The Official Blog of Bobs & LoLo

For the last four years, we have been trying to get involved with ArtStarts in Schools - a program that provides innovative arts programs for young people, practical resources for teachers and leadership in advocating arts in education. As you can imagine, we were absolutely thrilled to be accepted into the 2009/10 touring program!

As we excitedly celebrated this new milestone, we found that just getting accepted into the ArtStarts program is not the biggest hurdle artists face. All approved performers are scheduled for a 12-minute showcase to evaluate the educational and entertainment value of their show for the Artists Directory, and this step proved to be one of our craziest B&L experiences to-date!

Last week our nerves hit an all-time high when we showcased our program at the Roundhouse Performance Centre in Vancouver for a room full of delegates representing schools districts, festivals and community events throughout Western Canada. In the lead-up to the showcase, we succeeded in thoroughly stressing ourselves out by developing new scripts, choreographing new songs, constructing new sets and rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals! We do think the hardwork paid off and neglecting a few butterflies (OK - a lot!), we’re pretty happy with what we delivered. Below are a few pics (photo credit: Mike Hawley) from our moment in the ArtStarts spotlight…

Bobs & Lolo during the 2009 ArtStarts Showcase!

Opening song - Action Packed!

The delegates view…

Bobs in action!

Raindrop Pop!

While we didn’t have any major hiccups during our showcase, we were both so nervous that we honestly don’t remember most of the experience. We received a lot of positive comments from the organizers and delegates immediately following our performance, and we will definitely keep you posted on the “official” feedback when the reviews are released at the end of the month.

In the meantime, if you are interested in bringing our music and programming to your community, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We regularly perform at schools (elementary & preschools), children’s festivals, community fundraisers, performing art centres and a variety of family-oriented events throughout North America. General inquiries for booking information can be sent to Eran Norton at booking@bobsandlolo.com.

Thanks for reading! More soon…;)

It’s been another action packed month for us with lots of live performances and many exciting projects behind-the-scenes. We’d like to start off with a big THANK YOU to all of the superfans who came out to help us sing in the spring during Spring Break at the Vancouver Aquarium. The venue was jam-packed this year and the kiddie mosh pit was definitely the place to be! We loved meeting all of the new faces and connecting with familiar ones too…especially those of you that showed up for not one or two, but three or more shows over the week! If you have any pics that you want to share, send them our way and we’ll post some on our blog and our Facebook page!

Speaking of new faces, we’d like to welcome Green Planet Parties to the B&L family! We had the pleasure of meeting the company’s owners (both named Suzanne!) at the Coquitlam Family Fair. Green Planet Parties offers a great service with their selection of eco-friendly party planning ideas and products. We’re excited that party planning wannabes can now discover our music in the mix of great tips and tools on the Green Planet Parties site!

If you haven’t had a chance to pick-up your own B&L CD or DVD yet, you do have a limited time opportunity to get them for FREE! Soapboxmama is hosting another colossal gift basket giveaway, and we’ve added some goodies to the loot bag. Click on the image below to enter for a chance to win over $800 in prizes!

We hope to see all of you at a live show sometime soon. Be sure to keep an eye on our calendar for full details on all the musical adventures! Upcoming shows include the Kiddies Korner Imagination Fair in Port Coquitlam (April 4), two special family concerts at the Errington Community Hall in support of the Errington Cooperative Preschool (April 5) and the Pedagogy Toy Store’s Anniversary Celebrations in New Westminster (April 11).

If we’re not in your neighbourhood in the near future, keep an ear out for our tunes on Treehouse Radio. The digital radio network, hosted by Max Trax, has just started broadcasting some of the songs from our Action Packed CD as part of their regular programming - be sure to send them some feedback if you like what you hear! You can send in your requests here.

Well, we’d better get back to work! We’re hiding away in rehearsal for the next couple days while we prepare for our ArtStarts in Schools showcase. On Wednesday morning, we’ll be delivering a 12-minute snippet of a show we’ve developed for elementary school-aged audiences. ArtStarts in Schools is a not-for-profit organization offering educators, artists, parents and students a broad range of  programs, services and resources to promote arts and creativity among BC’s young people. We hope to work with the ArtStarts team to share our music and programming with communities throughout BC during the 2009/10 school year. Wish us luck for the showcase (we’re a little nervous!) and check us out in the artist directory at the end of April! www.artstarts.com

Here’s a cute little video that ArtStarts posted on YouTube to wrap up this post:)

Hope to see you soon!

Bobs & Lolo