WED., FEBRUARY 28, 2007
In This Feature
Magazine Archives:
Music for Little Birds: Elizabeth Mitchell
by Amy Davis
Generally speaking, there are two kinds of musicians who record music for children: the "adult" rockers who become parents and are then moved to make more kid-friendly music (Dan Zanes, Jason Ringenberg, and Ralph Covert of the Bad Examples and Ralph's World) and the schoolteachers who are inspired, after performing for their young students, to take their music to a broader audience (Justin Roberts, Parker Bent, Laurie Berkner). Elizabeth Mitchell came to children's music both ways — she's in the sleepy indie-rock band Ida and she taught at a New York City nursery school in the early '90s (not to mention becoming a mother in 2001) — but she's far from a typical kids' artist.
Kids' music has made great strides in recent years, becoming more intelligent and sophisticated (and far less annoying), but few current children's music artists rival Mitchell's artistry. Mitchell's goal is not to make kids laugh with clever or wacky lyrics, it's not to lure them with adult-like pop-music sounds and it's not to feed the hipster parent market with "cool" kids' music that will appeal more to parents than pre-schoolers (although her music does have tremendous appeal among parents). Instead, Mitchell does something truly rare — she makes great music for the sake of making great music. That's rare enough in the adult market, but even more so in the kids' market.
Mitchell's 2006 Folkways release, You Are My Little Bird, is family music in the tradition of Dan Zanes — in fact, Zanes tipped Folkways about Mitchell. But unlike Zanes' music, which encourages listeners to sing and dance with "wild abandon," YAMLB features a family singing together calmly and quietly. It was recorded in a home studio by Mitchell, her husband Daniel Littleton (also her partner in Ida), their five-year-old daughter Storey and some family and friends. Mitchell's voice is like that of a mother singing to a dozing baby — soothing, warm and natural, lending YAMLB an intimate, personal sound. Unlike so much children's music which still strives to be "louder, faster, funnier," as Fozzie Bear once put it, YAMLB makes you want to stop and listen.
The album ranges from older traditional songs like "Little Liza Jane" and "Down in the Valley" to such unlikely tunes as Neil Young’s “Little Wing” and the Velvet Underground's "What Goes On." In an interview with NPR in October 2006, Mitchell explained what drew her to the Velvets song: "It has such a great energy, but more than that, I'm drawn to lyrics that express a sense of wonder in a very open way. They're not bogged down by something too specific." That's another thing that makes Mitchell stand out among so many other talented children's artists — she's comfortable living in the abstract, and she respects kids' intelligence enough to know that they are too. If you were to ask Mitchell, "What is this song about?" she might very likely respond by asking, "Well, what do you think it's about?"
It's precisely that sense of imagination that leads Mitchell to re-interpret these songs in a wholly innovative way — she doesn't just make minor adjustments like changing the tempo or the instrumentation, as if she were just re-arranging the furniture in her living room. Instead, she completely reconstructs and re-imagines each song, the way an interior designer takes everything out of the room and puts it back together in a whole new way you hadn't even thought of. Although all 17 tracks on YAMLB are covers, Mitchell makes each song her own. Her cover of Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” opens with just light percussion and vocals, eventually building to a fuller sound, with a Hammond organ subtly providing the reggae backbeat and five-year-old Storey echoing each line. And while “What Goes On” is immediately recognizable as it opens with the driving rhythm guitar, the entire tone of the song (helped by the minor lyrical change of “lady” to “baby”) is playful and sweet, in stark contrast to the Velvets’ original.
You Are My Little Bird is Mitchell’s fourth release for children, and follows the 2004 album Catch the Moon, which she recorded with Lisa Loeb. As students at Brown University in the late ‘80s, Mitchell and Loeb formed the band Liz and Lisa. While their lives and careers went in different directions since then (Mitchell left New York City in 2004 and settled into a quiet artists’ community upstate, while Loeb ventured into reality television in 2005-2006 with her show Number One Single), this musical reunion seems an easy and natural fit for both. Their two voices blend beautifully — Loeb’s brighter vocal quality is a perfect complement to Mitchell’s more earthy sound. Sparse instrumentation works in their favor, showcasing subtle vocal harmonies. The album’s sound is predominantly folk, and at times — especially in the inclusion of three foreign-language tracks — a bit pretentious. But a handful of original songs (including the title track) and a cover of Dylan’s “New Morning” balance this and bring the album down to earth.
