Long Island’s Brady Rymer has been a proponent of special needs and children with disabilities over the course of his career as a kids’ musician. His 2011 album, Love Me For Who I Am, was dedicated to the concerns and triumphs of spectrum children and their families. Brady serves double duty as the leader of the Little Band That Could as well as bass player for the Laurie Berkner Band. For Autism Awareness Month, he and Laurie teamed up for a version of his song, “Soft Things.” Shot “low tech” from their respective shelters-in-place, the video was edited by their children, Lucy, Gus, and Daisy.
Wendy Morgan and Darryl Boggs (Wendy and DB) are back with a new album of kindie empowerment songs from their base in Chicago. Hey Big World contains 15 mostly original songs covering the environment, childhood fears, rules, animals, and education.
A sprightly cover of “Let’s Go Fly A Kite” turns any car ride into an instant singalong. “Giralephant” creates a fantastic new creature but also teaches a lesson about being different and not fitting in. However, the next track goes right back to a more obvious message, “Stop For the Red Light.” Wendy and DB have sincere concerns, know their audience, and delight in spreading their messages of love, inclusion, and peace. The CD is dedicated to DB’s mother Addy, who passed away last year at the age of 95. If you buy a physical copy of the CD (a novel idea these days), Hey Big World comes with an illustrated booklet with the lyrics to every song.
Ten percent of sales from Hey Big World go towards two charities: Jumpstart, which provides language, literacy, and social-emotional programming for preschool children from under-resourced communities, and A Better Life for Kids, based in Ghana, Africa, which purchases food, medicine, and other essential supplies and equipment for babies and children, and funds education and literacy programs.
Hey Big World is available from Amazon and Apple Music.
