To God be the Glory

I've been thinking about this a lot, of course.   What will it be like to be the one sitting there in the audience as they announce the nominees and waiting to see if it's my name in that envelope. I'm sure my blood pressure will be sky high.   For two months I managed to be pretty cool, saying, "Well, I'm probably not going to win, but I'll get nominated again.  Now that my work has been recognized, I'll get nominated again..."
But then lately all of the people I see are saying "I know you're gonna win!" and stuff like that, and I'm beginning to worry, because of course, deep down, I really do want to take home that statue.  I want to bring it to show all my friends and family and all the people who have supported me.  I want to post pictures of it on FB so you can all see it.  I want to put it on my mantle and be able to see it every day and think, "Yeah....all these years of making music have been validated in a big way."
I want to show it to the little kids and say, "Look!  I got a trophy!"

Of course I do, it's just really hard to admit it, because then there's more of a chance of feeling bad if my name is not called.  Even just writing about it here is a risk because I'll look really stupid if they don't call my name.  So it's better just to say I don't really care.  HA.


As I said, I've been thinking about this  a lot.  The whole insanity of the nomination....how I dreamed of it when I was young, and how as every year of music has gone by I have felt that I was further and further away from the possibility of it happening.  How when I turned 50 I cried all day, thinking my chance had passed and it was all downhill from there.
Every year of music....

And then it dawned on me.  Every year of my life I have had the ability and the joy of making music.  Even when I was little, before piano lessons, singing was what I did. All the time.  My father sang to me when I was a baby and a toddler in his lap, and my mother always had the radio or the stereo on and would sing in her crazy wild way. And I sang with them.  My mother bought me my first 45, "Georgy Girl," because I knew all the words from hearing it on the radio.  I sang in front of an audience for the first time on the stage in the basement of Notre Dame School in Waterville, Maine.  I sang "Those Were the Days."  (nobody ever said I probably shouldn't sing a song about a tavern in a Catholic school...ha ha!"  I have to laugh thinking of it now.)  In my teenage years I went to church with my father and during the hymns he would whisper in my ear, 'Sing louder, Judy...sing louder!" cause he just loved it when people would turn around to see who was singing, and I loved making my Daddy proud.

The point is, I can take no credit for being able to sing, to make music.  I can take no credit that writing songs came naturally to me.  I can only give God the glory.

There have been miracles in my life, for sure. I'll tell you about them sometime if you want.  But I only just recently, with all this Grammy madness, realized that the biggest miracle in my life is that I can sing.  That I can make myself and other people happy by singing, and none of it was my doing in the first place.  For whatever reason, God decided that I should be one of the lucky ones to get that ability. He gave that same ability to many of you who are reading this, and I've had the sheer joy of singing and making music with many of you. All because of God's grace.

SO whatever happens on Sunday, to God be the glory, because without God's grace, none of this would be happening. I'm not gonna pray that I win, because I don't think that's the kind of prayer God wants to hear.  I'll just be thanking Him (or Her, if you will) for what I've already got.   I want to remember that, to keep that in my heart, cause even if I come home on Monday without a trophy, I'll still be able to sing. Thanks be to God.

In Defense of Children's Music

A few years ago I met Livingston Taylor after a show he performed at the Mall of New Hampshire.  I purchased one of his CDs and told him that I was a children's musician, to which he blithely responded, "There's no such thing as children's music. All music can be for children."  At the time I was somewhat taken aback.  After all, I've always felt that music written for children should be child-centered, with lyrics about a child's world. I don't know about you, but I don't know of too many adults who have gone bug hunting or enjoyed princess stories or used their imaginations to swim in jello unless they were with kids.  And while I do think that most music can be shared with children, and they may enjoy it, I suspect that they enjoy it more when it's about something they can relate to, just as with adults.

