Music: Hitting the Gym

With a fresh CD just released, Justin Roberts is hitting the road with his indie family-music. Following several stops throughout the U.S., he’ll land at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, July 18. Tickets are $10 ($9 if you’re part of a family of five or more).

Check out this review of Roberts’ Jungle Gym album by L.A. Parent’s Calendar Editor, Michael Berick:

Justin Roberts
Jungle Gym
$15.98, www,justinrobertsmusic.com

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Justin Roberts ranks among the top songwriters in the kids music scene today. Along with the likes of Ralph Covert and Peter Himmelman, Roberts pens little pop gems that really relate to what it’s like to be a kid.

His latest CD is entitled Jungle Gym, and, naturally, there’s a very playful vibe to the tunes. There’s a dozen delightful ditties dealing with various childhood thrills: playing duck, duck goose, getting a new haircut, having a fire drill and being “obsessed by trucks.” In “Cardboard Box,” he inventively captures how a cardboard box can fire up a child’s imagination. Although this is a summer release, Roberts’ tunes here covers the whole calendar, as he includes a song about Halloween as well as one about a wintry snow day.

While there is plenty of fun and games in his music, he also is quite effective on songs that take a bit more serious look at childhood. “Sign My Cast” tells the story of an active boy who has to slow down after an injury, while “Never Getting Lost” is about a child apologizing to his mom for wandering off at a mall.
Roberts has fashioned another wonderful album that will entertain both adults and kids.

Tags: family music, Justin Roberts