Spencer Burton's "The Mountain Man:" - Tracks Are For Kids!
By David DeRocco dave@gobeweekly.com https://twitter.com/?lang=en
Niagara’s CIDCADA MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL has always provided a forum for rootsy, eclectic, folky music performed by some of Canada’s most interesting artists. For his 2019 return to the festival, Niagara’s SPENCER BURTON is reflecting that spirit by offering Cicada Festival patrons a world premiere of his brand new children’s album.
No, you didn’t read that wrong. The original member of Niagara indie favourites Attack in Black, Spencer Burton, is set to release his new children’s album October 4th. Entitled The Mountain Man, the seven song album is a loving ode to the imaginations of his children.
“Honestly I never really even thought these songs would see ears past the ears of my own children,” said Burton. “I wrote these songs specifically with words that were meant for my children, but also with topics they were interested in to music that was more geared towards children. The stuff they were listening to was either insanely repetitive YouTube trash, or the music they were listening to was musically fine but way beyond their age range, almost adult.”
Given the Burton family’s love of the great outdoors, and Spencer’s penchant for lyrical storytelling, the songs on The Mountain Main are replete with imagery about nature and woven with inspiring thoughts about its value.
“Our family is very nature oriented,” said Burton, who’ll be performing on the children’s stage as part of Henley Island’s Cicada Music and Arts Festival line-up that includes Joel Plaskett Emergency, Wintersleep, My Son The Hurricane, Born Ruffians, The Weather Station and more. “We spend a lot of time outdoors camping, fishing and hunting. I wanted to write songs about nature, animals, and topics that include things kids music should be about – self-worth, self-value, important things for this day and age.”
Sprinkled between the slickly produced and diverse collection of musical tales are references to mountains, mushrooms, pine cones, Mother Earth, ducks, owls and watery landscapes. While the album won’t be released until October, Burton says he’s performed the songs to great response in front of a couple of test audiences – the children at his wife’s outdoor education school, and his four year old son. That was more of a challenge for the often edgy singer/songwriter than actually writing the songs, which Burton says evolved quickly and organically.
“I didn’t find too much difficulty in the writing to be honest. They’re childrens' songs. We released the first single, “The Mountain Man,” and got great feedback from parents and music fans, with comments like ‘I’m a 27 year old and I’m going to buy this record because I like the songs.’ People have evolved. And kids like everything. The first single “The Mountain Man,” my four-year-old son knows every word to that song.
“The Mountain Man” contains seven kid-friendly tracks, capturing the nostalgia of childhood while remaining true to Burton’s laid back melodic roots. The album – with its Dr. Doolittle-esque depiction of Burton on the cover -- will be available in October via Dine Alone Records. After Cicada, Burton returns to the road with Ben Caplan and his next round of shows with Burton Cummings.
“The Mountain Man” track listing:
- THE MOUNTAIN MAN
- MOTHER EARTH
- BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ
- I LOVE THE WATER
- WHATEVER I WANT TO BE
- WISE OLD OWL
- ROSEY AND TIRED
Tickets for Cicada Arts and Music Festival are $45, children under age 12 are free. Buy them at MindBomb Records. For more information visit: https://www.cicadafestival.ca/site/home
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