Meet Jake, an honorary band member!

I want to tell you about a special friend of mine named Jake. If you have our first CD or have seen our cartoons on YouTube, you’ve already heard his voice on our “Three Pigs and a Wolf” song. In fact, he introduces the song with his then 3-year-old voice, and sings along during the chorus parts with his brother Joshua and sister Riley. Here’s a picture from the recording session.

Jake is now 10-years old, and he took up the saxophone just three months ago. He has gotten so good at the sax in such a short period of time that I invited him to join us on stage. Jake played the “Opposite” song with the band at the Coolidge Corner Theatre on Jan. 8, 2012 and stole the show! Here are some pictures from that performance.

Jake did such a great job in fact, that we decided to make him an honorary band member with his own D&F cartoon character! Meet Jake, everyone! I think you’ll be seeing more of him on stage and perhaps even on screen in future D&F productions!

Coolidge Corner Theatre - Jan. 8, 2012

Help us ring in the New Year at our only Winter 2012 Boston-area show for Debbie and Friends!

We’re playing the wonderful Coolidge Corner Theatre on Sunday, Jan. 8 at 10:30am!

We have lots of surprises in store including new songs, new cartoons, puppets, and special guests!

For tickets, call 617-734-2501, or visit the Coolidge Web site:
www.coolidge.org/kids

The Coolidge Corner Theatre is located at 290 Harvard Ave, Brookline, MA 02446

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Lyrics, Lyrics, Lyrics!

Hi Everyone!

Many of our fan families and school friends who enjoy watching our cartoon music videos on our YouTube channel send in messages asking for our lyrics. I typically ask folks to send me an email and I reply with our CD lyric booklets attached. I decided to make it easier for everyone and provide the downloadable lyric files here. Below are two download “widgets,” one for each Debbie and Friends’ CD.There is also a “share” link in case you know anyone who might also enjoy having access to our lyrics as well. Enjoy!

-Debbie

STORY SONGS AND SING ALONGS: Lyric Booklet Download

MORE STORY SONGS & SING ALONGS: Lyric Booklet Download

We’re on a Grammy-Nominated CD!

Exciting news!

Debbie and Friends has a song on an album that was nominated for a 2011 Grammy Award in the Children’s Music Category! “Walk Away” is our song on the anti-bullying compilation called All About Bullies Big And Small. It is one of five nominees for Best Children’s Album! The winner will be announced at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards Ceremony on Feb. 12.

Here’s the cartoon music video version of our song that is on the nominated CD.

Fun Tour Memories

Thanks to everyone who came out to see us in NJ, PA, and MD this month! We had a great time and look forward to seeing you again soon! - Debbie

Santa & Baby - a sneak preview

Did you ever see a picture and think to yourself… “THAT wants to be a SONG”? Well, that’s exacly what I thought when I saw the following picture of my friend Beth Oram’s little dog named Baby.

Baby! Photo by Beth Oram Photography.

It looked to me like this little puppy just wanted to be part of Santa’s team! So, Mike and I wrote the song, we recorded it one night a couple of weeks ago with some friends at Berklee. The groove is inspired by the Spin Doctors (Yeah!), and the message for this Christmas song is about giving, helping friends, and taking steps to make your dreams come true.

Our friends at Planet Sunday are hard at work on the cartoon version. The following is an “animation rough” also known as a storyboard. The finished version of this cartoon music video will be ready in time for Christmas 2011! We always like to give our fan families an inside view at what’s in the works!

Enjoy the (preproduction) story of “Santa & Baby”!

-Debbie

Debbie & Friends Nov. 2011 Tour

What a fun tour! Thanks to our friends in NJ, PA, and MD who came out to see us! Here are some pictures from our fun times together!

Nov. 3, St. Peter’s School, Philadelphia, PA
We had a great time with my nephews at their school in Phila! Here they are working the wolf puppets with the band.

Nov. 4, Axelrod Arts Center, Deal, NJ
In NJ, we played at a wonderful arts center with a fun crowd of 250+ preschoolers, teachers, and parents!

Nov. 5, Upper Darby Performing Arts Center, Drexel Hill, PA
Drexel Hill is the place to be for families concerts! Harry Dietzler, Paul Moffitt and the folks at UDPAC know how to do it right! We got the whole family involved with this show. Here’s a picture of my mom and nephews joining the band on stage.

Nov. 6, Gordon Center for Performing Arts, Owings Mills, MD
Finally, we played in MD for the first time for a wonderfully enthusiastic crowd! Here’s a picture of my crazy band doing their thing!

We even had our good friends and special guests, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer join us on stage for a couple of songs!

Thanks again to all of the families who came out to see us! We hope to see you again soon!

We’re Going on Tour!

Debbie and Friends on Tour!

I’m exited to tell you that we’re taking the band on the road! If you live in NJ, PA, or MD, I hope you can come out to see us this weekend!

Here’s the schedule!

Friday, Nov. 4 at 10am Axelrod Arts Center, Deal, NJ
We’re so excited to be playing Debbie’s home State! For tickets and more information, please visit the Axelrod Web site or call 732-531-9106.

Saturday, Nov. 5 at 1pm Upper Darby Performing Arts Center, Drexel Hill, PA
This beautiful theater is just outside of Philadelphia. For tickets and more information, please visit the UDPAC web site or call 610-622-1189.

Sunday, Nov. 6 at 3pm Gordon Center for Performing Arts, Owings Mills, MD
Please join us for our first show in MD! We even have special guests, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer joining us on stage for a song! It’s going to be a great time! For tickets, please visit the Gordon Center Web site or call 410-356 SHOW (7469).

Special guests Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer play a song with us!

We hope to see you soon!

Walk Away

I’m so happy to present our new cartoon music video designed to help kids who are dealing with bullies.

Meet Lucy Lou, her dog named Boo and their friends!

Taking on Bullying - a sneak preview

That’s right! Debbie and Friends is taking on bullying with a new dance number called “Walk Away,” and we’re excited to share a sneak preview with you!

The cartoon music video is in production right now. The following is our rough sketch storyboard version.

As you know from previous cartoon music videos, the storyboard contains the song and the general visual direction of the cartoon. After the storyboard is approved, the animators start the hard work of coloring and animating. It takes 30 drawings for every second of animation, so there is a lot of work ahead!

The band and I hope you enjoy the new song. “Walking away” is one of the strategies taught for dealing with bullies. I hope it proves helpful for some of our young friends who may experience bullying.

The final version of the cartoon music video will be ready in September!

-Debbie