Feeling the Festival Vibe! Newsletter

What, when, and where? I hope to see you there!

Pack up the kiddos and boogie on over to the Kids Tent at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Sunday, April 30, 2023 between 2:15-3:00 for some Louisiana tunes for children!

Joining me again this year is three-time Grammy winner (and hubby) Scott Billington! There will be plenty of fan favorites and new songs in this toe-tapping, two-stepping féte for the whole family. 

For Tickets

I mentioned in my last newsletter that I have a new book coming out this fall with illustrator Heather Stanley through Pelican Publishing, and as promised, I am revealing the cover to you, my subscribers, first! Heather and I have two other books together (Petit Pierre and the Floating Marsh and Mademoiselle Grands Doigts), and in this book, she really captured the boldness and wildness of my Cajun tall tale My Parrain is the Loup Garou.

CDs Have Arrived!

The physical CDs for my Jumpin' Jitters, It's Halloween album, of slightly spooky, mostly silly holiday songs for children, have finally arrived! 

"Johnette Downing is a New Orleans treasure, and Jumping Jitters shows why she is so beloved - a super fun, spooky fais-do-do that kids and adults will enjoy! And if you're anything like me, you'll want to listen to it year-round!"
    —DJ LizE, The Kid's Show, WTUL New Orleans 91.5fm

         Order Yours Today!

Upcoming events

April 30 at 2:15-3:00, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Kids Tent, New Orleans Fairgrounds

May 4 at 11:00-11:45, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, 916 N. Peters, French Market

May 22-26, Arts Learning for Massachusetts, School Concert Tour 

June 1 at 11:00-11:45, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, 916 N. Peters, French Market

June 3 at 2:00-4:00, Book signing, Barnes & Noble Metairie, Veterans Blvd., Metairie, LA

June 6-8, at 10:00 and 2:00, Livingston Parish Libraries, LA

June 16 at 10:00 and 2:00, LaSalle Parish Libraries, LA

June 21 at 10:00 and 2:00, St. James Parish Libraries, LA

July 6 at 11:00-11:45, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, 916 N. Peters, French Market

July 7-8 at 10:00 and 2:00, Ascension Parish Libraries, LA

July 12 at 6:30-7:15 PM, Hamilton-Wenham Library, Hamilton, MA

August 4 at 9:45-10:30, Nantucket Atheneum, Garden, Nantucket, MA
 

I was grocery shopping yesterday when a young man came up to me and asked if I was Johnette Downing. His mother, Ms. Fontenot, was a client who hired me for decades to perform for her summer camp in New Orleans. The young man said he remembered being in the audience of my concerts when he was a young camper there. He then told me that I had just performed at HIS son's school. Ms. Fontenot, her son, and her grandson may have no idea how much it means to me to know that I was part of three generations of their lovely family in some small way. 

Thank you all for allowing me to experience this one precious life with you and your families. - Johnette 

MIXTAPE: MUSIC TO DRIVE YOUR KIDS AROUND (Without Driving Yourself Crazy)

I am happy to be part of this Spotify Mixtape on The Bluegrass Situation!

Johnette Downing – “J’ai Vu Le Loup, Le Renard Et La Belette”

Louisiana music is a popular Americana style in children’s music, probably because it so easily gets kids dancing. On her album Swamp Rock, the New Orleans musician Johnette Downing does a marvelous job presenting, and explaining, a variety of Louisiana-bred music and culture. This bilingual animal tale (“I Saw the Wolf, the Fox and the Weasel”) showcases two Cajun greats: fiddler Joel Savoy and accordionist Roddie Romero.

—MIXTAPE: MUSIC TO DRIVE YOUR KIDS AROUND (WITHOUT DRIVING YOURSELF CRAZY)

BY MICHAEL BERICK, The Bluegrass Situation

Feb 22, 2021

Tune in!

Swamp Romp Earns a Fids and Kamily Award!

The Best Kids and Family Music of 2019: 14th Annual Fids and Kamily Music Award Winners

It is time to announce the 14th Annual Fids and Kamily Music Awards, celebrating the best in music for kids and families from the past year. For more than a decade, we've tallied the votes of kids music experts across the country to name those albums deserving of highest acclaim.

This year's top spot goes to previous Fids & Kamily Award winners The Okee Dokee Brothers for their album Winterland. There are a number of other artists familiar to the winners' list as well as some Fids and Kamily newcomers making up the top 12.

You can listen to selections from the top 12 by listening to this weekend's Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child on the air or by streaming it on the show’s website starting Sunday evening.

The Top 12 albums of 2019 are (in order):

1. The Okee Dokee Brothers - Winterland
2. The Lucky Band - Buenos Diaz
3. Josh Lovelace - Growing Up
4. Sonia de los Santos - Alegría
5. Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could - Under the Big Umbrella
6. Renee & Friends - Kindred
7. Johnette Downing - Swamp Romp
8. Randy Kaplan - Shake It and Break It
9. Story Pirates - Backstroke Raptor
10. Alphabet Rockers - The Love
11. Andrew & Polly - Go For the Moon
12. Oran Etkin - Finding Friends Far from Home

Parents' Choice Silver Award Winner - Swamp Romp!

We are thrilled to announce that Swamp Romp is a 2019 Parents’ Choice Silver Award winner! Below is the fabulous review from Lahri Bond!

“New Orleans-based, award-winning musician, singer and author, Johnette Downing presents the music and history of her Louisiana roots Swamp Romp, her tenth recording for children. Downing’s strong, expressive alto is supported by a fine group of players including ace harmonica player and producer Scott Billington. Contained within is a generous gumbo of fifteen original compositions, and a stellar bilingual arrangement of the traditional “J’Ai Vu Loup, Le Renard Et La Belette” (“I Saw the Wolf, the Fox and the Weasel”) sung as a duet with fiddler Joel Savoy and famed accordionist Roddle Romero. Both Cajun and Zydeco styles are explored on such fun songs as “Mudbug Boogie,” the Mambo-infused “It Wasn’t Me (the Possum Song)” and a beautiful duet with the legendary Irma Thomas on the 50s-style doowop of “Poor Worry Anna.” Rivers and wetlands are celebrated in the rocking title track and the tongue twisting spelling song “Mississippi River.” The New Orleans mixing of cross-cultural musical styles is aptly demonstrated in “Bamboula Rhythm,” powered by Kirk Joseph’s percussive sousaphone (tuba) playing. “Gathering Something Sweet” takes a short and delicious detour to the Caribbean, while “Your Best Pair of Shoes” is a classic Fats Domino/Allen Toussaint-style rhythm aided by members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. N’Orleans dietary delicacies as Po’Boy (on “How to Dress a Po’Boy”) and the acapella “Crawfish Etoufée” are given tasty arrangements. The rich cultural contributions of Spanish Canary Islanders (Isleños) to New Orleans communities is celebrated in “Our Oxcarts,” while “Stand Up, Jump” is a great movement song backed by The McCray Sisters and a kid chorus. The album closes with the beautiful, lilting “Star in My Sky.” Eco-friendly packaging holds a beautifully illustrated booklet of lyrics and song annotations, making this a must have for teaching children about the marvelous melting pot of cultures that makes up New Orleans.”

Lahri Bond ©2019 Parents’ Choice

Lahri Bond is a father, a writer, music historian and an art professor in Western Massachusetts. His published books include Spinning Tales Weaving Hope (with the Stories For World Change Network) for New Society Press and People of the Earth (coauthored with Ellen Evert Hopman) for Destiny Books