KINDIE LAND: Mr. Singer & the Sharp Cookies To Release Daniel Johnston’s “Devil Town” Cover This Friday, October 11, 2019

Mr. Singer & the Sharp Cookies, Chicago’s most energetic, award-winning band for kids, are releasing a spooky single this Friday! Their cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Devil Town” is due out October 11, 2019. Keep an ear out!

Here at ChiIL Mama, we've been covering Chicago's own Mr. Singer & The Sharp Cookies since their first release waaaaay back in 2005. They're favorites of ours and we've done video interviews with the band, shot them live in concert at our weekly kindie rock series, Beat Kitchen Concerts for Kids, and teamed up with them on numerous giveaways for our readers. 

They've been playing Devil Town at rockin' Halloween shows for years. I even shot them at Beat Kitchen doing this awesome cover back in 2011. Check it out here:



Speaking of Halloween spirit and weird creatures, we're also pretty big fans of their covers of The White Stripes' Little Ghost and The Cramps Goo Goo Muck. Great tunes that are fun for all ages.






If you like “Devil Town”, be sure to check out their 2018 album, “Happy Haunted Halloween”, and keep your ears peeled for “You Rock!” their most rocking album yet. Due out in early 2020.

“Lots to like about the Sharp Cookies.  Any band with the Ramones as a major influence is way cool in our book.”  - Lou Carlozo, Chicago Tribune

“Part of being a kid in Chicago is rocking out with kindie/folk icon Mr. Singer.”- Red Tricycle

Mr. Singer & The Sharp Cookies are the husband-and-wife team of Neil and Kerry Firstenleit (“Mr. Singer” and “Kerry Appleberry”), along with dynamo drummer Michael Massett (“Marius Mustard”). The band’s rocking, electric sound has been described as “like June & Johnny Cash playing The Clash while riding unicycles through the zoo!”

Both onstage and in the studio, Mr. Singer & the Sharp Cookies specialize in fresh, positive, high-energy music at kid-friendly volumes, sneaking a little mischief, a little sweetness, and a lot of fun into their clever originals. The Sharp Cookies music salutes the ancient concept that one of the most fun things about being a kid in October is the anticipation of getting your socks scared off of you,

Albums by Mr. Singer & the Sharp Cookies include: Happy Haunted Halloween (2018) Going to a Party (2017), Bouncing Ball of Energy! (2012), and Muddy Water Beaver Dam Band (2005).

All are available wherever music is streaming, including iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Google Play, CDBaby, and more. 

Want to learn more? Check out MrSingerAndTheSharpcookies.com 

Our Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/singercookies/

Our award winning music school’s site
https://www.leithauschicago.com/

A few live videos:
Come On, Come On, Come On!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Fke_0kmSQ

Just for Fun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqQVEyaPAmc

Rudy Rockhopper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJQMZ4qBNPU

Animation
Kirei Ladybug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmgrZ6kMrdo

WIN 4 Tickets ($24 value) to Mr. Singer & the Sharp Cookies Happy Haunted Halloween Show

ChiIL Mama's Chi, IL Picks List: Jammin' LIVE Family Friendly Concerts

Ready for rockin' Halloween fun? Bring your Rock Tots, Punk Kin and Banger Babies out to ChiIL Mama's favorite weekly series this Sunday 10/28/18 at noon! Mr. Singer & the Sharp Cookies are some of Chicago's best kindie musicians and a ton of fun LIVE. Don't miss this. They've been favorites of ours here at ChiIL Mama for years.

Enter below to WIN 4 tickets on us.

($24 value) to Mr. Singer & the Sharp Cookies 

Happy Haunted Halloween Show

 via ChiIL Mama.

Doors open at 11:30. Brunch menu available, full bar for over 21! This show is all-ages, so bring the whole family and tell your friends!

CHIIL MAMA'S THE PROUD PRESS SPONSOR FOR BEAT KITCHEN'S CONCERTS FOR KIDS SINCE 2010!

