The Official Blog of Bobs & LoLo

When our friends discuss work, career goals, job satisfaction and the general mish mash of “shop talk” that comes up in circles of young professionals, we usually just smile, nod and smugly reflect on the fact that we have the best jobs ever! We are also usually quick to throw in comments about the benefits of working for ourselves – bosses we love, jobs we love even more, PJs ‘til noon, meetings at the beach – the list goes on and on!

That said, we are constantly evaluating, assessing and revamping the ever-growing world of B&L. As we continue to muddle our way through the business side of things, we are always developing new strategies to manage an increasing workload while planning for the introduction of new team members. I believe we may have mentioned our dream of an office administrator and roadies one, two or many times in preview posts! We also informally collect feedback from kids, parents and educators on an ongoing basis to help guide the development of our live shows and other projects.

Contrary to appearances, it’s not all fun & games!

So, today’s project in review – the B&L Blog!

Our blog has served a number of purposes:

1. We use it to share information about upcoming shows.
2. We use it as a diary of sorts to recount stories from the road and/or behind-the-scenes adventures.
3. We use it to relay exciting announcements and news flashes.
4. And occasionally, we use it to share fun finds that we’ve stumbled across in the course of our many musical adventures.

Clearly, our blog is multi-dimensional and our posts often ramble along a not so well-defined path. Eerily similar to our careers…!?

So, what do you think? We know we have a few regular readers out there, and we’d love your input. Are there particular blog posts that interest you the most? Are there things you would add? Change? Do you love it as is?

What do you think?

Please feel free to leave your comments below or email us your thoughts at info@bobsandlolo.com. We’d love to hear from you!

Alternately, if you’d prefer to tell us in person, please join us tomorrow, January 30th at ArtStarts on Saturdays in Vancouver, BC. We’ll be delivering two special performances for families at 11am & 1pm. This unique and intimate performance series takes place in the ArtStarts Gallery at 808 Richards Street. Admission is FREE and no registration is required. Space is limited, so please plan to arrive a few minutes early to guarantee a spot!  www.artstarts.ca

Bobs & Lolo

We are excited to be taking our show home for the holidays with a special family concert in our childhood town of Nanaimo, BC. We’ll be hitting the stage at our high-school alma mater, Dover Bay Secondary this Saturday, December 12th at 2pm.

Having performed more than 300 live shows across Canada this past year alone, we’re looking forward to returning home for this event. The festivities are a perfect way to wrap up a crazy year and celebrate all of the wonderful musical adventures we’ve shared to date. With our newest album having received a 2009 Parent’s Choice Gold and a Western Canadian Music Award plus the whole Treehouse TV thing, getting an opportunity to celebrate with fans in our hometown will be amazing! Plus, we’ll be sharing the stage with our full band and both backing musicians are previous ‘islanders’ too. Mario Vaira will be on guitar and Mark Harvey on bass…the kiddie mosh will surely be rockin’!

We first met at a Girl Guide camp in the late 1980’s and following a fun-filled weekend of campfires, sing-a-longs and outdoor fun, a life-long friendship was sealed. We were both thrilled to end up at the same highschool (Dover Bay) a few years later - Bobs & Lolo were actually our highschool nicknames! We soon started performing together through numerous choir concerts and piano recitals, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Retro Bobs & Lolo (~16 yrs old) - not much has changed!

We hope to see some of you at the event this weekend, and regardless, we’ll be sure to post some pics on our Facebook Group next week. Happy holidays!

Bobs & Lolo

Event info:

Bobs & Lolo are performing at Dover Bay Secondary on December 12th at 2pm. Tickets $8 in advance or $10 at the door. Children under one year FREE. Advance purchases recommended. Tickets are available at Kool & Child and Kiyo Salon in Nanaimo. For more info, please call 250-758-9727.

Doors open at 1:30pm. Be sure to arrive a few minutes early to enjoy the complimentary arts and craft stations. Kids will also be able to check out a fire truck with a special visit from the Nanaimo Fire Department (1:30-2pm).

As many of you know, when we first started performing for kids, we did a lot of birthday parties…A LOT! On average we would fit in 4 parties per weekend – a schedule we kept for nearly 3 years!

