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!
If boygenius found themselves on stage at Kidzapalooza, they might be mistaken for Birds of a Feather, a new American indie superduo of family music luminaries: Filipina-American Little Miss Ann (Ann Torralba) of Chicago, and Brooklyn’s longtime family music pioneer, Suzi Shelton. The duo announces their debut album, “Rock Together,” set to release on June 7th, preceded by two singles: “Jump into the Water” on April 19th and “Birds of a Feather” on May 10th. “Jump into the Water” features a Filipino American cast of collaborators including Mista Cookie Jar and Ronnie Boy and will be released with an accompanying music video in celebration of AAPI month.
Torralba and Shelton, beloved veterans of the family music space, bring a combined 30+ years of musical experience and 13 releases between them. Their award-winning music and YouTube videos have reached over 11 million views spanning 70 countries and highlight over 100 special guests and collaborators.
Underpinning their new collaboration is a 12-year friendship and BFF status. Ann’s battle with cancer, survival stories of raising their teenagers, and that one time when Suzi’s retina detached at a music conference where Ann rushed her to the ER, affirmed their mutual support and unbreakable bond. It also set the stage for an effortless collaboration.
In a world full of frenemies – fueled by how women are portrayed in pop culture – Ann & Suzi’s complementary friendship paved an easy and joyful production process for Rock Together. (They only disagreed once, about a synth sound that made Suzi cringe. It didn’t make the cut.) Most of the songs were co-written amidst giggles, usually en route from Boston to No Parking Studio in upstate NY where Grammy Award-winning producer Dean Jones seamlessly blended their stylistic differences. (If Ann is Wes Anderson, Suzi is Walt Disney. Or at least one of his princesses.)
The result? A staccato Tom Tom Club-esque “Tough Cat” where meowing horn blasts and whimsical harmonies ignite bravery and strength; a guitar-driven indie-rock title track “Birds of a Feather” featuring Suzi’s trademark “yeah”s; “Learning to Fly” a feel-good anthem and Tom Petty cover featuring New Zealand’s Claudia Robin Gunn anticipated to become this Summer’s go-to campfire sing along. With 10 distinct tracks, Rock Together brings together Family music stars like Red Yarn, Mista Cookie Jar, Ronnie Boy Kids, Michael Napolitano, 2021 Grammy Winner Joanie Leeds, 2022 Grammy Nominees Aaron Nigel Smith and Amelia Robinson of Mil’s Trills, and 2024 Grammy Award Winners 123 Andrés.
Above all, Rock Together is an artistic model for how joyful it can look and sound when an unlikely pair of women come together to harmonize, and end up taking flight in unexpected ways. Whether you’re detail oriented (Suzi will tell you she learned “Don’t sweat the small stuff” from Ann) or a generalist (“Let’s just do this, we’ll figure it out” another Ann lesson), there’s something here for everyone. Birds of a Feather wants young listeners and their respective caregivers to understand that having a friend around to keep you grounded will help you be brave and get through hard times. You know you’ve struck gold when your bestie tells you to “chill the f out” and you both burst into laughter. (Think boygenius ever did that?)
For more information and updates on Birds of a Feather and their upcoming album release, visit Linktree and Instagram.
You can listen and download the full album (both WAV and Mp3’s) HERE
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ABOUT BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Birds of a Feather is a new American indie family supergroup consisting of two kids music luminaries – Filipina-American Little Miss Ann of Chicago and Brooklyn’s longtime children’s music pioneer Suzi Shelton. Individually, Ann and Suzi have maintained a strong presence within the national kids music community, performing with their own bands across the country and producing many award-winning albums. For over a decade, these longtime friends have also been inspired to perform together regularly at esteemed venues including the Kids stage at Lollapalooza (Chicago), The Overture Center (Madison, WI), Jewish Museum (NYC), The Cabot (Beverly, MA) and Wolftrap (DC) to name a few.
Over the years, Ann andSuzi have recorded many singles together including “Spread More Love” and “Welcome Spring” which have been featured on national family radio stations such as SiriusXM Kids Place Live. In 2023, the duo decided to take it one step further and began collaborating by weekly zoom songwriting sessions to create their debut full length kids music album “Rock Together” produced by GRAMMY award winning Dean Jones highlighting their distinctive musical styles, unique vocals, infectious, joyful energy and rich harmonies to be released June 7th, 2024. The album features a plethora of diverse talented special guests from around the globe including Mista Cookie Jar, Ronnie Boy Kids, Uncle Devin, Mil’s Trills, Joanie Leeds, Aaron Nigel Smith, Red Yarn, Michael Napolitano, 123 Andrés, Claudia Robin Gunn, and Katie Ha Ha Ha.
Categories: Music Talk Stuff
