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NEWS & REVIEWS

Jeanie B! in the Press

DAILY HERALD
— December 6, 2006

"Let’s hear it for the band — Musician, mom has kids on their feet"
– Eileen O. Daday, Daily Herald Correspondent

» Read the review at the Daily Herald.

LOGO: Walking OliverWALKING OLIVER
— December 1, 2006

"The Roof-less Interrogator chats with Jeanie B. — the head Jelly Bean!"  Paul Kelly interviews Jeanie B! on writing music for kids and life in general.

» Read the interview at Walking Oliver.

ILLINOIS ENTERTAINER
— November 30, 2006

[Mommy Knows Best] ...This is a great way to teach children lessons in life and also to introduce your kids to pop and rock music without exposing them to adult lyrical themes...
– Penelope Biver

» Read full CD review on Illinois Entertainer.

Jeanie B! takes her cues from kids

BY DAVID JAKUBIAK
CONTRIBUTOR, Pioneer Press

12-08-05

Spurred by truths from the mouths of babes, an Evanston musician, along with her husband and a team of rockers, is seeking to create children's music that lets kids bop without making parent's heads throb.

"I have two young children, a 5-year-old and a soon-to-be 7-year-old, and I take my cues from them," said Jeanie Bonansinga, who takes the stage as Jeanie B!, frontwoman of Jeanie B! and the Jellybeans. "The children's music I found when I had my children was kind of sparse-sounding, and I thought, 'Well, that's what children's music should be. They can't handle a lot more stimulation, their ears aren't sophisticated enough to decipher more instrumentation.' But my children taught me otherwise."

As the lead of the band Angel Paint and a longtime musician, having played in country, punk and rockabilly outfits since high school, she took this correction came as very good news.

"I don't like listening to that sparse music either," she exclaimed.

So Bonansinga wrote a few children's songs and decided to put together a band. She contacted her friend, bass player Lisa Crowe, another mom, who in turn contacted drummer Theresa Drda. But both needed some convincing.

Crowe was too busy. Drda was incredulous about the whole "kid's music" idea. But Crowe was promised she'd be able to play for her own children. Drda signed on after deciding "it was good music, just with kid's lyrics." Bonansinga's husband, Jay, a harmonica player, filled out the band. (Jay is also an author; see the other story on this page.)

After about a year multi-instrumentalist Mark Braun, who plays with Crowe and Drda in the band the Honeybees, joined the band.

After playing a few gigs, Jeanie B! and the Jellybeans were delighted to learn their theory on "sparse music" was correct.

"Children can handle fully produced music that has a lot of instrumentation, a lot of depth, a lot of harmony tracks," Bonansinga said. "You just need to be careful to mix the vocals out in front, so that they know what the music is about."

Blending genres

The music of Jeanie B! and the Jellybeans contains elements of genres including pop, rockabilly, and the blues. "The Tooth Fairy Rap," on their latest CD, "Mommy Knows Best," is a playful blend of hip-hop and surf guitar.

"The genre is children's music," Bonansinga explained. "It's not hip-hop, it's not pop, it's not folk. I'm not going to say I can do all these genres well, but my genre is children's music."

While musical complexities can be a part of children's music. the lyrics to need to be age-appropriate, Bonansinga said. But some of the topics breached by Jeanie B! and the Jellybeans, especially on "Mommy Knows Best," may come as a surprise.

"On this CD I did push that a little bit," she said referring to songs like "Colorblind," a call for understanding across racial, religious and ethic lines, and the Ramones-soaked "Mommy's in Menopause."

But Bonansinga allows children to be her guide in approaching a topic.

The menopause song came directly from a niece, giving her an instant reply to anyone who claims that's no subject for a children's song, "This (was) a 5-year-old describing to me her mother having a hot flash! She knows her mom is in menopause, she told me all about it."

Many of her songs get their start this way, she said.

"Children just give me songs. It's amazing, they just run by me and throw songs out to me, and I catch them, run home and write them."

Having an open ear, and a drive to rock out. It's all part of making music children and parents can enjoy, together, she said.

"I try to make rich, interesting music for adults to listen to where they feel, 'Hey I can really enjoy this CD. And I know I can play every song for my child and it's not going to offend, or hurt, and I'm not going to have to turn any words down."