But lately I'm beginning to think that Livingston Taylor was prophetic, because I keep reading the blogs of children's music "pundits" who rhapsodize about children's music "that doesn't drive parents crazy" and children's music that "doesn't make parents want to pull their hair out."  And recently I had a video rejected by "jitterbug.tv" because the guy who runs it said, "I just don't see much here for the parents."  Well EXCUSE me, silly me!  I thought this was about the KIDS!!

It used to be that if  a child loved something, the parents loved it too because it made their children happy.  But now the tables have turned,.  Now, it seems, a kid can't love music unless their parents love it too.

When Emma was little someone gave her a set of cassettes by "Judy and David" that featured endless hours of traditional children's music like "The Noble Duke of York" and "Old MacDonald."  Was I crazy about them?  Not really.  But Emma LOVED them so we played them over and over until the tapes wore out.  I used to take her and Louisa to concerts by Maine's Rick Charette.  Did "Alligator in the Elevator" offer something for me?  Nothing but the pure joy of watching my kids, and hundreds of others, sing and dance around like fools.

Still, the trend in children's music today is toward music which has to appeal to parents as well, so you get a lot of "indie" rock music (now called "kindie") that makes parents feel "hip" and like they are raising cool kids who are "hip" as well. I'm not sure but I think this may have started with "KidzBop," those insidious renditions of pop songs "sanitized" and sung by kids that have sold a jillion copies.  Then along came the musicians with "rock cred" who'd had indie rock bands but had now turned to writing music for kids.   That's great!  There's room for everybody here.  But where is the variety?  Where is the gentle, foolish, silly music that only kids love? Don't kids get to have their OWN tastes?  Their OWN things that are special just for them?   It seems these hipster parents will never expose their children to "Old MacDonald" unless it's done rock-style.  Frankly, I'm a little worried about Winken, Blinken and Nod, to be honest.

I guess I'm making a case for my own music here, which has always been about the kids.  There have been some parents who have told me they love my music as much as their kids do, and while I appreciate that,  there have been some parents who have told me they are sick of hearing my music, as they laugh and say how many times they've had to listen to a particular song in a row. I'm okay with that, too.  I'm aiming at the kids, and if they love it, then I'm doing my job.


There are many wonderful children's musicians out here who are the farthest thing from "kindie" but have made zillions of children happy....people like Barry Louis Polisar, Bobby Susser, Joanie Bartels,  Marla Lewis, Steve Blunt,  Katherine Dines, Mr. Billy,  Patricia Shih,   and many more that you can find out about at the Children's Music Network (http://www.cmnonline.org.)  We can't let their art, their truly child-centered art, be lost in the "kindie" trend.  So yeah, I love rock music for kids and would probably be getting my kids into the music of Justin Roberts if they were still the right age, but we'd also be listening to the artists I mentioned above.  Because while some children's music can appeal to parents, it really shouldn't HAVE to.

Why Music Education Must be Mandatory in Schools

Yesterday I did something I have never done before.  I went to the NH State House to speak before the House Education Committee regarding HB 39, a bill that would remove Technology Education, Health Education, World Languages, and Arts Education from the mandated core curriculum in our public schools.  As the Representative who wrote the bill said, it would not mean that schools couldn't teach those subjects, it just means they don't HAVE to. Can you imagine how ludicrous this is?  Under the guise of "local control" a local school board could choose to cut TECHNOLOGY education, for crying out loud, if they had to make budget cuts.  But for me, the part of this bill I'm most passionate about is the notion of cutting funding for arts education.  That's why I decided to go to Concord and speak.

I posted my remarks on my Facebook page, but for those of you who don't "do" Facebook, I'll post them here as well:

My name is Judy Pancoast, and I am a resident of Goffstown and a 2011 Grammy Award nominee.

I’m here to speak in anecdotal form about my opposition to H.B. 39.

In 1973, when I was 13 years old, I was bullied mercilessly by the kids in my Jr. High School because I was the fat girl. At home I spent hours playing the piano and singing and making up songs, which brought me relief from the daily torture I experienced.  At school no one wanted to sit with me at lunch, so I used to sneak into the music room and play the piano and sing.

