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Chugga Choo!

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

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!

Yummy Mummy Logo

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

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Hello Ontario!

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

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!

Warming up!

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

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Thanksgiving with the Wiggles!

Monday, October 12th, 2009

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 for the show!
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!

The big red car!
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

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Rockin and Rollin!

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

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!
 
Port Hardy 2009
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

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Action Packed Western Canadian Music Awards!

Monday, September 21st, 2009

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

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/

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On Air Fun with CBC Radio!

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

CBC Radio

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.

PNE 2009
Our first day at the PNE - great crowds & weather!

  

 PNE 2009
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!

Party at the Pier 2009

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

Bobs & Lolo

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The Final Countdown!

Friday, August 21st, 2009

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!

TAC - Aug 22, 2009

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!

 New wheels!

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

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Cowabunga!

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

The last month has been filled with pancakes and bubbles, cowboys and jellyfish, heat waves and hailstorms, singing, dancing and more! Our musical adventures have been a little like a rollercoaster ride over prairies, mountains and sea by boat, plane, car and foot! Since our last report from the road, we made it through 10-days straight at the Calgary Stampede, a flurry of shows closer to home in the Lower Mainland of BC and a visit to the remote beauty of the Queen Charlotte Islands. With lots of ups and a few downs (missed our flight home from Calgary!), the brightest parts have been the constant reminder of just how amazing our travels truly are with new friends, places and experiences around every turn!

North Beach, QCI
North Beach on Graham Island!

Two short weeks ago we arrived home following a run of 35 shows at the Calgary Stampede…yes – 35! Highlights of our Alberta adventures included our wonderful host family (the Tait’s!), a nerve-wracking yet exhilarating performance on the Grandstand Stage for nearly 15,000 people, bike rides, chuckwagons, ice cream treats and many new friends at Buckaroos!
 
Cowgirl Bobs!
Westcoast cowgirl – Bobs!

Glenmore Reservoir
Morning ride around the Glenmore Reservoir!

Buckaroos!
Some of the Buckaroos team in the children’s area!

Calgary Stampede
Trekking from the Grandstand Stage back to Buckaroos!

Our visit to the Calgary Stampede flew by in a blur of crazy shows, sightseeing and sleep deprivation! On our return to BC we had a couple of days to rest up before jumping into some shows near home. Special thanks to the families that came out to support Canuck Place at the Agoo Kids’ Day in Kits and all of the kidlets who joined in on the singing and dancing at the Shadbolt Centre’s Discovery Days Festival. We had a fabulous time at both events. If you have pics from the shows, please feel free to share them on our Facebook Group – we’d love to see them!

Most recently, we returned from a performance at the Tlell Fair on the beautiful Queen Charlotte Islands. The best word to describe this trip is magical! We spent three days exploring pieces of the most stunning land on the planet and felt honoured with the opportunity to meet some of the most kind and generous people you can find. Our thanks to Doug Mark Louis and the rest of the Tlell Fall Fair committee for inviting us to share in this year’s festivities and special appreciation to the Richardson Family for allowing us to make the Richardson Ranch “home” for a few days. We feel privileged to have spent some time exploring the farm and the surrounding community – a true west coast paradise!

Tow Hill Trail
Enjoying the beauty of nature at Tow Hill!

B&L with Grandpa Doug!
Enjoyed our history lesson with Grandpa Doug!

Richardson Ranch
Curious pair of the award-winning Herefords on the Ranch!

We were also thrilled to have Mario Vaira join us on this recent trip. Mario came along to lend us his musical talents (guitar and backing vocals), but we also have to give him a shout out for bringing so much more to our musical adventures! We often refer to Mario as the “ampersand” in B&L as he is an integral part of our team from performing to production to design. Mario actually produced all three of our albums, including Action Packed which was recently nominated for a 2009 Western Canadian Music Award for Best Children’s Album of the Year! Yaaaa! Check out some of Mario’s other projects at www.fivefathomstudios.com.

Soundcheck!
Sound check at the Tlell Fall Fair!

After all this, it is crazy to think that summer is only halfway through! We have a number of shows coming up, including three fabulous events this weekend. Please join us for lots of free family fun!

