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Bios
Laurie Berkner has been a professional musician since 1992, but
her success as a children's recording artist was a surprise to
her. "It was so unexpected," says Laurie. "I'd been performing
in rock bands (including Lois Lane, an all-female cover band, as
well as her own original rock band, Red Onion) and struggling to
write original music. Writing music for kids has not been a
struggle at all. The more I started working on material for
children, the more I realized that it opened up creativity in me
that I never knew I had."
These days critics widely acknowledge Laurie's major
contribution toward launching what is now dubbed the progressive
"kindie rock" movement Ð that is, less saccharine, more rocking
music that is not dumbed down for children. But it wasn't
simply an enormous amount of talent that helped create an entire
genre and skyrocketed Laurie to her current position as "the
queen of children's music" (People Magazine). It was an ability
to gain parents' enthusiasm for the songs too. According to
Laurie, "When I'm writing a song, I'm thinking about whether the
kids will like it and whether I'm going to connect to them
through it. I'm also thinking about whether I want to sing it
over and over again, so I guess that's the part that connects
with adults. 'Old MacDonald Had A Farm' is a great song for
kids, but I couldn't sing it 100 times!"
While Laurie never planned to be a children's performer, looking
back on her career it almost seems inevitable. While growing up
in Princeton, New Jersey, Laurie was always involved in music,
whether singing in choirs, playing in bands, or performing in
musical theater. Laurie recalls enjoying Gilbert and Sullivan
operettas and Broadway musicals ("especially ones starring Julie
Andrews!") as a young child, as well as Simon & Garfunkel and
Marlo Thomas' 'Free To Be You And Me' album. In high school and
throughout college (at Rutgers University), she toured Europe
with several choirs and orchestras as a soloist and guitarist.
After graduation, Laurie worked at summer camps and then spent
several years as a children's music specialist at New York area
preschool and day care centers. Working with children became
the perfect creative outlet for Laurie to express her talents
and create something that, she says, "has turned out to be
incredibly rewarding."
Laurie's first release in 1997, Whaddaya Think Of That? (only
available on cassette at the time) was inspired by the parents
of her young students. "The children were really responding to
the music we created together," explains Laurie. Many of the
songs involve movement, and all of them invite children's
participation. Songs such as "We Are The Dinosaurs" allow
children to express anger and to feel powerful, while quieter
songs inspire feelings of security and warmth. By the time she
released her second CD in 1998, Buzz Buzz, Laurie had formed her
own record company, Two Tomatoes Records, LLC. Her work began
to sell briskly in the New York area as word of mouth began to
spread and critical acclaim began pouring in. Laurie's
inventive, playful, and well-crafted songs, as well as her
accomplished guitar playing and warm, engaging vocals, stood out
among other, often over-produced, children's fare.
By the time Laurie's third release, Victor Vito came out in late
1999, Laurie had secured national distribution. The CD received
enormous critical acclaim from a wide range of publications,
from People Magazine to U.S. News & World Report. Us Magazine
proclaimed, "The title cut has already become a birthday party
anthem." Laurie began performing live with Susie Lampert on
keyboards, later adding Laurie's husband Brian Mueller on bass
(Brian left the band in the fall of 2005), and thus the Laurie
Berkner Band was born. The trio began performing high-energy
live shows that inspired tots to form kiddie mosh pits and throw
stuffed animals on the stage!
In 2001, Laurie, Susie and Brian debuted on national television
with a live concert on the Today Show. Says Laurie, "There was
an enormous response from the many, many families who were both
hearing our music and seeing us perform for the first time.
After that appearance our fan base grew so much that I was able
to move Two Tomatoes Records out of my one-bedroom apartment
into a real office!"
The following year (2002) Laurie's fourth studio CD, Under A
Shady Tree, was released to rave reviews and multiple awards,
including a N.A.P.P.A. Gold Award and a Parents' Choice Silver
Honor Award. National magazines from People to Child singled out
the recording as one of the best of the year. The band expanded
their use of varied instruments on this CD, and explored genres
from reggae to world beat on several of the songs (which, with
one exception, are all originals).
In 2003, Laurie's "hip" quotient rose when Entertainment Weekly
proclaimed her the "in" children's performer, and HBO's Sex &
The City used one of her songs for an episode (she later sang
her own version of the theme song for the Showtime TV program
Weeds).
February, 2004 brought the release of Laurie's first picture
book-with-CD, Victor Vito and Freddie Vasco, on Scholastic's
Orchard Books imprint. The lyrics of Laurie's hit song "Victor
Vito" come to life as two road-tripping polar bears set out on a
cross-country mission to find tasty new items for the menu at
their Klondike Café. The book is vividly illustrated by noted
children's book artist Henry Cole, and is accompanied by a
special CD featuring "Victor Vito" as well as "Bumblebee (Buzz
Buzz)," and commentary by Laurie.