You Are My Little Bird has made Mitchell a major force in the children’s music genre. Her approach to children’s music — informed by her indie-rock background, her work as an educator, and her own experience as a mother — is thoughtful, genuine, and quietly imaginative. Thanks to her commercial success, Laurie Berkner is often cited as the “queen bee” of the kids’ music scene, but in critical and artistic terms, Elizabeth Mitchell should be acknowledged as the leading female children’s artist.
Kids' music has made great strides in recent years, becoming more intelligent and sophisticated (and far less annoying), but few current children's music artists rival Mitchell's artistry. Mitchell's goal is not to make kids laugh with clever or wacky lyrics, it's not to lure them with adult-like pop-music sounds and it's not to feed the hipster parent market with "cool" kids' music that will appeal more to parents than pre-schoolers (although her music does have tremendous appeal among parents). Instead, Mitchell does something truly rare — she makes great music for the sake of making great music. That's rare enough in the adult market, but even more so in the kids' market.
Mitchell's 2006 Folkways release, You Are My Little Bird, is family music in the tradition of Dan Zanes — in fact, Zanes tipped Folkways about Mitchell. But unlike Zanes' music, which encourages listeners to sing and dance with "wild abandon," YAMLB features a family singing together calmly and quietly. It was recorded in a home studio by Mitchell, her husband Daniel Littleton (also her partner in Ida), their five-year-old daughter Storey and some family and friends. Mitchell's voice is like that of a mother singing to a dozing baby — soothing, warm and natural, lending YAMLB an intimate, personal sound. Unlike so much children's music which still strives to be "louder, faster, funnier," as Fozzie Bear once put it, YAMLB makes you want to stop and listen.
The album ranges from older traditional songs like "Little Liza Jane" and "Down in the Valley" to such unlikely tunes as Neil Young’s “Little Wing” and the Velvet Underground's "What Goes On." In an interview with NPR in October 2006, Mitchell explained what drew her to the Velvets song: "It has such a great energy, but more than that, I'm drawn to lyrics that express a sense of wonder in a very open way. They're not bogged down by something too specific." That's another thing that makes Mitchell stand out among so many other talented children's artists — she's comfortable living in the abstract, and she respects kids' intelligence enough to know that they are too. If you were to ask Mitchell, "What is this song about?" she might very likely respond by asking, "Well, what do you think it's about?"
It's precisely that sense of imagination that leads Mitchell to re-interpret these songs in a wholly innovative way — she doesn't just make minor adjustments like changing the tempo or the instrumentation, as if she were just re-arranging the furniture in her living room. Instead, she completely reconstructs and re-imagines each song, the way an interior designer takes everything out of the room and puts it back together in a whole new way you hadn't even thought of. Although all 17 tracks on YAMLB are covers, Mitchell makes each song her own. Her cover of Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” opens with just light percussion and vocals, eventually building to a fuller sound, with a Hammond organ subtly providing the reggae backbeat and five-year-old Storey echoing each line. And while “What Goes On” is immediately recognizable as it opens with the driving rhythm guitar, the entire tone of the song (helped by the minor lyrical change of “lady” to “baby”) is playful and sweet, in stark contrast to the Velvets’ original.
You Are My Little Bird is Mitchell’s fourth release for children, and follows the 2004 album Catch the Moon, which she recorded with Lisa Loeb. As students at Brown University in the late ‘80s, Mitchell and Loeb formed the band Liz and Lisa. While their lives and careers went in different directions since then (Mitchell left New York City in 2004 and settled into a quiet artists’ community upstate, while Loeb ventured into reality television in 2005-2006 with her show Number One Single), this musical reunion seems an easy and natural fit for both. Their two voices blend beautifully — Loeb’s brighter vocal quality is a perfect complement to Mitchell’s more earthy sound. Sparse instrumentation works in their favor, showcasing subtle vocal harmonies. The album’s sound is predominantly folk, and at times — especially in the inclusion of three foreign-language tracks — a bit pretentious. But a handful of original songs (including the title track) and a cover of Dylan’s “New Morning” balance this and bring the album down to earth.
You Are My Little Bird has made Mitchell a major force in the children’s music genre. Her approach to children’s music — informed by her indie-rock background, her work as an educator, and her own experience as a mother — is thoughtful, genuine, and quietly imaginative. Thanks to her commercial success, Laurie Berkner is often cited as the “queen bee” of the kids’ music scene, but in critical and artistic terms, Elizabeth Mitchell should be acknowledged as the leading female children’s artist.
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