Hilltown Families

Ready to Melt Down? That’s right, it’s the end of March so it must be time for the River’s Family Music Meltdown & Book Bash! It’s this coming Saturday, March 26,...

Are You Ready to Melt Down? On Saturday, March 27th, 2010, 93.9 The River presents the second annual Family Music Meltdown and Book Bash!  The event is at JFK Middle School...

Shall we rock a bit?  Yes, we shall. This month, let’s look at some music that’s just good straight ahead rock for kids.  It’s not, to be clear, all head-banging, and...

Great Upcoming Shows and Announcements Thanks to all of you who came out to the River’s Meltdown Music and Book Bash in March! We had a tremendous turnout, great music and...

Sunday Concert: Secret Agent 23 Skidoo Remember, folks, this Sunday (02/01/09), we’ll have Secret Agent 23 Skidoo performing at Lyman Hall at First Churches, downtown Northampton, MA. A portion of proceeds...

Uncle Rock tomorrow, plus other updates and an announcement We’ve had some great turnouts at the shows we’ve had recently, and they just keep on coming…most importantly for right now, here’s...

For the third straight year, I’ve worked with Stefan from Zooglobble.com and Amy from TheLovelyMrsDavis.com to put together a consensus poll of DJs, reviewers, bloggers, and other people who pay a...

High Concept, High Reward By Bill Childs, HF Contributing Writer CDs aimed at kids are rarely what the industry calls “high concept” – that is, with a Big Theme running throughout,...

Upcoming Family Concerts in Northampton By Bill Childs, HF Contributing Writer Hey! Don’t forget! This Saturday, 2:00, it’s Aric Bieganek‘s CD release show benefiting the Northampton Community Music Center! Just $5,...

Compilations: All too often, as I’ve observed before (and as you’ve likely noticed), they’re leftovers or donated rarities that should have stayed rare. No matter how good the cause, the “unreleased...

Sure, some bands can pull it off, but most of the time, that “jack of all trades, master of none” cliché turns out to be based in truth. So this month,...

Hilltown Families & Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child Present … A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL CASSEROLE MUSICAL POTLUCK AND DEBUT CONCERT WITH BRADY RYMER & THE LITTLE BAND THAT COULD! Friday,...

Royally Rockin’ Good Time! Princess Katie & Racer Steve were a blast on Saturday during their afternoon costume performance at Lyman Hall in Northampton, MA. We had a terrific turn-out despite...

Hilltown Families & Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child Present … PRINCESS KATIE & RACER STEVE! Saturday, March 8th @ 1:30pm in Northampton Princess Katie & Racer Steve, will make a...

Indie Music for Indie Kids Now on 93.9 The River By HF Contributing Writer, Bill Childs Starting this Saturday, February 9, our long-standing radio show (over 100 episodes!) “Spare the Rock,...

Frozen February Fun By Bill Childs, HF Contributing Writer Brrrr. It’s pretty darn cold where I am when I’m writing this, and it’ll probably be pretty darn cold where you are...

The Deedle Deedle Dees in Northampton By Bill Childs, HF Contributing Writer One week from today, on Saturday, January 26, at 10 AM, Flywheel Arts Collective’s Pancake Mountain returns for the...

If you like the kitschiness of Rosemary Clooney's song, "Suzy Snowflake," you have to see this video put to Soul Coughing's version of this classic winter song.

Gustafer Yellowgold comes to Florence ... each of their songs is a blend of moving illustrations set to minimally animated illustrations that are accompanied by catchy and original story-songs for a...

Gustafer is a small yellow fellow from the sun, and this, the second CD/DVD set to follow his Earthly exploits, is sweetly hilarious and musically rich. The CD stands on its...

Beware, oh people-who-go-to-huge-rock-festivals. There’s an intruder. And, if you’re paying attention to where you’re reading this (and you look like you are), you'll guess who it is ... Kids’ musicians! (Cue...

Sammy’s Big Night By Bill Childs, HF Contributing Writer Local listeners of Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child should try to attend this benefit concert on Sept. 20th. Chris Haynes and...

Storyteller Keith Munslow Visits Florence SANDY SANDWICHES AT CUP & TOP Acclaimed storyteller, musician and visual artist, Keith Munslow was at Cup & Top this past Saturday following a live on-air...

Music DVDs That Won’t Rot Your Children’s Brains (Much) By Bill Childs, HF Contributing Writer I know, I know: You don’t watch television, and your kids are utterly puzzled when they...

Family Concert at Cup & Top with Mr. Richard “Richard Peeples [Mr. Richard] has a gruff singing voice that suggests he is more cartoon character than human, but that’s just part...

Music Compilations Worth The Bother By Bill Childs, HF Contributing Writer Pity the underachieving compilation CD. To do so, you may find it helpful to first anthropomorphize the underachieving compilation CD...

Hilltown Families & Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child Present … UNCLE ROCK!!! Join us for an intimate performance with Uncle Rock in the beautiful Hilltown of Shelburne Falls, MA. Make...

Performance Review: Princess Katie & Racer Steve Princess Katie and Racer Steve performed this past Saturday (04/28/07) at Cup & Top in Florence, presented by Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child....

What In The World? Kids’ Music Goes Global by Bill Childs Dan Zanes caused a stir a few months ago by noting the overwhelming whiteness of a particular national parenting magazine....