Musical Monkeys In Tents

For the first year and a half I had my car, I had Sirius radio. The first 6 months were free, and I added on another year after that as a present to myself. Well, last year for my birthday I got something else, and I let the subscription cancel.

I miss it.

One of the stations I miss most was the Kids Place Live station. You know, the one for kids? Yeah, that’s how much Wonder boy and I listened to the music. And when he liked a song, I’d take a picture of it with my phone and download it later to make a little play list for him of songs we both enjoyed.

We’ve been fans since I first heard Recess Monkey and Wonder Boy first bobbed his baby head to the music, prompting their addition to our play list.

I was thrilled to get a hold of a copy of their latest, In Tents, knowing it was going to be another awesome CD.

And it is.

The band of teachers from Seattle put out this summer a circus themed release that has an awesome booklet (a storyline perfect for kids to thumb through as the music plays) and a series of guest performances on this their 8th album.

Starting with a view of the circus, going through the snacks and the shows and ending with the circus pulling away, their goofy circus of human cannonballs, dancing bears and other performances only needs the giant tub of popcorn to make an listen complete.

Unless you’re road-tripping, then you should make it a small one.

These guys definitely exude the quirky comedy that only elementary school teachers can provide while keeping their music cool and enjoyable for all ages. I dove right into this album after re-reading “The Night Circus” and only enforced my longing to see a small circus perform in a striped tent somewhere, complete with that one sparkling woman on the tightrope with an umbrella.

And I’m right on target- Recess Monkey’s latest is inspired by Seattle’s Teatro ZinZanni, a circus-themed dinner theater and cabaret. Recess Monkey is performing family shows there in August and September.

 Recess Monkey puts a goofy rock spin to the circus, including the funky ‘Cannonball’ (someone give this kid a helmet/ and Superglue it to her head) that could be either taken literally ir figuratively, depending on how crazy your kid acts.

Popcorn is just going to make you crave that rich butter smell.

“The Dancin’ Bear” is the perfect song to embarrass your kids by dancing to its old-school beat.

However, my favorite is “Show On The Road” just a sweet reminder that when the fun is over, the adventures can keep going.

You can learn more about Recess Monkey and catch a video of one of their live performances with  or ‘In Tents’ by visiting recessmonkeytown.com and like them on Facebook.

I was given a copy of this music CD to review for this blog. All opinions are my own.

Carousel photo credited to Kevin Fry.