An amazing singer, songwriter, and performer, Justin Roberts appeals to both children and their parents.
Up close, he is just an average guy. Until he picks up his guitar, that is. There are few really big names in children's music. Justin Roberts is taking his place among them.
In the early 90's, Roberts worked as a Montessori preschool teacher to help fund his attempt to enter the music world. At the time, he was leader of an indie-rock band called Pimentos for Gus. At his day job, Roberts found himself writing songs for his little charges. At Christmas, he made a simple recording of his songs and sent them out as Christmas gifts. His close friend, Liam Davis, received one, and encouraged Roberts to record them professionally with his help.
What happened next is history. They released the first album, "Great Big Sun" in 1998. Before long, Roberts found himself as the leader of Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Band, traveling the country and building a solid base of fans from 1 to 100 years old.
Roberts' voice is mellow, almost folksy. His lyrics are simple, brilliant, and often quirky. His subject range is enormous. If you opened the dictionary to any given word and gave it to him, the man could make a song about it. For example, the song about the childhood rite of passage of losing teeth is titled "I Lost the Tooth I Lost", telling the story of how a just-fallen-out-of-the-mouth baby tooth gets lost in all the excitement. Other songs range in topic from little brothers to bullies to school to sweet and moving songs about moving and relationships with parents.
While Roberts writes about topics (i.e. naptime) and subjects (i.e. dogs) that kids relate to, he and his band put it all together in a way that is fun for everyone. His voice is easy to listen to and the music is catchy. Most song refrains are so simple, everyone can sing along right away (but you will find yourself wanting to listen even more to get all the words right, like for the excellent "Smart Parts")
In concert, Roberts is simply fun. He dresses simply. He talks to the kids in a friendly, but not condescending way. In fact, although he is two to three times the size of most of his biggest fans, the kids seems to accept him as one of their own. A large group of kids always seems to collect around the front of the stage, dancing and squeeling to the music. Parents find themselves singing and moving as well. Everyone seems to be smiling.
In this age of too much kid music that features kids singing and acting like adults, Justin Roberts is refreshingly an adult who thinks like a kid, in the best way possible.
Discography:
- Great Big Sun - 1997
- Yellow Bus - 2001 (Parent's Choice Gold Award)
- Not Naptime - 2003 (Parent's Choice Gold Award)
- Way Out - 2004 (Parent's Choice Gold Award)
- Meltdown - 2006 (Parent's Choice Gold Award)
Roberts also released two albums of music from the Bible:
- Why Not Sea Monsters - Songs From the Hebrew Scriptures - 2005
- Why Not Sea Monsters? - Songs from the New Testament - 2005