Shortly thereafter, The Laurie Berkner Band made their debut on
the NOGGIN TV channel (Nickelodeon's educational,
commercial-free preschool sister station) with a series of six
music videos airing throughout the day's programming as part of
the network's Move To The Music series. Laurie admits, "I
didn't really anticipate the impact being on TV would have."
Indeed, the exposure on national television made her a household
hit to millions and sent sales of the band's CDs soaring --
hitting Billboard's 'Top Internet Album Sales' and 'Top Kid
Audio' charts.
NOGGIN then asked Laurie to guest star in its' new original
half-hour series Jack's Big Music Show. Laurie is featured in
nearly every episode. Hosted by Jack, a preschooler puppet
with a backyard clubhouse, the show is akin to MTV's Total
Request Live, featuring videos and in-studio performances by
varied artists. "The accessibility and the combination of the
visual with the music is a positive way to connect with kids and
their parents," says Laurie. "The kids really love it, and the
parents go from thinking 'Please be something I can tolerate' to
being moved by it themselves."
In February, 2006, the band released their first DVD,"We are . .
. The Laurie Berkner Band" (Two Tomatoes Records, LLC/Razor & Tie
Entertainment/Starbucks Hear Music), produced by award-winning
children's film producer Jane Startz. Packaged with a
compilation CD that includes a brand new track, the DVD entered
Billboard's Top Music Video chart at #1, where it stayed for six
weeks, and went quadruple platinum. We are . . . The Laurie
Berkner Band marked the first time Starbucks Hear Music
co-released a family title. Parenting Magazine wrote, "The Pied
Piper of Preschool pulls together a bouncy set of her best
get-up-and-dance music videos, sure to keep wee toes tapping.
This critic's faves: the delightfully silly 'Pig on Her Head'
and Berkner's can't-help-but-sing-along anthem, 'Victor Vito.'"
The DVD was the recipient of a 2007 N.A.P.P.A Honors Award, and
was chosen in the February, 2007 issue of Parenting magazine as
its' "Mom-Tested" DVD of the year.
Prior to the DVD release, Laurie and Brian made a joint decision
that it was best for them to keep their work and family lives
separate. Brian's departure from the band left him free to go
back to school and pursue a graduate degree in psychology, while
Adam Bernstein, who performed on bass for Laurie's first three
CDs, happily stepped in. The new trio performed in the Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade® at the end of 2006.
Laurie released her second book-with-CD, The Story of My
Feelings, on Scholastic's Orchard Books imprint in 2007. The CD
features the title track as well as a bonus song, "Walk Along
the River." Kids can read and sing along as feelings come to
life through Caroline Jayne Church's delightful illustrations.
Says Laurie, "I wrote this song to remind myself that it's okay
to express my feelings with sounds Ð and to remember how good it
feels to connect with my life energy that way." Other offerings
that year included a sheet music compilation, The Laurie Berkner
Songbook (Music Sales Group) and a software cartridge that
accompanies Fisher-Price's® award-winning toy, Learn Through
Music Plus.
In 2008 Laurie, Adam and Susie released their first new CD since
2002, Rocketship Run. The CD portrays a musical journey on a
rocket ship in search of treasure, with the song "Going on A
Hunt" performed in different styles throughout, creating a
storyline. Rocketship Run features 20 new songs and
arrangements, ranging from a Brazilian samba to an Irish jig to
a folk song set against a gospel/country background.
Says Laurie, "It's a much more collaborative effort than I have
ever done before. We arranged most of the songs as a band,
Susie and Adam have both contributed songs, and I co-produced
the album with Bob Golden, who recorded/produced the sound for
all our NOGGIN videos and our 2006 DVD, instead of doing it all
myself. We also have a lot of talented guest artists performing
on this CD." The recording was met with immediate critical
acclaim. People Magazine bestowed it three stars, while Parents
and Parenting magazines gave it rave reviews. Cookie Magazine
proclaimed, "It'll be a matter of mere days before your kids Ð
and you Ð have the whole album memorized." New York Magazine
asserted that Laurie "may have outdone her peers with this cute
and versatile album . . . a rare instance where the packaging is
almost as fun as the product." The Washington Post noted, "A
few mommies and daddies might even catch themselves singing
along Ð if you're like me, perhaps even when the CD is no longer
spinning. Oops."
These days Laurie continues to be inspired by her audience. "I
want to create songs that matters for children," she says. "I
was singing once and saw a four-year-old girl shut her eyes and
start swaying to the music. I thought, 'That's the reason I got
into music.' It keeps me wanting to do more."
The Laurie Berkner Band performs across North America. Their
concerts have been held at varied venues from the White House to
Carnegie Hall.
