Justin Roberts Jives with the Whole Family...

Summertime means even more hours at home together for families. (Is that possible after this last bizarre school year of remote-learning hybrids?!) So to make your summer break a delight, here are five remarkable albums that will make everyone from toddlers, to teens, to even the dads, swing with the joy of transcendent music.
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1) ​Meltdown!
    by Justin Roberts

Funny how songs trigger the most poignant of memories. Turn on a Justin Roberts tune, and suddenly you're transported--dashing bare foot through cool grass on the first day of summer vacation after the second grade. Try it!  (But don't blame me if you can suddenly gleek water between the gap where your front two teeth should be!)

Yep, this Paul McCartney of children's music even nails down how wondrous it is for a young family to experience a "baby moon" during those first few weeks after bringing home a new infant to meet older siblings. (Check it out on youtube: "Cartwheels and Somersaults.")
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcrTG22fI8I

But the spectrum of Justin's music is wide. One of his songs even touches on the poignance of saying goodbye to someone so loved, that it physically aches to lose them, as in his song "Sandcastle." (Listen for a moment here:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wbnHO1piPQ

These are my top six picks from Meltdown:

1) I Chalk
2) Get Me Some Glasses
3) Cartwheels and Somersaults
4) My Brother Did It!
5) It's Your Birthday
6) Sandcastle

If you haven't tasted any of these tunes yet, try a sampling of Meltdown h'ors d'oeuvres on youtube at this link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuPTjAv4rAY

​2) Pop Fly!
by Justin Roberts

Want to teleport back to your Grandma's house and sink your teeth into her freshly-baked cookies?  Knowing there's someone two generations more-experienced and steady who's got your back? Listen to the song titled, "From Scratch," at the link below, to close your eyes and inhale her aromatic Sunday roast (Just seat belt-in your emotions first. I warned you! P.S. This just may be my favorite Justin Roberts' song...):
soundcloud.com/justinroberts/06-from-scratch

Top favorite titles from this album:

Pop Fly:
1) Pop Fly
2) Henrietta's Hair
3) The Backyard Super Kid
4) From Scratch
5) Giant-sized Butterflies

Henrietta's Hair will make you laugh every time--the lyrics are all too reminiscent of the battles of brushing tangles out of any eight year-old's head of hair! Justin just replaces squabbles with grins. :)

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3) Why Not Sea Monsters?
by Justin Roberts

This album doesn't take one back to childhood, but to the meridean of time--Bible Times! All I can say is, these melodies are timeless. And haunting. And serenity itself. But still fun. Justin's song about Ruth not leaving Naomi--gorgeous! I would order this album sight unseen, or "hearing unheard, or whatever you want to call it. It's that solid.

Here are my top five faves from this album:
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Why Not Seamonsters?  (12 Songs based on stories from the Old and New Testaments:)
1) Why Not a Spark? (A song about God's creation of the world.)
2) Nothing Much in Tarshish
3) Giddyup, Giddian 
4) Were you There? (This one is soooo pretty--unmissable!)
5) Ruth 1:16-17 (The story of Ruth in the Old Testament--get ready for higher ground.)
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I had to include this wild pic as every time I find lobster parts washed up on shore at the beach, Justin's album title, "Why Not Seamonsters?" runs through my mind...

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Here's just a sampling from a concert where Justin performed "Were You There? with the Saint Barnabas Choir. This song makes me want to cry and sing at the same time. Click on the link (below), not the photo above to watch the video... 
​www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qan0C5Ia-ag




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4) Lemonade
by Justin Roberts

No matter how old and stodgy we grow up to be, no one forgets the anticipation of running a lemonade stand on a hot July afternoon. Nor can one forget the steel drum beat that pumps through the limbs while hearing this cover song, "Lemonade." So get ready to squeeze some citrus while doing the Twist...

Lemonade
1) Lemonade
2) Long as I Got You
3) How Lucky We Are
4) This Is How We Bring in the Sun
5) Tree Home

If you need to smile at this very moment, in fact, check out this happy link (below) to Justin's video of "Lemonade" (you'll want to gather the kids in your life around for these goggle-eyed singing puppets..): 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=28mk4iKJPZM

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5) Wild Life
by Justin Roberts

Wild Life
Justin's latest album. My own family doesn't own this one yet. But I know what will be finding its way to our mailbox for the next birthday. Anyone's birthday! It's already ordered, actually. Yippee!  Just sample the cover song from this little video. It's a whirling waltz of cello heartstrings mixed with some pretty sage advice. (One of my teens listened to this four times in a row the other day. And it still didn't get old.  It's lovely. )  Link to the music video...(but come back after watching the clip, for a chance to win the original watercolor below...)
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​www.google.com/search?q=justin+roberts+wild+life+video&oq=justin+roberts+wild+life+video&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i10i160.10127j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

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So, if you've never heard the rapture of Justin Roberts' music before, make this the one artist you look into this summer. Your family, and your own child's heart inside, will be so glad you did. Justin Roberts somehow gets life in a nutshell, and magnifies the essence of its goodness. And...as Justin's lyrics for "Wild Life" encourage us, maybe they'll help us "get to that wedding feast in the promised land."

​So, tell me which of Justin Roberts' songs you love the best in the comments below, and to help promote Justin's latest CD, Wild Life, I'll put the names of everyone who comments into a hat and have my husband Matt draw out two winners. The first name will receive the artist's proof of my Lino cut print, Emerald Flight (18x18"), featured on my homepage. The second name drawn will receive the watercolor, Luna Study II, above. I'll announce the two winners around 10ish p.m. on Friday, July 9th, 2021. 

Happy listening and kitchen-dancing, guys!
​-Emily