Given a typical CD of children’s music, many parents are ready to toss it, pull their hair out—or both—after just an hour or two. But roots rocker Randy Kaplan offers parents a welcome break from the monotony of so many children’s albums. Drawing inspiration from blues, folk, alternative and pop, Kaplan boasts a musical repertoire that adults will love as much their kids do. Between the records his father kept from the old record shop he owned and his mother’s expansive Elvis Presley collection, music was always a big part of Kaplan’s life.
His Long Island childhood was influenced by rock, pop, folk and Broadway musicals. “My mother brought us to see [singer/songwriter] Harry Chapin all the time—to the point where we would go backstage and talk with him and meet him,” Kaplan says.
He began playing music at age 10, and by junior high, he had his own band. As a professional musician, Kaplan had already produced several adult records when he agreed to play for a Beansprouts Nursery School class in Brooklyn at the request of his girlfriend. The teacher liked it so much she suggested he apply to teach music at the school. Kaplan auditioned, playing some of his old folk songs and changing the words to make it kid-friendly.
“They hired me, and it turned out to be great; I totally loved it,” Kaplan says.
From there, Kaplan’s children’s music career took off. His album “Loquat Rooftop” was included in National Public Radio’s list of Top Ten Children’s albums of 2008, and his music continues to be recognized by publications like New York Magazine and Time Out. As someone with experience in both adult and children’s music, Kaplan appreciates a key difference between the two genres.
“Kids are so honest, and they’re so real and present that you have a more immediate link with your audience than with adults,” he says.
He notes that music plays an integral role in children’s intellectual and emotional development; after all, kids often sing as they play. Many of Kaplan’s songs, like “Clothes Dryer,” are inspired by his life experiences.
“I used to walk my ex-girlfriend’s son, Joe, to school every day, and right next door was this laundromat,” he says. “I would pretend to be sending him into the laundromat and I’d say, ‘You’re going to laundry school today, I’ll see you later!’”
Other tunes were improvised while he was teaching classes at Beansprouts Nursery School, like “No Nothing”—a song about a cat named “Muffin,” a cat named “Nothing” and a Monkey named “Kqxhc.” Kaplan’s latest album,
“The Kids Are All Id,” will be released this month, and should be a fresh dose of brassy, folksy fun for moms, dads and kids alike: “This album, even more than the other two, succeeds in speaking to both adults and children,” Kaplan says.
For more info, visit randykaplan.com.
Kaplan In Concert
Randy Kaplan’s live shows are always full of fun surprises—in addition to playing original songs, he’s been known to spontaneously burst out in timeless Broadway numbers and Delta Blues tunes! Catch Kaplan at a free outdoor concert in Carroll Park on July 18. President Street and Smith Street, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
