Music for Kids of All Ages
What are the odds that two Washington and Lee alums who graduated six years apart would wind up creating albums of children’s music?
With the release of Why Does Gray Matter? … And Other Brainy Songs for Kids, Roger Day, of the Class of 1985, now has four albums. His latest features songs about the brain, and he describes the album this way on his website: “I’m pretty sure it’s the first recording session in Nashville to research Web MD for fact checks. One song is even co-written with a college friend who is a real-life neuropathologist. It’s the only kids’ song I know of that uses the terms ‘corpus callosum’ and ‘deep basal ganglia’ while referencing Ringo Starr.”
Now living in Franklin, Tenn., Roger was, of course, part of the W&L duo of Heinsohn and Day back in the day. But you really have to spend some time on his website to appreciate all the cool work he’s been doing. If you go to www.rogerday.com, you’ll be in for a real treat. You can listen to his music, including the new album, on Roger Radio, and watch videos of his performances on RogerTube. Of course, you could also buy his albums in his shop.
Meanwhile, William T. Avery, of the Class of 1991, has just released his second album of children’s music. It’s called Learning Buffet. and it’s a mix of stories and phonics drills in styles as varies as jazz, hip hop, funk, blues and pop. He composed music for two of the songs, “Trey and Lovely” and “# 1 Potion H2O,” during his undergraduate days, with the lyrics coming much later.
The new album, with 32 songs, follows his first album, Cool Songs Collection. He started writing children’s songs while teaching in Taiwan, and he credits Roger as one of his influences on the bio on his website, which is also a very cool place to explore. (He majored in computer science at W&L.) Go to YesSnack.com to read all about William’s work and to hear (and purchase) his albums. Meanwhile, you can listen “Love My Cat” below:
If you know any W&L alumni who would be great profile subjects, tell us about them! Nominate them for a web profile.
