Banjo To Beatbox CD | Giveaway

Christylez Bacon is a hip-hop artist you WANT your family to see and hear. He rhymes, raps, beatboxes and plays percussion and banjo ukulele in the trio. CATHY & MARCY’S preeminence in family and folk music has been recognized with more than 200 Awards, including 2 GRAMMY Awards in children’s music and several GRAMMY nominations. The duo’s reputation for blending traditional instrumentation with a range of musical styles continues with this unique collaboration.

It all began in 2007 at the Music Center at Strathmore in Maryland, where Cathy & Marcy had been the first artists in residence in 2005, continuing on as artist mentors. Christylez Bacon, then a 21 year old artist in residence, captivated the duo. Chris’ stage presence delighted every audience, and his personal directive to use rhyming and beatbox for totally diverse collaborations was apparent. Soon, the trio were jamming together at downtown open mics and at a prestigious old time banjo festival. When they collectively composed “Hip-Hop Humpty Dumpty,” they knew something special was going on. They tested more happy songs with young audiences, and soon several more tracks emerged.

Banjo to Beatbox breaks new musical ground while remaining grounded in tradition. “Beatbox is roots music, with recent urban origins but based on a long tradition of African rhythms,” explains Cathy, an acknowledged master banjo player. “The banjo also originally comes from Africa, so this really makes sense.” The new recording features five-string banjo, cello banjo, six-string banjo and banjo ukulele, along with Marcy’s stellar washboard rhythms.  As Marcy notes, “These instruments and musical styles are not often found in the same room, let alone the same recording. It says to everyone, ‘let’s take an adventure!’”

My tween enjoyed this Banjo To BeatBox CD the most but my toddler sure loved dancing around to the music. Their favorite song is the Barnyard Dance. Really gets them moving! This is definitely a unique type of music and I recommend it to everyone. Especially those that are looking for a hip-hop album you don’t have to be afraid to let your kids listen to. I have been given an extra CD to giveaway to one Dirty Shirt reader. If you would like to win a copy for your kids just see the rules below:

Giveaway

• MAIN RULE – Tell me in comments what your child’s favorite song is.  (remember if this rule is not followed then no others will count)
• 1 Extra Entry – Subscribe to my RSS feed or by email (or let me know if you already are) in a separate comment
• 1 Extra Entry – Favorite The Dirty Shirt in Technorati and leave your name (I will be checking) in a separate comment
• 1 Extra Entry – Follow me on Twitter (button in subscribe section on on the right sidebar) and let me know your Twitter name in a separate comment.
• 1 Extra Entry – Tweet this giveaway. Please leave direct URL in comments so I can check or click Tweet button at the top of this post (next to title) and add @jentifa to it.
• 2 Extra Entries – Write a post on your blog linking to my blog.

This giveaway will run through midnight on July 3, with winner being announced the morning of July 4. Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.