Alastair Moock and The Rowdy Roots

Artist Information

Biography

Collaboration has always been at the heart of Alastair Moock's music career. On These Are My Friends, his seventh album and second specifically for kids and families, Moock puts collaboration center stage. The album features several of Moock's old friends from the Boston folk scene, including Lori McKenna, Kris Delmhorst, Mark Erelli, Jennifer Kimball, and Rose Polenzani; some newer friends from the family music world, including Rani Arbo, Anand Nayak, and Vanessa Trien; plus his wife, author Jane Roper, and twin four-year-old girls, Elsa and Clio.

These Are My Friends follows Moock's award-winning family music debut, A Cow Says Moock. That album won a 2010 NAPPA Gold Award, a Parents' Choice "Recommended" Award, and was a Boston Children's Music Favorite Album of the Year.

Like Pete Seeger and others from an earlier generation of folk music, Moock makes little distinction between his own songs and cover material. For him, it's all part of a continuum — a collaboration between the old and the new. Interspersed with the ten originals on These Are My Friends are songs like "Mail Myself to You" (by Woody Guthrie), "Green Green Rocky Road" (traditional, associated with Dave Van Ronk), "Yes Indeed" (by Sy Oliver, made famous by Ray Charles), and "Ladybugs' Picnic" (from Sesame Street).

Unfortunately, Moock can’t bring all the fantastic musicians who helped make These Are My Friends with him on the road. But with his Rowdy Roots band, he brings the spirit and sound of collaboration to family audiences wherever he goes.

Instrumentation

Paul Kochanski - Bass
Jamie Walker - Guitar / Mandolin

Discography

These Are My Friends (2011)
A Cow Says Moock (2010)

Official Website

http://www.moockmusic.com

Links

• Facebook

Audio

• These Are My Friends
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• Ladybugs' Picnic (feat. Mark Erelli)
  Listen  
• Born To Dance (feat. Anand Nayak)
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• Belly Buttons
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• A Cow Says Moo
  Listen  

Lyrics

• These Are My Friends
• Born to Dance
• Bellybuttons
• A Cow Says Moo

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• The Boston Herald: Live Review [+ Show ]
  

  "Singer Alastair Moock’s live show is half Appalachian hootenanny, half honky-tonk jam session. It’s..."Singer Alastair Moock’s live show is half Appalachian hootenanny, half honky-tonk jam session. It’s also totally kid-friendly. Moock’s trio blazed through guitar solos, banjo breakdowns and songs about the ABCs at a Saturday morning show at the Regent Theatre in Arlington. But unlike such insipid mainstream mainstays as Barney and the Wiggles, Moock’s music has an indie sensibility hip parents dig."

• NAPPA Gold Award [+ Show ]
  

  "Moock’s wonderful knack for filling catchy ditties with humorous lyrics will bring a smile to your ..."Moock’s wonderful knack for filling catchy ditties with humorous lyrics will bring a smile to your face... His backwards alphabet/nursery rhyme mash-up 'CBAs And A Twinkle Baa' is award-worthy on its own."

• Time Out New York: Best Kids' Albums of 2011 (Honorable Mention) [+ Show ]
  

  "A musical descendant of Woody Guthrie, Moock refreshes the classic brand of acoustic folk with a za..."A musical descendant of Woody Guthrie, Moock refreshes the classic brand of acoustic folk with a zany sense of humor as seen on songs about a mixed-up alphabet ('CBAs'), being a curious toddler ('Three Like Me') and harvesting your own veggie garden ('Didn’t Know What I Was Missing')."

• 2011 Mr. Dad Seal of Approval [+ Show ]
  

  "Children's musicians have a tough job: they have to produce songs that can keep kids entertained wi..."Children's musicians have a tough job: they have to produce songs that can keep kids entertained without putting the parents to sleep or making them run screaming out of the room. Alastair Moock's second family music release strikes the perfect balance. The lyrics are fun for the kids, the music is sophisticated to keep dad engaged, and the combination will get both generations up off the couch and dancing."

• Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child: Best of 2011 [+ Show ]
  

  "Alastair Moock's CD is the musical equivalent of a big semi-raucous family reunion — people laughin..."Alastair Moock's CD is the musical equivalent of a big semi-raucous family reunion — people laughing, singing, and, above all, having fun. The persistent sense of joy can sometimes make it so you don't notice that, musically, it's about as good as family music gets, with killer guest artists and Moock's rich voice as the rock-solid center."

• Zooglobble [+ Show ]
  

  "On These Are My Friends, Alastair Moock provides fresh folk for fresh folk, a worthy 21st-century s..."On These Are My Friends, Alastair Moock provides fresh folk for fresh folk, a worthy 21st-century successor to Woody Guthrie's music. It's a solid album Woody would dig. Recommended."

• Out With the Kids [+ Show ]
  

  "As welcoming as a big old bear hug, as comfortable as your grandma's hand-me-down quilt, and as mem..."As welcoming as a big old bear hug, as comfortable as your grandma's hand-me-down quilt, and as memorable as the smell of freshly baked cookies, These Are My Friends is handcrafted American roots music sharply focused on the wonderment of early childhood... I love this album."

• Scott Alarik [+ Show ]
  

  "These real-life family songs are as sweetly satisfying as a mouthful of caramel, sung in an affable..."These real-life family songs are as sweetly satisfying as a mouthful of caramel, sung in an affable leap-froggy baritone, but they’re not confections. They examine the real struggles of childhood, nighttime fears, drowsy mornings, grown-ups who don’t get it and the quest for who we really are in this world, as crucial at six as it is at sixty."

• Moock Hits the Mark Every Time [+ Show ]
  

  "The seven original tunes and four covers are right up Moock's alley — folksy ditties that tell a st..."The seven original tunes and four covers are right up Moock's alley — folksy ditties that tell a story or describe a feeling via his gravelly voice with laid-back accompaniment. The backup band and vocalists add just the right finishing touch, whether in the form of a harmonious chorus, lap steel guitar, harmonica solo, or solo guitar picking... Moock hits the mark every time with this one."

Setlist

Moock performs his own witty, tongue-twisting tunes, as well as fun covers by folk/blues heroes Woody Guthrie, Mississippi John Hurt, Leadbelly, Taj Mahal, Dave Van Ronk, and many others. The material is carefully chosen to engage kids as well as their parents.

Basic Requirements

Calendar