Kindie rock facts for kids
Kindie rock is a style of children's music that “melds the sensibility of the singer-songwriter with themes aimed at kids under 10.” Many popular kindie rock artists first gained fame as adult performers, including Dan Zanes and They Might Be Giants. The term was first coined by Salon.com writer Scott Lamb in 2006, and has gained in popularity since. Although its original name implies a rock music style, kindie has never been purely rock music, instead encompassing innumerable musical styles. In recent years, artists have increasingly used the less specific term "kindie music" or "kindie." Playtime Playlist, a kindie directory website, notes that the term kindie “comes from merging of ‘Kid’ and ‘Independent’” and that kindie is differentiated from conventional children's music by the way that “artists are free to make music that comes straight from their heart and isn’t bound by commercial formulaic rules.” As pointed out by Stefan Shepard of the kindie music blog Zooglobble, kindie artists' primary aim is to make child-oriented music with the same care and thought as adult music. It is also defined by its opposition to "mainstream" or commercial children's music. Community is also an important part of the modern kindie scene, as exemplified by the biannual Kindiecomm conference and the yearly Hootenanny gathering.
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Genres
Although the term "kindie rock" seems to limit the music to the rock genre, there are kindie artists who work in an extremely large variety of musical styles, sometimes using numerous styles on a single album or release. Current or formerly active kindie musicians encompass many subgenres of rock, including roots rock, indie rock, metal, psychedelic rock, pop music, prog-rock, and punk. Other musical styles practiced by kindie musicians include electronica, experimental music, folk, hip hop, jazz, reggae, and soul, among others.
Community and industry organizations
A fixture of modern kindie music is its community-centered ethos, as evidenced by the great amount of collaborations between kindie artists. There are also three important organizations and conferences that serve to further the communal and collaborative aspect of the industry.
Kindiecomm
Begun as an annual conference, but since moved to a biennial status, Kindiecomm is one of the main conferences for kindie musicians and was formed by Kathy O'Connell and Robert Drake of WXPN's Kids Corner radio show in 2013 "to capture the camaraderie and creativity of our musical family, while sharing useful information in an intimate setting."
Children's Music Network
Predating the modern kindie movement, the Children's Music Network was founded in 1987 as a way of perpetuating and supporting children's music. In many ways, the industry support pioneered by the Children's Music Network has continued into the modern era.
Others
Although kindie as a named genre is centered in the United States, other countries and regions have similar national children's music associations and conferences, notably the Kiwi Kids Music association from New Zealand and Movimiento Canción Infantil Latinoamericana y Caribeña, a biannual meeting which gathers children's music artists from all over Latin America.
Media support
Blogs
The kindie movement has received much support from blogs based on reviewing and discussing kindie music, most notably Zooglobble, which was founded in 2002.
Radio shows and podcasts
There are numerous radio shows and podcasts that mainly feature kindie music, some of the most prominent of which are Kids Corner on WXPN in Philadelphia (which has been broadcasting since 1988 and has won the George Peabody Award), Spare the Rock on KUTX (broadcasting since 2005 and syndicated nationally) and the OWTK Kid's Music Monthly Podcast (since 2012).Most of the existing kindie-based radio shows and podcasts have a music-based freeform radio format, although some, like Kids Corner, adopt more of an education-based, variety show format. In addition, the majority of kindie radio shows are based in public or community radio stations, such as "Radio Active Kids" on Asheville FM in North Carolina and "The Children's Hour" on KUNM-FM in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which has been syndicated to hundreds of public radio stations in the United States, and airs globally through multiple streaming stations Other stations that predominantly feature kindie music include Sirius XM's Kids Place Live in the United States/Canada, which has several top kindie artists and their works on rotation, as well as other special features and programs, some of which are hosted by top kindie artists. There are also some online stations devoted to the genre, such as "WEE Nation Radio", which plays kindie music with a much broader worldview putting into focus family-friendly jazz, reggae, R&B, and world music that have been overlooked by other children's radio stations. In addition the station runs a podcast and a weekly show on WPFW in Washington DC with interviews and features highlighting the station's core artists and causes. Another podcast that celebrates the genre is "Ear Snacks", created by kindie artists Andrew & Polly, which puts out "Roadtrip Mixtape" selections of top kindie songs as well as an annual tribute to Grammy nominees in the Best Children's Album category featuring interviews with the year's nominated artists.
International kindie music
Although the majority of bands who call themselves "kindie" are from North America, there exists a large amount of kindie-esque music from around the world. If one looks solely at music that is created by non-anonymous musicians who use sophisticated musical styles, it is possible to view many artists from different cultures as fitting into the kindie realm. Most of the prominent kids' musicians from around the world use European-influenced music styles, although many artists from Latin America include locally influenced music as well.
Latin America
There are many different children's music scenes throughout Latin America, encompassing Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico, to name some of the most prominent. A notable feature of Latin American kindie music, unlike artists from the United States, Europe, or Oceania, is the prevalence of musical theater as a format for their concerts.
Oceania
Australia has a popular and internationally recognized kindie scene, although there are not as many artists in Australia as in other countries. There are also many artists from New Zealand, which are gaining international recognition in both hemispheres.
