Shari and Jerry

Canadians Shari and Jerry Tallon, producers of numerous CDs and DVDs for children and teachers, present another winning resource of 24 songs and instrumentals for teachers and others who work with children. For many of these pieces, the Tallons have traveled to the distant past to re-create early rock ‘n roll hits. The rest of the songs are original compositions by the Tallons, or their own arrangements of traditional songs. The duo play all the instruments and perform the vocals with style and enthusiasm. The accompanying booklet contains lyrics and detailed instructions to use with the songs, divided into: “Easy-to-Follow Dance Songs,” “Dances with Partners”, “Cooperative Dance Songs, “ and “Extra Resources.” The tracks include “Some Fun”, “Follow the Leader”, “Dance of the Woodlands”, “Musical March”, “Merry-Go-Round Song”, “Simon Says” by the 1910 Fruit Gum Company, “Chicken Dance” by Terry Rendall, “Hippy Hippy Shake” by Chan Romero, “Holiday Hokey Pokey arranged by the Tallons, “The Locomotion” by Carol King, “Do the Freddie” by Freddie & the Dreamers, “Hands Up, by Playa Blanca, “The Peppermint Twist” by Joey Dee, “Hokey Pokey Karioke” (which has no lyrics so listeners can make up their own), among others. Teachers, librarians, and parents looking for dance resources will find this a useful package. – Beverly Bixler, San Antonio Public Library, TX.

- School/Library Journal

LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb
Home Contact Us THE DINOSAUR ROCKby Lesley McBride A musical theatre production by Shari and Jerry Tallon ofArdoch held at Sharbot Lake High School, July 17.People were still filtering into the auditorium as Jerry, seated to the left of the stage, opened up the world of imagination with a nice instrumental prelude from his red electric guitar.Sarah McCullough, aged 10, of Parham, then stood on stage in an attractive leopard-skin costume, holding an outsized green toothbrush and singing: “Brush your teeth down, down – up, up, back & forth…” with playful antics that seemed to suggest –“Hey, life is meant to be fun, not a chore!” Shari, the Director, then gave a brief introduction about the play’s history and that this performance is a new idea to involve kids from The Creative Players Performing Arts Children’s Camp in Sharbot Lake.The curtain opens, revealing a swampy scene, a large, painted backdrop of prehistoric creatures. There is a big roar. Two characters dressed in green appear: Kelly Weatherby, aged 13, of Parham as ‘Bonehead’ and Payton Ferguson, aged 5, of Niagara Falls as ‘Bony’; then Sarah, whose leopard skin character is named Miranda, and Sarah’s sister Margo, aged 13, (Shari, ever-encouraging the children’s creativity, let Margo make up her own character’s name) as Jasmine, in a coloured, tulle-like skirted costume.The characters form a group called the Dynomites and the opening song invites the audience to: “Come on and Rock and Roll back to the land of dinosaurs!” A doctor in a labcoat and wild headgear enters and advises: “Fasten your seatbelts”. It seems we’re in a time machine! Adding to the Tallon’s sound effects, stage left outside the curtain is Shawn Fleming, 7, of Sharbot Lake as host keyboardist – and offstage right is James Fleming, 5, on drums. All of the children enjoyed themselves and put in wonderfully energetic performances. Paul Tallon played four different characters, demonstrating great versatility.This performance of The Dinosaur Rock is a newly inspired idea. Shari and Jerry created it 17 years ago, putting it into comic book form and C.D. for kids. At this performance, the costumes and set from the original production were augmented by new artwork and masks created by children at the Creative Players Camp.When the Dinosaur Rock was first created, the Tallons performed the play in schools and libraries throughout Ontario – then, as Jerry put it, “it went the way of all dinosaurs.” In seems dinosaurs were really in then, a passing fad. However, this production shows that those real monsters of prehistoric times have a timeless, indestructible fascination for children. And a chance to be a part of their creative recovery is a wonderful opportunity for children to express their inherent creativity. Shari in her introduction reminded us, “Creativity for kids goes beyond the Arts to develop problem-solving ability. They learn to listen. Camp is a special place for them”. In this increasingly mechanized world, being able to go back to the world of dinosaurs is a soul-saving activity.


- Land O'Lakes

By RODGER HANNA
The Tweed News
After the School Library Journal based out of New York City reviewed their product and gave a nice review, Shari and Jerry Tallon now are receiving orders from universities in the U.S.A ”Shari and Jerry, A family Entertaining Families” are based out of Ardoch and have written, recorded and performed their songs as well as other favourites for audiences. They have been putting out albums since 1979 formostly children but have also done two easy-listening albums, "Simple Songs for Circle Time, Percussion Bands and Musical Concerts" is a CD/book that was reviewed by the Journal. The CD/book is a resource for librarians, primary teachers, early childhood educators and parents. It provides a fun and easy program for circle time.The Tallons say that finger plays, percussions songs with simple instructions teach the listener to play, and help young ones with speech. They also explain that research shows that very young children under 5 will be further advanced in reading, writing and math as well as co-ordination when being exposed to music.

The duo have performed at the Tweed Fair and Belleville Waterfront Festival as on TV in the past on CHEX, CBC and Global. Shari, who plays keyboards and flute, and Jerry, who plays flute, guitar, harmonica and drums have their own studio in Ardoch. They have their own independent record label and will help songwriters along and will also play along with them while recording.

The two have three children and have lived in Ardoch for the past 14 years after moving from Toronto. They are songwritersand are currently working on more songs for adults.

Recently, they performed at North Addington Education Centre for the Kindergarten to Grade 8 classes. The show at NAEC was co-sponsored by the Cloyne Village Foods to cover the cost of the show. The students, while listening to the music, were able to participate by doing some "crazy movements" during the songs.



- The Tweed News