One day, the chorus teacher walked into the room as I was singing.  Next thing I knew, with his encouragement, I was singing a solo in the spring concert.  I would never have been able to do it without his help and confidence in me.  That teacher changed my life.  Soon I was no longer just the fat girl…. I was the girl who could sing and write songs.  Throughout the rest of Jr. High and High School I took every music class offered and participated in chorus and band.  I was fortunate that my high school offered music theory and music history courses as well as performing groups.  Eventually I went on to study music in college.  I have made a living as a professional musician ever since, and I have traveled and performed in 49 US States and abroad because of music.  In two weeks I will be attending the Grammy Awards ceremony as a nominee, and, in 1997, I was honored by the New Hampshire State Senate for my work as a children’s musician.  I am also a juried member of the Arts in Education roster of the NH State Council on the Arts.  I am sure that none of this would have happened without that first music teacher’s encouragement and my subsequent public school music education and experiences.

To me, Music was not just a core curriculum subject it was THE core curriculum subject. Although I excelled in other academic areas they never held the interest for me that my music courses did.   I was one of millions of kids through the years who go to school because of the chance to make music. In fact, many children find their only opportunity to learn music and learn to play an instrument at school.  And many children find in the arts not only a place where they are accepted and a refuge from bullying, but a lifelong passion and a career.

It is a well known fact that when economic times are tough music programs are the first to be cut.  If music education is not mandatory in our schools then how many children like me will lose their chance to grow and shine and benefit their communities and the world?
Just imagine a world with no music because there is no one to make it; then it should be easy to understand why arts education must be a substantive part of a child’s education.   I am here as living proof.

Musings on Weird Things

I was thinking yesterday about what I had to do over four years to get this album completed, and the thing that first sprang to mind is all the stuff I sold on Ebay to finance it.  As an indie musician there is no "big money" behind me so I had to come up with every cent to pay for it, and believe me, I didn't skimp as you can probably tell from the production values on the CD.  I wanted everything to be just right...an album I could say is truly the best I have to offer.  So I sold my treasures...including ancient Barbie dolls I'd had since I was little and my set of ceramic buildings from "Mitford," the wonderful little town in the "Father Tim"  books I love so much from Jan Karon, among other things.    These are things that were very important to me, but I told myself at the time that doing the thing I love the best now and moving forward with my creative life was more important than holding on to material things and memories from the past.  But I have to admit, it wasn't easy selling those things.  Still I was happy while working on the CD with my producer and one of my dearest friends, Jim West, and I was excited about my idea of a concept CD that would take kids on a journey across the USA with me.  I've just loved traveling and discovering new things in this amazing country and I wanted to get kids excited about learning all about our great country and the many wonderful and varied treats it has to offer.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't also apprehensive, though.  I was doing a concept CD, something that is rarely done anymore in this age of downloading single songs, and I had all kinds of doubts:  "Is it boring?  Am I doing okay on the narration?  Does it make sense? WILL KIDS ACTUALLY LIKE IT?"  Jim had to reassure me at just about every session, but he's really good at that and bringing out the absolute best in me, so we forged on.

Now, the CD has been out there for a year, and it has done more than I ever expected it to do.  Lookie here:

*Paula Slade from Examiner.com called it a "one-of-a-kind" CD and said it was an "engaging musical road trip," plus:

All in all, Weird Things are Everywhere is a very special trip for children ages five through 10 that offers plenty of entertainment and packs an educational punch perfect for classrooms and home school families.

* It received a coveted STARRED review in School Library Journal, which said I was a "vocal chameleon"  (my kids are so sick of hearing me say that!) and:

The focus on literacy and reading, the fun segues between songs, and the performer's superb voice makes this an excellent choice for use in a school setting.

*Amber Bobnar from BostonChildrensMusic.com said it was one of the 12 best children's CDs of the year!

aaaaaannnnnnndddddddd....