Molly’s birthday party! (Jun 2006)

Birthday bookings proved a great way for us to practice new content and learn what worked well with the kids. Plus, the experience gave us the confidence we needed to move onto larger audiences and transition from living rooms or backyards to real stages. Due to an increasingly busy schedule, we stopped offering our birthday party packages a couple years ago, but we have been thrilled to continue hearing from families that still include our music during their family celebrations.

We were excited by a recent Facebook message from the Wang Family, and we wanted to share the story of their daughter, Hayden’s, 1st birthday celebrations!

From Hayden’s Dad…

It was my daughter’s 1st birthday, and since she loves B&L, we had a B&L themed party.  We had B&L playing on the stereo (all 3 CDs I might add), and we had the On Your Feet DVD playing on the TV.  Everything my wife did in terms of décor was fashioned like the cartoon-y images on the DVD (bugs, trees, butterflies, flowers etc).  The room was filled with them. I even made little B&L name cards for the kids. There were also cut out music notes and flower confetti on the tables and “grass” centerpieces.  We even tried to get the cake like the DVD images with trees, lady bugs, flowers and more!

As the icing on the cake (pun intended!), here’s a copy of the text that the Wang’s included with their guest invitations – those of you familiar with our songs will surely recognize some of the words! We were super impressed with this…

Something special is in the air,
Flex your muscles and let down your hair,
Just like that I’m turning one,
Let’s go marching together and have some fun,
Musical adventures are what I adore,
Get on your feet and let’s hit the floor!
It’s sure to be an action packed day,
Just be ready to shake it up, okay?
If you haven’t guessed Bobs & Lolo are the best!
Get on the right track and I’ll take care of the rest,
One year already, how I go, go, grow,
So skip, hop, and jump and I’ll see you at the…..PARTY!!

It’s nice to be polite so please RSVP!

Our thanks to Hayden and her family for sharing stories of the birthday adventures with us! We were so flattered and touched to see how much they enjoy our music!

While on the subject, we wanted to flag a couple of great birthday ideas/resources. Be sure to head to Green Planet Parties for lots of tips and ideas for eco-friendly party planning and products. And, if you’re in the BC Lower Mainland area, check out the new nature-themed birthday party packages in Stanley Park! The Stanley Park Ecology Society will host a tailor-made party for your active, nature-loving kids. Bug hunts, forest walks, nature art and more! Program booking also includes use of a great party space (w/ access to kitchen) for snacks and gifts in the historic Stanley Park Dining Pavilion. For more info, visit www.stanleyparkecology.ca or call 604-718-6522.

Hope to see you soon!

Bobs & Lolo

Typically a slow month in the bookings world, we really seemed to be on the right track with the number of performances we squeezed into October this year. Starting off with an unofficial Lower Mainland tour (Langley, Burnaby, Coquitlam and North Van) and ending with some out-of-province fun in Ontario and a brief trip on the Sea-to-Sky highway for some festivities in Pemberton, October delivered lots of memorable musical adventures!

The kids at the Toronto Zoo are on “the right track”!

Our thanks to the families and parent groups who helped promote our shows last month. All of the emails, Facebook and Twitter posts were greatly appreciated! We also want to send out a special thank you to the Yummy Mummy Club for their support. The YMC team enthusiastically jumped onboard to help with some last minute promotions for our performances in the Greater Toronto Area. Be sure to visit their site for a great selection of resources and event info for busy, yummy mummies across the country!

The stage hasn’t been the only action packed venue for us as of late. We’ve also been super busy behind-the-scenes with new projects (stay tuned for more info!), CD and DVD mania (yaaa for xmas orders!) and 2010 planning! We would also be remiss to not recognize the hard work and dedication of a couple of key peeps on our team.

Mario Vaira, affectionately referred to as the “ampersand” in B&L, has been working tirelessly on a number of projects including the design of our new B&L-mobile! Mario does the majority of our design work – print, web and audio. You’ll also occasionally catch him onstage with us when we perform with our full band. Check out some of his other projects at www.fivefathomstudios.com. 

Our new ride!

Another important member of our team is Eran Norton - the face behind the B&L bookings world! We first met Eran when she hired us for the 2008 Port Moody Festival of the Arts. We were instantly impressed with her energy, organization and communication skills. We feel so lucky to have her onboard our admin team! Please get in touch with Eran on Twitter (@EranNorton) or via email (booking@bobsandlolo.com) if you are interested in seeing us perform in your community.