There's a chill in the fall air and that means it's time to jam at Concerts for Kids at Beat Kitchen every Sunday at noon (doors at 11:30am)! Food and drinks available and some of the best of Chicago's kindie (kids' indie) musicians.

ChiIL Mama's back as press sponsor and we'll be giving away a FREE family 4 pack of tickets ($24 value) for every show! Pre walkers under age 1 are free. Other kids and adults all need tickets, available in advance or at the door. Concerts are geared toward birth through 8 year olds with an adult along. 

Winners will be announced this Friday on site and on our social media. Upcoming weeks, our concert ticket giveaways will go live on Fridays and run through midnight the following Thursday, so check back with  ChiILMama.com like we vote in Chi, IL... early and often. 

Click HERE to purchase in advance and check Ticket Availability

Enter for your chance to WIN 4 Tickets ($24 value) to Mr. Singer & the Sharp Cookies 

Happy Haunted Halloween Show

 via ChiIL Mama.

Enter through midnight Thursday 10/25/18. Winners will be announced this Friday on site and on our social media. Upcoming weeks, our concert ticket giveaways will go live on Mondays and run through midnight the following Thursday, so check back with ChiILMama.com like we vote in Chi, IL... early and often. 

*Please check your dates and be sure you can make it to the show before entering. We know kids get sick and last minute things happen, so if you win and can't make it, let us know ASAP so we can choose another winner. No shows who don't let us know will be banned from winning Concerts for Kids tickets for a month.

ENTER HERE

RECAP: Black Flag Kids' Show at Reggie's Guest Post by Mr. Singer

Here at ChiIL Mama we know kids and parents rock. Your craving for live music and your concert lovin' life doesn't end, just 'cause you create a life. So, we were super stoked when Black Flag announced an early, all ages show for kids (not teens... little punk kin with parents) before their adult gig at Reggies Rock Club in Chicago a few weeks back! We promoted it for months, then as luck would have it, we were out of town on a travel shoot when the show went down. Happily, we have a guest post by Neil Firstenleit (AKA: Mr. Singer, a well loved Chicago kindie musician and former long haired punk). Here's his sweet recap.

WHAT?!?! A free Black Flag show 

for kids, awesome!

by N. Firstenleit

A few weeks back, at this time, I was psyched up, standing in line at Chicago’s south-side rock club Reggie’s to see Black Flag for my first time. I have been rocking out to Black Flag since I was in grade school thanks to my older brothers and Greg Ginn’s unique style of fast, raw riffage makes him one of my favorite guitarist! Crazy thing is, this was a kids’ show! I went with a couple friends, Lilli 5 years old and her dad Jef, the Sharp Cookies’ Videographer.

The line consisted of mostly tattooed grownups and their youngsters. It was an interesting line to be in. The kid in front of us was entertaining us with a funny face puckering sound he called “fish fats”. These kids were sharing an authentic rock experience with their folks. Adults without children were being turned away until the later show. The doorman let me in with Lilli and Jef. Several families made it to the show, I was expecting it to reach capacity being a free Black Flag show and all, but it ended up being a very comfortable turn out. 

The bar had free hotdogs & pop for the kids before the show. While Lilli had a bite, I checked out the concert Ts. Most of the art was from their album covers by artist Raymond Pettibon. MY WAR has a knife in the hand of a puppeteer, SLIP IT IN has a nun hanging on to a hairy leg and JEALOUS AGAIN has a pistol-toting cheerleader. I got Everything Went Black, a menacing image of hedge clippers in a pair of clenched hands, the most kid friendly one they had. 

The band hit the stage and everyone was ready to rock! They played the sing-a-long classics: Rise Above, Louie Louie, Six Pack (singer said it was about baby formula) and TV Party (the kids added their favorite shows: Sponge Bob, Adventure Time and Uncle Grandpa). Greg leaned over and reminded singer Mike V not to say F*%& and he didn’t.

