celebrates and honors kids of all abilities - particularly those on the autism spectrum. The The 10-song album was released this past Tuesday!

This is a subject very close to all of our hearts here at the LBB. We receive a lot of e-mails about our autistic fans whose lives have been touched by music in a unique and beautiful way. For this reason, Laurie felt very drawn to this project and is thrilled to have had to opportunity to contribute.

Laurie is featured as a guest vocalist on the song, "Soft Things".

Brady was inspired to create the CD through his work with the Celebrate the Children School in New Jersey, and he hopes "the songs will invite a deeper understanding and appreciation of children with autism and other related conditions". Songs such as, "Picky Eater", "Who Wants to Wear Shoes?", "I Don't Like Change", and "Tune Out" all refer to the experience of a child with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome, but the lyrics ring true for everyone.

Laurie greatly enjoyed recording and collaborating with Brady on this track, especially since her daughter, Lucy, is a big fan of Brady's music The title track, "Love Me for Who I Am", can be downloaded now - preview or purchase it by clicking here.

Lullaby CD

We get a lot of requests from fans for a lullaby CD.  As of now, we're working on some other great things, so a lullaby CD isn't in the very close future.  However, we thought we would compile a list of lullaby-CD worthy songs that you can make yourself!

See the bottom of this post for info on making your own CD.

 

If you click on any song, it will link to the song on the iTunes store in case you don't have a CD!

Rocketship Run:

1) My Blue Sailboat

2) Winter Lullaby*

3) Nona*

4) Fly Me To The Moon

Under a Shady Tree: 

5) Mahalo

6) After it Rains*

Victor Vito:

7) Moon Moon Moon*

8) The Story of My Feelings

9) Goodnight*

10) White Coral Bells*

Whaddaya Think of That:

11) What Falls in the Fall?

12) These are my Glasses

13) I Love My Rooster

14) All the Pretty Little Horses

15) The Great Big Dog*

16) 123

Buzz Buzz:

17) In The Clouds

Make a CD using iTunes!

1) Load all the songs you are interested in into iTunes.

2) Create a playlist by clicking the bottom left corner's "+" - name the playlist ("Laurie Berkner Lullaby") by double clicking on it.

3) Click on "Music" and drag all your desired songs onto the playlist name

4) When you've finished dragging, arrange your songs within the playlist (we suggest putting the songs with *'s at the beginning and end)

5) Once you're satisfied with the order (ask your kids for help!), insert a blank CD and click "Burn Disk" at the bottom right of your playlist page.  (See photo above)

6) Burn the CD, label it, and enjoy!  Make sure you recycle old jewel cases for your new CD!

Fun Upcoming Things!

Don't forget to join us tonight for a musical adventure with Laurie and Bobby! The new webcast airs at 8pm EST on our website! Click Here

Can't watch tonight?  Don't worry!  It'll stay on our site forever :)

We're also very excited to go to the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania this Saturday for another Birthday Party Concert.  We'll be at the State Theatre in Easton at 2pm.  Tickets are still available!

We'll only be doing Birthday Party Concerts for a couple more shows!

And don't forget to stay tuned for more information about our upcoming Party Day! DVD, set to be released this summer.