The lovely and talented booking rep extraordinaire!

Be sure to follow us on Twitter for regular updates on our adventures.  And, if you manage to join us for a performance, please check out our Facebook Group to share your own comments and pics! Thanks to everyone who posted photos from our Ontario gigs. We love them!

Next stops include Alberni Valley Elementary (Port Alberni – Nov 7th), Baby & Toddler Fair (Vancouver – Nov 8th) and a full band show at the Roundhouse Performance Centre (Vancouver – Nov 14th). Full event details and show listings can be found on our Events Calendar.

Hope to see you soon!

Bobs & Lolo

After a couple of action packed months in our home province of BC, we are finally jumping back on a plane – destination Toronto! We fly out this week for a quick series of live appearances in the GTA. This is our first visit to Ontario since 2007, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity to connect with familiar and new faces. Please put on your dance pants, brace yourselves for the kiddie mosh crazies and join us for some musical adventures!

Show details:

Diaper Disco (Oshawa)
October 24, 10am – 1pm
The hippest family dance party for kids and their ultra cool parents! Featuring fun activities, tasty treats, face-painting and the musical entertainment of Bobs & Lolo and MusiGo, these creative family events give neighbourhood nightclubs a fun-filled family focus! We will be kicking off the event at 10am!

Toronto Zoo
October 24 & 25, 3:30pm
We are so excited to share in this year’s Boo at the Zoo festivities! With a Hay Maze, Critters and Costumes Parade and a bewitching array of entertainment at the Halloween Harvest Stage, this event is sure to be filled with less tricks and more treats! We hit the stage both days at 3:30pm!

Oshawa Centre
October 26, 11am & 1pm
Dance away the “Monday blues” with your little ones during our special shows at Oshawa Centre! We’ll be performing two separate sets and hanging out with the kidlets in between the shows. Come visit us for a high five, a B&L sticker and lots of singing & dancing!

We wrap up our visit with a private performance for students at Park Lane School on Tuesday, October 27th. Park Lane School is a special education facility that provides students with an individualized educational program designed to foster participation and independence. The school serves over 65 students (aged 4-20 years) with various developmental disabilities. We’re extremely excited to share our music and programming with both the students and staff on our final day in town!
 
We’ll try to blog some photos and stories while we’re away, but please follow us on Twitter for more regular updates from the road. And, if you manage to join us for a performance, be sure to check out our Facebook Group to share your own comments and pics!

See you soon!

Bobs & Lolo

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope everyone had a fabulous few days with your loved ones. We had a wonderful weekend with a wee little reprieve from performing and lots of family, fun and feasts to fill the hours!

We started our weekend with a trip to the University of BC (our alma mater) for some musical adventures with the Wiggles!

Getting ready to watch the show!

The Wiggles’ show was super high-energy with lots of acrobatics, dancing and laughs. They played in UBC’s new Thunderbird Arena (future Olympic venue) to a screaming crowd of 4000 tots and parents. They also had another sold out show right after the performance we attended…these guys are HUGE!

Our favourite parts of the program - their cover of “Baby Beluga” (by Canadian legend - Raffi) and the big red car, of course!

Bobs was pretty excited! We think Anthony even waved at her…:)

We now have a few more days to recover from the last few days of relaxation (yippee!) before we dive back into our own musical adventures. While our shows may not reach the magnitude of the Wiggles phenomenon, we do promise that the kiddie mosh will always be rockin’! Next stops include North Vancouver and then we’re off to Toronto for a week! More details on TO soon, but see below for some info on next weekend’s gigs:

Saturday, October 17th – Jack & Lola’s 1st Anniversary
Show times: 9:30am & 11am
Limited capacity – tickets must be picked up in store. Available 9am, Tuesday Oct 13th. First come, first serve!

Sunday, October 18th – St. Catherine’s Preschool Family Concert (fundraiser)
Show time: 2pm
Tickets are $10 per person (under one yr are free). For ticket info, please call 604-980-1326.

Full details and all other event listings can be found on our events calendar. We hope to see you at a live show soon!

