Marylee: News

"It's hard to sing and be mean at the same time." Gene Autry

That quote is from the "Cowboys in the Movies" exhibit at the Yakima Valley Museum in Washington. I just got back from the 7th annual Marylee and Nancy tour up there. We performed "Tales of the Rails"--3 times a day for Yakima school children. The kids were great! Lots of singing along and participation. We'll be recording a new cd of train songs this summer.

And now on to bugs: My Summer Reading program is titled "Butterflies, Spiders and Bugs, oh, my!" So I've prepared a musical program celebrating all the little creatures that bug and delight us! Check the calendar for performances at your local library!

I've been so busy, I forgot to tell you how busy I was! Does that happen to you, too? Catching up--March brought me a wonderful opportunity to give a workshop to librarians in Santa Clara Valley. It was all about adding more music to their library programs for parents with babies and toddlers. Early literacy skills involve a lot of music making, fingerplays and musical stories. I performed in 4 Berkeley libraries and sang lots of Irish songs for seniors in Carmel Valley. It's always fun to get everyone singing along.

This month many schools are celebrating The Week Of The Young Child and I'll be bringing assembly programs to several elementary schools to sing for pre-school - 2nd graders.

And, of course, summer's on its way--so I'm writing my Summer Reading show: "Butterflies, Spiders and Bugs...Oh, My!" Stay tuned for all the little bug songs...

February has so many holidays to sing about! I wrote a song for Chinese New Year (Gung Hey Fat Choy!) and all the children threw scarves in the air as "fireworks!" Then a new song for Valentine's Day: "8 Little Red Socks Hangin' On The Line--" which used counting skills, and the concept of a "pair" (not a pear)! We sang "Yankee Doodle Dandy" for the Presidents Day celebration after I was informed by a 3 year old that George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were our co-current Presidents! Good to know!

Now I'm looking ahead to March with Irish songs and tales. I'll tune up my harp and find my little Leprechaun doll that my friend Gillian gave me in 1990-something. She's a grown up girl, now!

It seems every season is a singing season!

What a tour! Three shows a day! Four amazing days! I sang at the libraries in Kanturk, Passage West, Midleton and Millstreet in County Cork. Thank goodness I was driven to all the locations--because traffic is fast, furious and on the left! Children came to the libraries from local schools, sometimes walking, sometimes being driven by the local garda in the paddy wagon! (One school had a tire blow out on its bus.)

The set list included: Rocky Road, Jack and Jill, The Lady With the Alligator Purse, Mama Don't Allow, Potatoes Are Under the Ground (from my CD "Some Irish Songs For My Nana"), The Maidu Indian Chant and Gold Game and Rockin' Robin. The children sang and danced along freely and were so enthusiastic! They made all the miles worthwhile!
I hope I can go again next year--and if I do, I'll make my tour a GREEN TOUR using trains and buses.

I'm so excited to announce that I will be performing in the Cork County Libraries this October for the Children's Book Festival in Ireland!

It's a dream come true to be performing in the homeland of my ancestors! My only question now is--shall I sing Irish songs--or more of an Americana collection? Seems like singing Irish songs in Ireland is a bit like bringing snow to the North Pole.

My suitcase will be full of colorful props and I'll bring my Baby Taylor travel guitar--along with all the fun activity songs that make children love to participate. Visit my Calendar for a link to the Irish Book Festival website for details.

I guess if you're here, you've noticed the change in my website. My dear webmaster, Mary Hooper, passed away from breast cancer this summer. She was brilliant--technically and creatively--and made a beautiful website for me. Without her, I needed to find a way to do my own site--so I'm with CD Baby's Hostbaby.

Tell me what you think--I'm learning all the time--and the Hostbaby people are really helpful!

Now go and do your monthly breast exam!! Thanks!