Welcome to the Music Thursdays segment! Each week here on Geek Alabama, Music Thursdays will feature music related content. Music Thursdays will feature an artist or band and their latest song and / or music video. People love music, and we here at Geek Alabama love featuring artists and bands!
Clinical art therapist, musician, and president of the New York Art Therapy Association, Nicole Porter, announces the February 14, 2022 release of For Children of All Ages, a healing arts album for pandemic trauma response by her band You and Us.
Applying art therapy techniques to upbeat rock and pop music for children and families, For Children of All Ages offers a feel-good vibe of caring and belonging for anyone struggling during the pandemic.
The album’s eminently listenable song sequence escorts listeners through various stages of art therapy trauma response for children, as developed by Nicole Porter following the Sandy Hook School tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. Coupled with this, the challenge of parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic and the waves of disruption that have swept through American life inspired her to create everyday tools that could be accessed by anyone.
“For Children of All Ages provides a rare opportunity to enjoy tunes geared toward uplifting children and families who are experiencing difficult times,” says Nicole Porter. “It focuses on fostering wellness and a sense of security, and it introduces therapeutic techniques that can be used in a playful way with all children. It’s also a gentle dip into the vast stream of possibility that art therapy holds for healing humans.”
As co-producers, co-writers, and members of the band You and Us, Nicole Porter and musical colleague Wyndham Garnett (Lola Kirke, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Elvis Perkins) bring a vibrant dynamic to For Children of All Ages. Recorded at the Chicken Shack with Nick Kinsey (Kevin Morby, Waxahatchee, Elvis Perkins), the album draws upon Porter’s and Garnett’s mutual love of vintage British rock and classic American puppetry. The songs abound with thoughtfully crafted messages of courage, love, and support, delivered from the heart with artistry, enthusiasm, grace, and more than a few giggles.
Rich in its range of vivid sonic color and variety, For Children of All Ages weaves an enchanting adventure just by traveling from one song to the next. From the friendly warmth of its folksy opener, “Nowhere Now Here,” to the Nashville country vibe of “Safety and Security” to the pop beat and evocative, mystical sounds in “Social Connection,” the album never ceases to engage. Other highlights include “Absolutely Awesome,” an alphabet song for the letter “A” set to a Caribbean rhythm, and “Relation Ship,” where the brass instruments introduce a fresh, new color that blends perfectly with the song’s sparkly pop beat. The irrepressibly happy “Safe Island” delivers cogent messages of joy and good sense. For Children of All Ages comes to a sweet conclusion with “You and Us,” a gentle love song of the “three little words” that transcend all time and cultures.
Nicole Porter turned to Javere Pinnock, longtime collaborator and art therapy trauma responder, to illustrate For Children of All Ages. The album cover art, which depicts a band of mid-pandemic children elevating a flag of love and peace, was inspired by the iconic 1945 Joseph Rosenthal photograph, “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” and Felix W. de Weldon’s Marine Corps War Memorial sculpture. The eclectic group of children represents numerous trauma response situations that are happening throughout the world.
For Children of All Ages will be available starting February 14, 2022* at major digital retailers.
