Suburban rocker delivers pop for the preschool set

Posted June 02, 2010 11:00 pm

Matt Arado

Suburban parents know that when children's music is bad, it's really bad.

Thankfully, there are musicians like Justin Roberts who even things out.

The 40-year-old Roberts, an Evanston resident who plays frequently across the suburbs, is one of the leaders of the recent boom in smart, catchy children's music. His songs eschew the mind-numbing repetition and bland sentiments of so many tunes for kids in favor of quirky pop melodies and lyrics that touch on childhood experiences both good and bad.

Roberts' new record, "Jungle Gym," is out June 8 on Carpet Square Records, and he has a number of shows coming up in the suburbs this summer, including dates in Lisle and Arlington Heights.

As with Roberts' past recordings, the songs on "Jungle Gym" don't shy away from the quirky or even sad parts of childhood.

Consider the song "Sign My Cast," about a youngster whose broken leg keeps him from joining his friends on the playground. Or "New Haircut," which takes a humorously dark view of a trip to the barber: "I'm a regular kid and I don't know what I did/To be stuck here with this man who has sharp objects in his hands."

"I really write the kind of songs I'd want to listen to," Roberts said. "Kids are very responsive to the world around them, and it's not always perfectly sweet and innocent, the way some kids' music makes it seem."

Musically, "Jungle Gym" delivers more of the driving pop hooks that Roberts has become known for, along with some quirky time changes and instrumental touches (flute, cello, French horn).

Roberts started writing songs for children while holding a day job at a preschool in the early 1990s. He lived in Minneapolis at the time, trying to make it in the grown-up music scene with an indie-rock band.

The preschoolers loved what he played for them, despite the fact that the songs violated the musical or lyrical rules governing children's music back then.

"I played a song called 'Giraffe/Nightingale' that didn't have a chorus, and didn't feature constant repetition," he said. "To some people's surprise, they loved it."

After his band broke up, Roberts moved to the Chicago area and started releasing full albums of his children's songs. They were hits, and they made him one of the leading artists in a children's music revolution that included such other favorites as Ralph Covert, Laurie Berkner and Dan Zanes.

Today, Roberts performs at between 100 and 150 shows a year all over the country. He looks forward to playing the songs from "Jungle Gym" in front of suburban crowds. (He cites the song "Trick or Treat" as one of his favorites to play live.)

"I'm really happy with how the record turned out," he said. "And it's great to see an audience reacting to the music, especially when I see the parents rocking out as much as their kids."

Justin Roberts shows

Lisle: 11 a.m. Saturday, June 19, at the Morton Arboretum, 4100 Route 53. $10 for members, $12 for nonmembers ($15 on the day of the show). Call (630) 724-2066.

Arlington Heights: Noon Sunday, Aug. 8, at Arlington Park Racetrack, 2200 W. Euclid Ave. Part of Family Day. $6-$8. Go to arlingtonpark.com.

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