Spiral Up Kids

Children's museum features new band
By John W. Barry • April 30, 2009

With all the bad news going on right now - the economy, swine flu, home foreclosures and the failing auto industry - it felt great to speak this week with a local musician who is very excited about an upcoming gig.

I felt a little better about life after speaking with Tim Whalen of Stone Ridge, who teaches math at Marbletown Elementary School and is a drummer who plays regularly throughout the Hudson Valley.

On Sunday, he'll combine a love of music and a love of educating young people during a gig at the Mid-Hudson Children's Museum in Poughkeepsie. Whalen will perform as a member of Spiral Up Kids, a new band that has just released its first CD.

The show will be a fundraiser for the children's museum and Children's Media Project, with Dog On Fleas and Ratboy Jr. also on the bill.

The Spiral Up Kids CD features earthy, roots-based songs with an Americana feel. The grooves and down beats are likely to entertain parents, while the songs, with titles such as "Alphabet," "My Kitty and Me," "Friends" and "Little Kids Everywhere," are quite likely to hold the attention of any child looking for fun on a Sunday afternoon.

The band on the CD is made up of Whalen on drums, percussion, lead vocals and guitar; Darren Cohen on rhythm and lead guitars and background vocals; Jason Sarubbi on bass and background vocals; Robin Baker on background vocals; Ross Rice on keyboards; and Larry Packer on fiddle and mandolin.

Packer has performed with Lou Reed and many others. Sarubbi is a member of the New Paltz-based band The Trapps.

As a third-grade teacher, Whalen often wrote songs with his students, such as "Multiplication Blues." Whalen has also performed with his 16-year-old daughter, Maggie, who sings, plays piano and French horn. His son, Sean, plays bass.

"Music for me, personally, with my kids was an incredibly powerful way to bond with them," Whalen said.

The seed for Spiral Up Kids was planted when Whalen and Cohen worked on music a local children's author had requested to accompany a children's book she had published.

Then, a mutual friend, Georgia Weinmann, began writing poems and lyrics inspired by her young daughter. Weinmann shared the lyrics with Whalen and Cohen, who then wrote music for Weinmann's words. The trio can now be proud of Spiral Up Kids.

"The idea," Whalen said, "was to write music that would be very listenable for the parents, as well as the kids."

Sunday Funday on the River is set for noon-4 p.m. Sunday at the The Pavilion on the Hudson at the Children's Museum, 75 N. Water St., Poughkeepsie.

In addition to the music, there will be youth-produced animation. Admission is $5 for museum members; $10, non-members. Call 845-471-0589 to purchase tickets in advance.




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Previous PageJohn W. Barry is the music writer for the Poughkeepsie Journal. Write him c/o Poughkeepsie Journal, P.O. Box 1231, Poughkeepsie, NY 12602, call 845-437-4822, or e-mail jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com.

- Poughkeepsie Journal

Saturday, June 06, 2009
***Spiral Up Kids***
Spiral Up Kids took the jam band ensemble playing of Phish, the nouveau country rock of Son Volt, and the earthy funk of The Band to create their groovy, harmony-filled, kids' music debut Spiral Up Kids.

Georgia Weinmann, Darren Cohen, and Tim Whalen, three Hudson Valley, NY parents, decided to document the lives of their toddlers through song. They got musical help from friends and fellow Hudson Valley musicians Jason Sarubbi on bass and background vocals, Ross Rice on piano and organ, Larry Packer on fiddle and mandolin, and Robin Baker on background vocals, while Darren handled guitar duty and background vocals, with Tim on drums and lead vocals.

Highlights of Spiral Up Kids include the jam band groove of "Friends," the New Orleans shuffle of "Sugar," and the electric bluegrass of "In the Fiddle is a Song," a tune based on Durga Bernhard's picture book (she also designed the CD package). The group really channel the spirit of The Band on the vocal phrasing of "My Kitty and Me," while the sound of late-70s Crosby, Stills & Nash is revived on "Rainy Day Play."

If the H.O.R.D.E. tour was still on the road, Spiral Up Kids would be the most likely children's band to be up on stage. Solid, earthy, fun kids' music debut.

Posted by Warren Truitt at 6:00 AM

- Kids Music That Rocks Blog

SPIRAL UP KIDS—Spiral Up Kids
(Spiral Up Records)
Kids’ music was so bad for so long, it’s still sort of a shock when a band like Spiral Up Kids comes along. The album’s sleeve boasts that it contains “kiddie tunes the whole family can groove to,” and fortunately delivers on the promise.

“Alphabet” opens the proceedings on the crest of a wave of Caribbean music, and manages to turn learning the alphabet into something joyous rather than a chore. “Sugar” revisits the ever-popular Bo Diddley beat, but cools it down with friendly vocals and lyrics about all the delicious delights made from sugar. Too many listens might result in a trip to the dentist, but “My Kitty and Me” brings the sugar rush down to a buzz with feline harmonies and country fiddle. Elsewhere, “Boo Boo Blues” tells the tale of a skinned knee, and “Busy Toddler” covers a youngster’s itinerary by way of Van Morrison.

Back when all kids wanted to hear was Barney and the Wiggles, road trips used to be a painful ordeal for anyone over the age of five. Thanks to Spiral Up Kids, packing up the car no longer means packing up one’s sanity. —Crispin Kott

www.spiralupkids.com


- Roll Magazine