The volume was definitely kid friendly, which was great for the kids, but it left me wanting to hear them cranked up! The vocalist and the drummer seemed to be holding back, which is cool for the eardrums, but not for the raw power. Greg Ginn’s guitar (and theremin) playing was still pretty awesome to see live at whatever volume! I guess that’s why people pay for the later show. If I had, I would have also seen Robby Krieger of the Doors jamming with Black Flag! Would have been worth the $20 for sure.

After the show the band came out and talked with the kids. When I asked Greg Ginn about the choice to do a kids’ show and he said Reggie’s asked them to do it and they thought, why not? It was his first time playing a kids' show and he wished his 7 & 9 year old children would have been there. Lilli, Jef and I were definitely glad we were there!

Miss 'em at Reggies or just can't get enough?!

Check 'em out LIVE 7/18 at Brauerhouse in Lombard, IL. for $14 (this one's 18+).

WIN 4 Free Tickets to Beat Kitchen's Concerts for Kids Weekly #giveaway

Beat Kitchen's Concerts for Kids every Sun at noon! (4 FREE Tickets every week $24 value)

ChiIL Mama is baaaaack as press sponsor for the 3rd year in a row.

Got rock tots, banger babies, little folk, indie urchins & punk kin?!   Then get over to Beat Kitchen every Sunday at noon.  Parents can purchase brunch and the best Bloody Marys in town while the kids get their squirrelies out on the dance floor to some of the rockinist LIVE kindie bands in town in a LOT of genres!   This is not Barney & The Wiggles people!   Shows are reasonably priced, weekly, family friendly fun for birth through 10 year olds and their parents.  Kids under 1 year are free.  

UPCOMING CONCERTS - $6 per person/all ages What's better than cheap, weekly, live kindie concerts & rockin' out with your offspring?! Winning FREE tickets from ChiIL Mama! MR. SINGER & THE SHARP COOKIES NOV 24 • 12 PM Buy Tickets! *Click Here To Win Mr. Singer Tickets LITTLE MISS ANN Dec 8 • 12 PM Buy Tickets! *click here to win Little Miss Ann Tixs Enter to win through midnight each Thursday/winners notified by e-mail and posted here on the blog on Fridays. LAURA DOHERTY Dec 15 • 12 PM Buy Tickets! *Click here to win Laura Doherty Tixs     ICE CREAM VENDORS Jan 12 • 12 PM Buy Tickets! *Click here to win Ice Cream Vendors Tixs

We're also your source for loads of original content on the kindie scene.   We shoot our own live show video clips, stills, video band interviews, CD reviews, and loads of music and ticket giveaways.   Search our sidebar for your favorites by name.  Come on by and ChiIL out a while.   For the coolest fam friendly fun in Chi, IL and beyond.  
Didn't win this week?  Weekly single band shows are just $6!  
ChiIL Mama announces new winners announced every Friday, so enter like we vote in Chi, IL... early and often.

KINDIE LAND: Mr. Singer & The Sharp Cookies at Old Town School HALLOWEEN Show Sunday 10/27 11am

INCOMING:  ChiIL Live Shows on our Radar.

Sunday, October 27, 2013  ♦  11:00 AM

Spooky Singalong

Featuring Mr. Singer & The Sharp Cookies with Lindsay Weinberg, and Shanta Nurullah
Kids Concert

4544 N Lincoln Ave · Gary and Laura Maurer Concert Hall · 773.728.6000

• $12 General Public
• $11 Members

BUY Sun 11:00 AM TICKETS

Goblins, ghouls, and ghosts! Oh my! Bring the whole family to this spooky, but not scary, sing-a-long featuring our Wiggleworms faculty. Be sure to wear your Halloween costume!

Check back with ChiIL Mama like we vote in Chi, IL... early and often.   We'll have some of Mr. Singer's new Halloween tunes for you as well as our original live concert footage from their shows of Halloweens past!