Susie Lampert grew up in Pomona, NY in a large family with five
siblings, dogs and cats. From an early age, she loved music and
played piano. Her first live venture came at age 15, playing in
a jazz group influenced by Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, John
Coltrane and Lee Morgan, among others.
That same year, Susie hooked up with a punk band called Ruby and
the Rednecks, which became the house band for New York City's
Playhouse of the Ridiculous. She wrote music for and played
keyboards in a number of Off-Off-Broadway plays, and shared
stages at legendary NYC venues Max's Kansas City and CBGB's with
such infamous musicians as Iggy Pop and The New York Dolls (Ruby
and the Rednecks have survived and Susie and the band are as of
2006 working on a second CD).
Susie performed in many other bands throughout the years, in
genres ranging from Country to Bluegrass to Rock. During the
early '80s, she discovered Milton Nascimento and Brazilian
music, and found herself "enraptured and forever changed." She
learned Portuguese and traveled to Brazil frequently to buy
records and become acquainted with the culture. During those
years, she also became a registered nurse and worked part-time
while pursuing her music.
Susie met Laurie Berkner over 10 years ago when they were both
working at New York City's Rockefeller University. Laurie was a
preschool music teacher, and Susie was a research nurse. Says
Susie of their first meeting, "Laurie was sprawled out on the
floor, lost under her headphones with her eyes closed, listening
intently. An aerobics class was assembling around her and I
intervened, suggesting she might want to make way for the class,
and asked her what she was listening to.... It was her own band
(adult music) and she shared the tape with me. We made a fast
and deep connection, resulting in spending three years gigging
with Lois Lane, an all-female cover band. When Laurie left the
band to pursue her kids' music career I joined her playing
schools, libraries etc. as a duo. The rest everybody knows!"
These days, Susie is excited with her musical life. She not only
sang and played keyboards on 2008's 'Rocketship Run,' she also
wrote several songs and co-arranged much of the album's music
with her bandmates. Susie relishes time with her long-term
boyfriend, family, friends and cats. She enjoys her daily
meditation practice, yoga and samba, as well as her special time
with her fairy godchild, otherwise known as Laurie's daughter,
Lucy Day Mueller.
Adam Bernstein is no stranger to performing with Laurie! Adam
played bass on Laurie Berkner's first three award-winning and
critically acclaimed releases, 1997's 'Whaddaya Think Of That?',
1998's 'Buzz Buzz,' and 1999's 'Victor Vito' before officially
joining the band. On 2008's 'Rocketship Run,' in addition to
singing and playing bass and electric guitar, Adam also
contributed his songwriting and arranging talents.
An accomplished composer, arranger and educator as well as
bassist, Adam led the successful folk/rock/klezmer/funk 14-piece
big band All God's Children for six years. The Aquarian Weekly
(NJ) named Adam "Best Bassist" and the band "Best Band" in 1993.
He later performed and/or recorded with a wide range of talented
musicians and dancers, including Levon Helm, Sahib Shihab, Perry
Robinson, Walter Perkins, Ethel (string quartet), Teocinte (from
El Salvador), Jack Hardy, Claire Daly, The Angstones, Solar,
David Driver, Sean Altman and Jennifer Muller/The Works.
In 1990 Adam toured Japan with Hilario Soto's Higher Culture,
and in 1993 studied percussion at the Escuela Nacional De
Danzaq Moderna Y Folklorica in Havana, Cuba. As a composer and
arranger, Adam co-arranged the score for a television program
on Groucho Marx that aired on the A&E network's popular series
"Biography." He has composed many scores for dance, performed
at Columbia and Rutgers universities as well as other
performance spaces.
In 1998, while continuing to perform and record, Adam turned his
attention toward jazz education. He is the jazz director at the
Berkeley-Carroll School in Brooklyn, NY and on the faculty at
Jazz at Lincoln Center. He received a proclamation for his
outstanding work in jazz education from Brooklyn Borough
president Marty Markowitz on June 3, 2005.
Laurie contributed to Adam's latest CD, 'Dust Off the Timeless
Night.' Produced by They Might Be Giants drummer Marty Beller,
the CD is an original collection of pop gems with thoughtful
lyrics and fine musicianship. Says Laurie, "I'm proud to have
been a part of this album. In listening, I am transported to a
world of soulful grooves and heartfelt melodies that have
quickly become familiar friends."
Find out more about Adam at adam-bernstein.com.
Bob Golden joined The Laurie Berkner Band as an official member in the spring of 2009.
Says Laurie, "Bob Golden is the perfect fit for our band. He's a great drummer who is
extremely creative with every sound that he brings to each song. His playful energy and
strong musicianship is just right for our live shows and recordings. He's also a
wonderful guy and a great engineer and producer. We're so happy and lucky to be working
with him!"
