One of the super-rad things about having kids is when they come to you with ideas that are both super-ambitious and ultra-inspiring. For four years now, baby jane has been witness to my many creative shenanigans including sound recordings, live performances, not-so-children's books, screen printed apparel, and the like. Sometime during the summer, she realized that while perhaps lacking the resources and know-how to see it to completion, surely she could concoct a project far more epic than anything her olde man could dream up. And so, in a flurry of well-placed compliments and dangerous hand-gestures she shared her vision with me: A redemptive story of a bat told through music and interactive visuals lovingly packaged together with a screen-printed tee shirt to be worn and/or shared with one's beloved.
"BRRRRRRILLIANT!" i exclaimed with great joy and anticipation. We quickly got started on laying out the narrative of her story. Months later, we began to demo the movements of the musical composition. Now, here we are and the dawn of november and we're in the process of recording, mixing, drawing, creating, et al.
The other great thing about kids is that they typically can't read your mind. Of course, there are those times when you have in mind a certain way that they will create the artwork for a project you're collaborating on, yet they throw you a curve and steer the whole thing in a slightly different direction. (Mixed metaphors are fun, huh?) In this particular case, my simple idea of an illustrated booklet has been upgraded to a more robust, slightly bigger, interactive activity book by the young architect herself.
So there it is. I'm working on a concept album with my four year old daughter. I can only imagine that it gets even more exciting from here on out. Although, at some point, she's going to discover that her olde man is holding her back and she'll surround herself with more creative folk than myself to help her bring her art to life. Shine on, you crazy diamond.
