The Verve-Pipe's New Family Album

Monday night the affable duo of Brian Vander Ark and Donny Brown of The Verve Pipe ("The Freshmen," "Photograph") played a charming set from their new release, A Family Album, at the Chicago offices of the music marketing company Vervelife.

Brian and Donny made sweet harmonies like nobody's business while a crowd of toddlers and pre-tweenies in the front row boogied to the beat or stared in fascination. A few kids played a little arrhythmic accompaniment with extra drumsticks while Donny Brown rocked out on the snare and the glockenspiel -- and I was grooving right along with them, thinking These guys are awesome! and Oh, THAT'S a glockenspiel - one of those handheld xylophone thingies from marching band!

Our hosts, Vervelife, brought The Verve Pipe guys to Chicago (the happy name coincidence is no more than that) as part of their launch celebration for RhymbaKid and RhymbaTween, two promotional music stores for brands, with all kid-friendly content.

The girls and I have been grooving to the The Family Album CD this week as we drive to piano lessons, to summer school and the library. This is great music for kids and grownups alike with melodies that go in really interesting and unexpected directions, like the heartfelt and soaring ode to "Cereal." There are plenty of funny lyrical moments that make me laugh out loud, especially "We Had to Go Home," a song about a birthday party that needed kiddie bouncers. My six year old particularly relates to that one. And the eight year old teenager described the joyous track, "Wake Up" as "so good!"