Discography

The Bottle Let Me Down 2002

The past few years we've noticed some of our friends have disappeared from the regular concert-going scene, only to show up, bags under the eyes and a frantic, twitchy no-sleep look, at some of the frequent daytime shows that happen around Chicago. It's then that we realize that these hard-core music fans have been saddled ... er ... blessed with the joys of parenthood. Since many of our artists are in the same boat, we thought it was high time Bloodshot entered the children's music fray.

We bring you this record for the amusement of children and arrested adolescents everywhere; a collection of songs for kids that won't have mom and dad running for cover cursing that obnoxious dinosaur fellow. Songs full of cowbells, wolf calls, banjos, bongos, hiccups and rubber duckies ... songs about boppin' robins, cranky magicians, dancing pigs, singing cats, pickle trees, meatball bushes, spitting cows and gambling mice. Bringing them to life is a dazzling array of roots rock heroes like Rosie Flores, Kelly Hogan, Alejandro Escovedo, Robbie Fulks, the Handsome Family, the Waco Brothers, Split Lip Rayfield, Kim Lenz, Freakwater, Trailer Bride and more.

Yup, a kids' record. But do not be fooled. For wrapped inside this colorful package decorated with cute drawings (by real-live kids!), you'll find more Brothers Grimm than Mother Goose. Like Freakwater's take on "Little Red Riding Hood" or Carolyn Mark's "The Three Billy Goats Gruff." And who knew kids' songs can be so bloody? Witness the lovely Welsh folk song the Waco Brothers bring to the table, "The Fox." We tried to strike a balance though, by including classics like "Rubber Duckie" and "On Top Of Spaghetti."

You'll get a lot of mileage out of this cd. For instance, you can wake the kids in the morning with Rosie Flores' chipper "Red Red Robin." Remind them of their manners with Cornell Hurd's "Don't Wipe Your Face On Your Shirt." Keep them wary of strangers wearing clown suits with Robbie Fulks' "Godfrey." And finally, send them off to sweet dream-land with Trailer Bride's pretty "Lullaby."

All in all, it's 26 songs that tell us it's tough to be a kid sometimes, bath time is fun, weird foods are tasty, bodily functions are funny, imagination is your friend, and it's good to be different.