Jayme Thornton
Laurie berkner
Time magazine has lauded Laurie Berkner “a kind of sippy cup Sheryl Crow.” The Wall Street Journal called her “one of the most popular children’s performers in America.” People magazine called her “the queen of children’s music.” And The New York Times said she “is bigger than Justin Bieber if you happen to be four or five.” And luckily for kids and their parents, children’s music superstars and preschool television favorites The Laurie Berkner Band will be performing a series of Holiday Celebration concerts along the East Coast in December.
The concerts will include music from the critically acclaimed 2012 album, A Laurie Berkner Christmas. According to the Associated Press, “If you have kids under the age of five in your house, this is probably the only Christmas album you need this year.” The band will perform tracks such as Jingle Bells, Laurie’s original song Candy Cane Jane, and the Hanukkah song Candle Chase, among many more festive seasonal favorites. There also will be a few of the band’s hits from over the years.
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. While Berkner never planned to be a children’s performer, looking back on her career it almost seems inevitable. While growing up in Princeton, New Jersey, she was always involved in music, whether singing in choirs, playing in bands, or performing in musical theater. In high school and throughout college (at Rutgers University), Berkner toured Europe with several choirs and orchestras as a soloist and guitarist. After graduation, she worked at summer camps and then spent several years as a children’s music specialist at New York area preschool and day care centers. “When I’m writing a song, I’m thinking about whether the kids will like it and whether I’m going to connect to them through it. I’m also thinking about whether I want to sing it over and over again, so I guess that’s the part that connects with adults,” Berkner says.
Laurie Berkner’s first release, Whaddaya Think Of That?, came in 1997. Her second CD, Buzz Buzz, followed in 1998. The 1999 release of Victor Vito brought her first reviews in the national media, and The Laurie Berkner Band began performing live. Their national TV debut was in 2001 on the Today Show. Under A Shady Tree was the fourth studio CD in 2002. 2004 brought The Laurie Berkner Band to Nick Jr.’s Jack’s Big Music Show. In 2006, We are...The Laurie Berkner Band debuted. The DVD entered Billboard’s Top Music Video chart at #1, where it stayed for six weeks, and went quadruple platinum. 2008 saw the release of the long-awaited CD Rocketship Run. In 2010, there was the release of the CD compilation The Best Of The Laurie Berkner Band, followed by the DVD release of Nickelodeon’s Let’s Hear It for The Laurie Berkner Band! A new DVD of original songs, Party Day!, came in 2011. Fans were delighted with the 2012 album, A Laurie Berkner Christmas.
“2013 has been extremely rewarding. We had the debut of a new short-form animated musical preschool series, Sing It, Laurie!, on Sprout. I wrote the music for my first Off-Broadway musical, Wanda’s Monster. And now we working on a lullaby album, to be released in April. I will be recording some traditional lullabies that I remember from my childhood, a few of my earlier songs that I’ve reworked specifically for this album, and new lullabies. Since my own daughter Lucy was born, I have had a chance to sing lullabies to her every night. I rediscovered how special and intimate that time just before bed is, and experienced the strong connection and feeling of safety that songs can create as our children fall asleep,” Berkner says.
Mark your calendar for one of The Laurie Berkner Band’s 2013 Holiday Celebration Concerts. The band lineup features Laurie Berkner (vocals/guitar); Susie Lampert (keyboards); Brady Rymer (bass); and Bob Golden (drums/percussion). On December 1, they perform at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, Brookville, New York. December 7, see them at The Concert Hall, New York, New York. And on December 14, at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey. For information on tickets and VIP packages, visit www.laurieberkner.com. The Laurie Berkner Band also is on Faceboo