Free Song Download!

The new CD, More Story Songs and Sing Alongs will be hitting stores on March 30. Here’s a special FREE song download gift for our fan families to thank you for all of your support. The song is our new baseball anthem, “Home Run Ronnie.” I hope you enjoy it!

-Debbie

Home Run Ronnie, in production

Here’s a sneak preview of our brand new cartoon, currently in production. It’s based on a song called “Home Run Ronnie” about my nephew. The song will be included on our new CD, More Story Songs and Sing Alongs, soon to be released. I hope you enjoy it! The finished cartoon will be ready by the end of February 2010.

Thanks to Tom Jackson (Mr. J!) for the song idea!

For more Debbie and Friends’ cartoons, visit http://www.youtube.com/debbiecavalier

BCM’s Favorite Live Performances of 2009

I’m happy to report that we have been awarded one of Boston Children’s Music’s First Annual Favorite Live Performance of 2009! We’re really excited about this honor and thrilled to be in the company of such great musicians!

Here’s what Amber Bobnar of Boston Children’s Music, had to say:

Debbie & Friends is one of our favorite bands and we love to see them perform live. Debbie does such a wonderful job of talking to the kids and getting them to really feel like they are an important part of the show. Debbie’s shows have a very inclusive feel to them and they can be a great way to introduce your kids, especially little kids, to full-band live music.

Debbie’s band is just phenomenal, but I have to say that Mike really helps make the show. He is Debbie’s backup singer and all-around silly guy. The kids love him. He responds to all the stories and games and is just so much fun to watch. And I love his singing on the new song, “So So Happy.” Download your copy of “So So Happy” here.

Meet the Band!

The Debbie and Friends’ band has been making music together for nearly two years. In that time, we’ve enjoyed a special connection with our wonderful fan families who come out to see us play. I thought it would be fun to tell you all a little bit about each band member and unveil their new cartoon personas which will be on the new CD (coming soon)!

Mike Carrera is the producer and my partner with “Debbie and Friends.” He’s an incredible musician, can play just about any instrument, and has the most beautiful singing voice I’ve ever heard. His favorite color is blue, favorite food: tacos, and his favorite band is Head East.  Mike’s favorite thing to do is play music. For Mike, the best part of D&F is “Seeing how much the audience really gets into the music and enjoys themselves!” Those of you who have been to a D&F show know that Mike is a lot of fun and a VERY good sport!

Rory McKenzie is our awesome bass player. Rory and I have been friends for more than 20 years! We met when I was a music teacher in Gloucester, MA when his son (my first grader) told me his dad’s band needed a keyboard player. We’ve been dear friends and musical collaborators ever since! Rory has been playing the bass for (gulp) 40 years. His favorite band is the Beatles, favorite color, midnight blue, and favorite food, “See food!” Rory loves playing music with his friends, which is the best thing about playing D&F shows for him.

Eric Saulnier is our most-excellent guitar player. He’s been playing guitar since he was five-years old and it’s his favorite thing to do. Bob Dylan is his all-time favorite band and he likes the color red. Eric’s favorite food is Hot Dogs with Mac and Cheese (and I’ve seen him eat it at the World Cafe Live kid’s buffet!) In addition to guitar, Eric is often doing double-duty as our sound engineer for D&F shows, making sure the sound is just right for our young audiences. For Eric, the audience is best thing about playing D&F shows! I know the audience enjoys Eric, too!

Bill D’Agostino is our amazing drummer. He can play anything and he does it all so well! Bill’s been playing the drums for 30 years, and like Eric, it is his favorite thing to do! He is solid as a rock and is so much fun to play with! James Taylor is Bill’s all-time favorite band, and he likes the color blue. His favorite food is pasta. For Bill, getting to play drums with his friends and making kids laugh are the best parts of playing D&F shows! I know the band feels the same way about playing music with Bill!

That’s the band! We have lots of other friends who play with us from time to time too, such as Jeff Muzerolle, Susan Gedutis Lindsay, Liz Gould, Adam Olenn, Brian O’Neill, and many others. We always have a great time making music with the families that come to our shows.

Have you been to a D&F show? Does anyone in your family have any questions for our band members? Please post your comments and questions and we’ll get right back to you!

Berklee’s New Kids/Family Concert Series

Berklee College of Music is kicking off a brand new a Kids/Family Concert Series beginning this Saturday, January 9th with Debbie and Friends!

The shows will be held in Berklee’s newest performance venue, The Red Room at Cafe 939 located at 939 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.

Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for kids, and can be purchased online via Ticketmaster or by calling 1-800-745-3000.

Buy 10:00am show tickets here.

Buy 11:30am show tickets here.

Everybody goes home with Debbie and Friends’ tattoos and a free new song download card!

In honor of this new series, the Cactus Club is offering 20% off lunch entrees for anyone with a Debbie and Friends’ concert ticket! The Cactus Club is in the same building as Cafe 939, so you won’t even have to put on your coats to go to lunch!

The band and I hope to see you on Saturday!

- Debbie

Debbie and Friends

Bob McGrath and Me

Recording with Bob McGrath, Dec. 2009.

Here’s a sneak preview to the Debbie and Friends’ duet with Bob McGrath, “Until Next Time,” currently in production. What an honor to record with Bob!

Special thanks to Berklee’s David Mash who is featured on classical guitar. I hope you enjoy the song! It will be part of the new Debbie and Friends’ CD, MORE STORY SONGS & SING ALONGS, to be released in March 2010.

Until Next Time, duet with Bob McGrath by Debbie and Friends

Willy Won’t Smile for the Camera - Cartoon

Here’s the newest Debbie and Friends’s music cartoon featuring my nephew, Will Cavalier.

Enjoy!

Debbie and Friends on Fox News

On Friday, Dec. 18, I had the opportunity to talk about Berkleemusic.com on Fox Business News. I was thrilled to discover that the interviewees also wanted to talk about Debbie and Friends! Here’s the 5-minute interview.

It will air nationally as part of a larger music business piece. I’ll be sure to post the date.

Story Songs and Sing Alongs on Fox Business News!

“Willy Won’t” Animated Music Video Storyboard

The storyboard for our next animated music video is here! The song is “Willy Won’t: Smile for the Camera.” The video below is a rough draft designed to give you a sneak peak into what’s in store for January 2010. Have fun singing a long with “Willy Won’t.” See how many famous places Willy visits and learn “why” he does what he does in pictures!

For information about the story behind the song, please click here.

Song Inspiration: My Newphew, “Will”

I have a nephew named “Will” who is a major source of inspiration for my Debbie and Friends’ songs. As many of you know, when Will was 3-years old, he told the story of the Three Little Pigs with such enthusiasm one day that it inspired me to write a story song. That led to a series of story songs and I’m so grateful to Will for his creative spirit and for being such a source of inspiration.

Will is now 8 and continues to inspire. He’s got a great sense of humor. In fact, he went through a stage of making silly faces every time his picture was being taken. Even his school picture!

Will’s school picture with a silly face!

Of course, I had to turn that into a song!

And so, “Willy Won’t Smile for the Camera” is slated to be on our new CD in January. Here’s a production version of the song featuring Will himself singing the bridge (where he tells us why he does what he does).

“Willy Won’t” featuring Will - In Production by Debbie and Friends

And now, a new music cartoon for “Willy Won’t” is in development. It will feature Will and his whole family in cartoon form. Here’s a preview of what they look like on the big screen!

Stay tuned for the Storyboard version of the cartoon. It will be posted in a couple of weeks. Then, in January, the real cartoon will be released.

Thanks Will, for being my inspiration! You have a very proud Aunt (actually several of them!)