by Christina Refford | Entertainment + Media
I’m not always on the cutting edge of technology, something that was evident when I said to my husband, hey, you should check out this Pandora web site! It streams music to your computer or iphone, and it’s really cool!, and he looked at me with pity....
by Christina Refford | Entertainment + Media
I thought I was past the whole need-for-a-lullaby thing until my five year old started whispering I’m Scared into my ear every night at 2AM. Now, I think he needs a little Charlie Hope crooning into his ear from her World of Dreams CD, to help chill him out...
by Christina Refford | Entertainment + Media
There are days when I feel like a constant killjoy to my kids, but just as our day is flushing down the proverbial toilet, I try to remember one thing that can usually turn things around: Fun music that knocks our socks off. Our latest mood-changer is the ever-peppy,...
by Cool Mom Team | Entertainment + Media, Kids
We’ve been unabashed fans of the talented and adorable A Cappella group, Straight No Chaser, ever since their unbelievable rendition of 12 Days of Christmas made the YouTube rounds a few years back. (You know, the one with Toto’s Africa mixed in?) So when...
by Christina Refford | Entertainment + Media
I know some purists who think kids’ music education should focus only on the “classics,” and, thanks to Rock Band and Guitar Hero, we’ve got that down. But, you don’t need to hear my 7 year-old warbling Barracuda to know that...
by Christina Refford | Entertainment + Media
I’ve come across two CDs from musicians who usually perform for adults, but have recently turned their collective talent toward the music for the younger set. Using distinct voices, a whole slew of instruments and music grounded in folk, country and...
by Christina Refford | Entertainment + Media
One of the best ways I’ve found to get a message to stick with my kids is through music, and the new CD My Changing Planet has us appreciating the specialness of our planet a little more this Earth Day. Like a save-the-earth version of Free to Be You and Me, My...
by Christina Refford | Entertainment + Media
More predictable kids’ music CD’s throw in a few songs about cuddly toys, naptime and making friends. Kindie-rock darling Uncle Rock croons instead about his friend Bigfoot, staying up the night the lights went out, and a big garbage barge on his new...
by Christina Refford | Entertainment + Media
As Cool Mom Picks’ de facto kids’ music reviewer, I’m as big a fan of indie, family-friendly music as even the fans who are oh, 30-35 years younger than I am. But, that’s not going to stop me from pogoing around the Kindiefest Festival on...
by Christina Refford | Entertainment + Media
I’ve never been much of a jazz fan, maybe because it conjures up images of being stuck in a smokey bar during an endless amatuer improv-and-scat sessions. But, I have to admit that when packaged into bite-sized, three-minutes-and-under portions on Putumayo...
