Dr. Stringz

Recently at our friends' house, my buddy Jeremy showed me a clip of one of my favorite writers/comedians, Ricky Gervais on Sesame Street.  I remember watching Sesame Street as a kid, so I knew that famous people would drop by from time-to-time to chat it up. 

Gervais was singing a celebrity lullaby to Elmo and I'll admit, it was pretty good for a kids' show.  Knowing how much I love the works of Gervais, it got me to thinking about other artists whose works I love, and how involved with children's education are they.  I've been listening to a lot of this guy named Andrew Bird.  He's an amazing musician who plays multiple instruments, often times in one song, and manipulates "loop" pedals.  If you have itunes, go to the podcast section, do a search for "Live Concerts from All Songs Considered" and scroll down until you get to the Andrew Bird concerts.  Download it and allow yourself to be taken away.  Also, get some other concerts like Radiohead, Laura Gibson, and Ramblin Jack Elliot from the Newport Folk Festival. 

Anyway; Live, Bird plays this song called Dr. Stringz, which then leads into one of his more popular songs called Fake Palindromes.  Well, I did a google search for Dr. Stringz and found the video below.

Apparently, it’s a children's show (of which I am not familiar) and a character he has played on the show.  I think it is a great way to get kids started into classical instruments.  The reason I say that is because, after you watch the afore-posted video, check out an improv he does with Yo-Yo Ma.  It kinda makes me excited about the prospects of my little John Bonham.