Laurie and Bob met on the set of "Jack's Big Music Show," for which he was writing and
producing songs. Laurie asked him to co-produce 2006's "We are . . . The Laurie Berkner
Band" DVD, and 2008's "Rocketship Run" CD, on which he also performed on drums,
percussion and miscellaneous instruments as well as orchestrating several songs. Bob
later began performing with the band at live shows.
Bob's prolific television career has included writing and producing songs for Nick Jr's
"Dora The Explorer" and "The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss"; PBS' "Sesame Street",
"Gullah Gullah Island", "Lamb Chop's Play-Along" and "Seemore's Playhouse"; Noggin's
"Jack's Big Music Show"; Disney's "Out of the Box" and HBO's "Jammin' Animals." Bob
collaborated with Jonathan Larson (the late Tony and Pulitzer prize winning author of
"Rent") on the popular children's video entitled, "Away We Go!" (http://away-we-go.net/).
He has scored numerous documentaries and was music director, music producer, and theme
song composer for "Insomniac With Dave Attell"; "Craft Corner Deathmatch"; "Code Blue";
"Strangers with Candy"; "The Gong Show with Dave Attell"; Martha Stewart's "Home for the
Holidays" and the Sundance channel's "Festival Dailies."
Bob also wrote and produced music for Michael Moore's television series "TV Nation" and
"The Awful Truth," as well as for the award winning films, "Bowling for Columbine" and
"Fahrenheit 911." He currently peforms on drums for the house band on NBC's "30 Rock" and
appeared as a drummer in the movies "The 10" (2007), for which he produced the closing
song, and "What Happens In Vegas" (2008).
Bob co-authored the books "The Jerky Boys: The Book," (1995) and "Why Didn't I Think of
That?" (1997) and co-wrote AOL's first online interactive game for kids, "The Quest."
A graduate of Brown University, Bob is an accomplished potter. He loves to surf, ski and
make candles, gives a great massage and is a Leo!
Tobie Baldwin teaches Elementary Band in South Plainfield, NJ.
As a free lance Tenor/ Bass Trombonist/ Euophoniumist, he has performed
in a variety of settings throughout the Metropolitan Area of New York.
Proficient in many styles of music, Mr. Baldwin is at home
sitting in a big band, playing in a rock band, orchestra, concert band,
playing chamber music or any other musical setting you can think of.
Michael Feldstein isn't actually a musician, but he plays one on CDs.
He is, however, actually a Googlehead.
Andrew began his musical exploration with the granddaddy of all
instruments, the accordion. After getting beat up a couple of
times he branched out to guitar, trumpet, and other not quite so
geeky endeavors. Andrew has been hard at work scoring film, TV,
and multimedia www.turnaroundmusic.com
He can also be found playing gigs of various genres, including
rock, soul, funk, and most notably The Andrew Maroko Group (see
picture), which is a jazz ensemble who have just released their
debut album Conscious Effort, www.turnaroundmusic.com/amg.
Brian Mueller grew up in New York and New Jersey. He began his
life in music playing viola in the Rochester Philharmonic Youth
Orchestra. Later, he played amplified viola with experimental
rock groups and over the years started playing electric bass and
guitar with various original rock bands.
Laurie's husband, Brian appears on the band's first
four CDs as well as on the DVD. He performed live
with Laurie and Susie from 2000 until early 2006, and
is now pursuing a masters degree in psychology.
You probably already know Owusu. He can be found playing his
rimmed-with-bells conga drum on the platform of the 59th St.
subway at Columbus Circle in New York City. He and his drum are
one.
Engineer extraordinaire, piano, baritone sax, melodica, drums,
vocals and various percussive instruments in all three albums
Joe Ruddick is a pianist, saxophonist, synthesist, composer,
arranger and producer. In addition to his work with
Laurie---engineering/mixing her CD's and contributing
instrumental playing as well as some whooping and
hollering---Joe's music has been featured in live performance
all over the US and Europe; on television on MTV, Bravo, TV
Land, and Nick at Nite; on many film scores; and on CD with
projects ranging from "Dewdrops in the Garden" by the
platinum-selling pop group DEEE-LITE to jazz and avant garde
recordings with--among others--Phillip Johnston, William Parker
and Rachelle Garniez. Joe has been described as "some kind of
genius" by Options Magazine and "brilliant" by Down Beat
Magazine.
Kevin loves the crap out of kids. That's why he's a playing
fool, and looks after little humans in his spare time as a
doctorish-guy. He also loves the ska, motown, and jazz and can
be seen from Newark to NYC on the trombone. He wishes you
freedom, and encourages you to give him a call. "Let's git
together."
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