There IS that little matter of a GRAMMY NOMINATION!!!

So, all in all, I'd say it was good decision to sell that stuff. 
Still, the indie musician struggle goes on.  A Grammy Award nomination does not instantly make one rich, so now begins the matter of buying the plane tickets, paying for the hotel, finding a DRESS to wear on the red carpet and all that stuff. And I wasn't expecting to have this kind of expense in the quiet month of January so I didn't exactly plan ahead!  We should all have such troubles, huh?  That's easy for you to say....you don't have MY husband who is peering over my shoulder every second saying, "How are we gonna pay for all this?"
I swore to him this morning that I would do it, just like I've managed to do all the other stuff...the CD, the tour, etc. etc. 
So my point is?  I need to sell CDs...lots of CDs...between now and the end of January. Would you consider purchasing one?   Is there a child in your life who has a birthday any time this year?  How about getting that end of year teacher gift out of the way now?  Is there a librarian you know who has a small budget but would LOVE to have a CD that's been given a starred review in School Library Journal? Buy one for your special niece, your Godchild, the kid next door....
It's $15 and that includes the shipping and handling.  You can pay through PayPal or send me a check.  For the details, click here:  http://judypancoast.com/tune_room_store.htm

You can also get them at Amazon.com and at CDbaby.com but the only place you can get a personally autographed one is from my website or at one of my shows.  Plus buying it directly from me means you aren't giving any of your hard earned money to a middleman.


Thank you once again for supporting my music and helping to make my dreams come true!

Somewhere there is a child.....

Somewhere out there, there is a child who will be alone tonight.  While other children are leaving out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, this child will be staring anxiously at the lights on the tree, hoping and praying that his or her parents will make it home safely from that Christmas party where too much alcohol is being served.

Somewhere there is a child who will be taken to a Christmas party where too much alcohol is being served, and she or he will probably witness some sort of fight or argument with tears and then have to pray all the way home that his or her drunk-driving parent will somehow miraculously get them all home alive.  When they get home, he or she will fervently hope that they will go to bed and not scream or fight or cry o,r even worse, involve him or her in some alcohol fueled madness.

Somewhere there is a child who will go down to the tree on Christmas morning afraid to wake up his or her hung-over parents.  And when they do wake up, they won't be in a very festive mood, or, worse yet, they will still be drunk from the night before.  There may be tears /fights around the Christmas tree.  This child is not excited, he or she is anxious and afraid and just wants it all to be over.

Somewhere there is a child who has lots of expensive presents waiting for him or her under the tree, whose parents think that all they have to do is buy stuff to make a nice Christmas, when all that kid really wishes and hopes and prays for every night is for his or her parents to STOP DRINKING.

How do I know these children are out there?

Because I was all of them at one Christmas or another.

Your children are learning everything about how to celebrate Christmas from YOU.  Please don't drink this Christmas.  Show them that it's possible to have fun without having alcohol to drink.  It's the BEST gift you could ever give them.

Sincerely,
Judy

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT

I'm just thrilled to announce that I have just received news that I've been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Children's Album. I am absolutely over the moon!!!!!
I know I really don't stand a chance of winning but it really is true that it's a total thrill just to be nominated!!!!!

http://www.grammy.com/nomineesThe only other times in my life when I have been this filled with joy and excitement were the times I found out I was "with child." This is a dream I've had since I was 12 years old. I really just can't believe it!!!!
Thank you, my friends and fans, for supporting my music through the years!!

New Tour Page and Blog

I've decided to revive a blog I began last year about The House on Christmas Street and use that as a tour update blog. I've also now got a brand new tour page on my website which is a hub for all things tour-related. You can get to the blog from that page. Please visit it here: http://http://judypancoast.com/2010_tour.htm
and please comment and keep in touch while I'm on the road. Who knows? Maybe I'll see YOU out there somewhere!

In the meantime, I'll continue to post things here that are non-Christmas related. It's just that right now in my life, EVERYTHING is Christmas related!! It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!