Bobs & Lolo

With only a few minutes to catch our breath at the end of a crazy, but ridiculously fun few weeks, we wanted to share a few stories from our most recent adventures before diving into the new month. September was full of many ups, downs, twists and turns - onstage and off! And, while receiving a Western Canadian Music Award was definitely a cherry on the top of a great month, we also had many memorable live performances over the last few weeks!

Of most recent note was a quick trip to Vancouver Island where we began our adventures in Port Hardy at the community’s annual Early Learning and Literacy Fair. This fantastic event featured great local entertainment with music, dance and storytelling and a host of wonderful community resources for wee ones and their families. The trip also brought to surface a little nostalgia for Lolo who actually lived in Port Hardy during her own early school years!
 

View from our hotel in Port Hardy, BC!

Following our performance in Port Hardy, we drove straight to Nanaimo for a few hugs and hellos with family before continuing onto Victoria for the Vancouver Island Baby Fair. For those of you unfamiliar with the island, we ended up covering around 1000km in two days! Have we mentioned that we LOVE our new mini-van? Needless to say, with all the driving, three shows and two ferry trips, we expected to be a little tired, but the great energy at the Baby Fair was a perfect way to boost our spirits. Thanks to all the families who joined us for the musical adventures! We hope to be back on the “rock” again soon!

Another highlight from the last month was an opportunity to write our very first guest blog! We wrote a short post for Survival4Moms.com titled “Musical Adventures for Learning, Laughter and Life”. If you missed the link on our Facebook Group or Twitter, please check it out here.

We also had a fantastic time during our shows at the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE), Party at the Pier and the Langley Country Celebrations. Please take a peek at the video below for a glimpse into our wonderful world of kiddie mosh pits, bubble madness and toddler dance-a-thons. These clips are from a number of shows over the past summer. We really do have one of the best jobs ever!

We hope some of you can join us for one of our upcoming shows!

Next stops…

Baby & Toddler Fair – October 3
Show times: 11am & 1pm
Location: Langley Events Centre (Langley)

SAFE:R Kids Fair – October 3
Show times: 4pm & 5pm
Location: Metropolis at Metrotown (Burnaby)

Evergreen Family Series – October 4
Show time: 2pm
Location: Evergreen Cultural Centre (Coquitlam)

Jack & Lola 1st Anniversary – October 17
Show time: TBC
Location: Jack & Lola (North Van)

St. Catherine’s Preschool Family Concert – October 18
Show time: 2pm
Location: St. Catherine’s Preschool (North Van)

For more info, please check out our events calendar!

Bobs & Lolo

Action Packed, the latest album from critically-acclaimed BC duo, Bobs & Lolo, has received a 2009 Western Canadian Music Award for Children’s Recording of the Year. Following on the heels of a 2009 Parents’ Choice Gold Award - essentially the Grammy’s of the kids’ music world – Robyn Hardy (Bobs) and Lorraine Pond (Lolo) continue to garner national and international attention for their third album’s refreshing lyrics, rich harmonies and original, ‘get on your feet’ tunes for preschoolers.

Action Packed features 12 original songs such as The Right Track, Snappy Snacks and Friends. The album is geared towards connecting children to behaviours that positively impact the world around them. Using kid-friendly analogies like trains, superheroes, adventure stories and more the songs address themes such as literacy, health and fitness, teamwork and friendship.

To listen to sample songs from the award-winning album, please visit www.bobsandlolo.com/music.html.

Bobs & Lolo use music, movement and make-believe to share stories and experiences that inspire kids to care about themselves, their neighbours and the planet. Already a hit with children, parents and educators alike, this award only reinforces the fact that Bobs & Lolo are hitting all the right notes on their musical adventures!

What do Bobs & Lolo have to say about all the excitement?

“Wow! Thank you! We were sorry that we couldn’t be there to accept the award in person in Brandon, Manitoba last night, but we are so honoured to be recognized in this year’s category for Children’s Recording of the Year. We want to first thank all of our friends, family and fans for their support and encouragement on our many musical adventures, and we also want to give special recognition to our producer, Mario Vaira for always believing in us and for fully investing his talent into making Action Packed an album that we are all proud of and excited to share with children everywhere. And finally, we want to thank our good friend, and fellow nominee, Will Stroet. His album, “My Backyard” also deserves top recognition. He accepted the award on our behalf at Sunday’s ceremony, a true indication of the warm and supportive nature of the children’s music world. Thanks again everyone! Woooohoooo!”

Action Packed was Produced, Arranged & Recorded by Mario Vaira at Five Fathom Studios, with drums recorded at WineCellar Music Studios by Ryan Stewart, and mastered at Suite Sound Labs, all of whom are located in Vancouver, BC.

See the Live Show:
Bobs & Lolo next perform at the Early Literacy Fair in Port Hardy (Sept 26), the Vancouver Island Baby Fair in Victoria (Sept 27), the Baby & Toddler Fair in Langley (Oct 3), the Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby (Oct 3) and at the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam (Oct 4). Full calendar listings and event details are at http://bobsandlolo.com/blog/the-big-calendar/

Yesterday we had an opportunity to hit the air waves with Stephen Quinn, host of CBC’s On the Coast. We were invited into the studio with the hope that we could help Stephen prepare to lead the national anthem at Nat Bailey Stadium on September 4th. The result? A lot of laughs, a bit of goofing around and very little performance instruction! Honestly, the only real take home messages from the interview were:

1. Bananas are great to help settle nerves - according to Bobs!
2. More cowbell is never a bad thing - even in the national anthem!

Take a listen to hear what else we had to say!

http://www.cbc.ca/onthecoast/media/20090903bobslolo.ram

If you’re having problems streaming the interview, please try downloading Real Player (free!) here.

Although, we had a good time during yesterday’s CBC shenanigans, the summer fun doesn’t end there. We have a fantastic weekend of live performances ahead! Join us for our final show dates at the PNE Fair September 5, 6 & 7. Stage times are at 3:30pm on the Global BC Amphitheatre. Shows are included with gate admission. For more information, please visit www.pne.ca.

Our first day at the PNE - great crowds & weather!

 
Day three - Mario Vaira joined us on guitar!

We’ll also be onstage on Sunday, September 6th for the Party at the Pier in North Vancouver. Join us at 12pm for some musical celebrations at the foot of Lonsdale Avenue . FREE admission!

All events are RAIN or shine…hope to see you soon!

Bobs & Lolo

It is hard to believe that we’re in the final weeks of summer already!? With all the fun adventures of the last few months, we will definitely have a hard time saying goodbye to summer ‘09. Speaking of fun, we’d like to send out a quick note of thanks to all of the families who joined us at the Harmony Arts Festival and the 50th Anniversary Celebrations for the Vancouver Maritime Museum as well as Kidtopia’s Grand Opening in Surrey and most recently, the fabulous Kids’ Day at Filberg Park in beautiful Comox, BC.

We hope some of you will be able to join us for one of our upcoming performances to help us wrap-up the summer season on a high note! There are still a few tickets available for tomorrow’s show at the Tsawwassen Arts Centre. This little performance theatre is the perfect venue for your tiny dancers! We’re thrilled that the Delta Arts Council has invited us to share in their special Family Series this year. Be sure to buy your tickets in advance - tickets are only $8 or 3 for $20 when pre-purchased ($12 at the door). Please call 604-943-9787 for more info!

We are also super excited to jump into our show dates at the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) next week! We’ll be performing 6 dates on the Global BC Amphitheatre as part of the family-focused KC’s Concert Series. We feel honoured to be sharing the stage with the likes of the Doodlebops, Playhouse Disney’s Choo-Choo Soul and Johnny & The Sprites. Find us onstage at 3:30pm on August 26 & 27 and September 1, 5, 6 & 7. For more information, please click here.

In addition to a fun-filled performance schedule, we’ve also had a few other exciting projects in the works these last couple weeks. Those of you following our updates on Twitter or Facebook will already be in the loop on the next bit of news, but we’re very happy to announce that we finally have a new tour vehicle! We’ve been dreaming for years about upgrading our 1997 Geo Tracker and with the development of our new stage show this past spring, a new vehicle actually became a true necessity when we could no longer fit all of our props and gear into the little Tracker. Although, we’ll miss our first B&L-mobile (for purely sentimental reasons!), we are thrilled to be the new owners of…wait for it…yes - a minivan!

We’re hoping to get some graphics on the van in the next few weeks, so be sure to give us a little wave or a honk if you see us in your neighbourhood!

Bobs & Lolo