Friday, August 7 – Harmony Arts Festival
Location: West Vancouver
Show Time: 10am

Saturday, August 8 – Vancouver Maritime Museum
Location: Vancouver
Show time: 11:30am

Sunday, August 9 – Kidtopia
Location: Surrey
Show time: 2:45pm

Thanks for tuning in for some of our stories from the road! We hope to be in your neighbourhood soon! :)

Bobs & Lolo

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Western Canadian Music Awards

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

Action Packed has received a 2009 nomination for Best Children’s Recording of the Year from the Western Canadian Music Alliance! Following on the heels of a 2009 Parents’ Choice Gold Award – essentially the Grammy’s of the kids’ music world – Bobs & Lolo continue to garner national and international attention for their 3rd album’s refreshing lyrics, rich harmonies and original, ‘get on your feet’ tunes for preschoolers.

Action Packed

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. Already a hit with children, parents and educators alike, the recent WCMA nomination only reinforces the growing success of Bobs & Lolo’s latest project!

The Western Canadian Music Awards honour the best of Western Canadian recordings. This year’s awards ceremony will take place in Brandon, Manitoba on September 20th, 2009.

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

Bobs & Lolo use music, movement and make-believe to share stories and experiences that both entertain and educate, while ultimately teaching children to care about themselves, their neighbours and the planet. Their programming places an emphasis on celebrating the values of healthy-living and aims to inspire young audiences with an awareness and appreciation for the world around them. Watch for regular appearances by Bobs & Lolo on the national children’s television network, Treehouse TV!

“Watch out Penner, Diamond and Raffi. Speaking of Penner, the duo opened for the legendary Canadian children’s entertainer this [past] summer.” -  Fiona Hughes, The Vancouver Courier

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Crazy Canada Day!

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

We wanted to post a brief note to wish all of you a happy belated Canada Day and share some stories from our festive July 1st adventures before we dive into our run of shows at the Calgary Stampede. 

Canada Day '09

We’re writing this from a cozy basement in the home of our fabulous Calgary host family – the Tait’s! It is crazy to reflect back on how much happened yesterday and to think that less than 24 hours ago, we were just stepping onto a stage in Coquitlam, BC.

Our Canada Day festivities began in partnership with the City of Coquitlam during the first annual family celebration at Lafarge Lake. This fantastic event was capped by sunny skies, a fabulous team of staff and volunteers and hundreds of kids, adults and entire families sporting their patriotic reds and whites! Special thanks to all the kids and the super-talented Currie “Chuckles” Creelman (piano) and Mario “Marstar” Vaira (guitar) for helping us rock the show! Sadly, we didn’t get any photos from the performance, but if anyone out there is willing to share, please send pics to fanmail@bobsandlolo.com or post them on our Facebook Group.

Immediately following our performance in Coquitlam, we motored over to Kitsilano in Vancouver to set-up for a performance on the Showboat Stage. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Vancouver’s English Bay and the North Shore mountains, this was definitely one of the most picturesque venues we have performed in…and one of the windiest! The Kits Showboat Stage is managed completely by volunteers, and presents live entertainment weekly throughout the summer months. Our thanks to the families that joined us to kick-off the Canada Day entertainment and extra hugs to the kids for retrieving all of our wayward props that blew away in the refreshing ocean “breeze”. :)

If two shows in two cities in one 4 hour period wasn’t already enough craziness for Canada Day, scheduling a flight to Calgary right after the second performance definitely put the icing on the cake! It was a bit of a mad scramble to re-organize our stuff to prepare for the flight. Vancouver-ites may have even spotted us on the side of the road after our Kits show, although you may have easily mistaken our organizational strategy as a set-up for a sidewalk “garage” sale!

Road pack!

Thanks to a wonderful chauffeur (yaaaa Mario!) and a sweet airport limo (1974 volkswagon van!), we made it on time, with all of our luggage, to YVR.

Airport Limo!

Our next hurdle was checking in all of our gear – $350 in extra baggage fees this time around (ouch!) – and getting it through security. We had a fifteen minute hang-up when the metal-hinged tree stand Lolo decided to carry on flagged a security check. It caused quite a flurry of excitement for the security officials who put the bag through the x-ray three times over, unpacked everything and then stared in confusion at the brightly coloured green, collapsible stand.  Only in the B&L world…

Tree stand

We’re now settling in nicely in Calgary, and we are just about to head over to Stampede Park for sound check and final preparations for tonight’s first show. We’ll be around town until July 13th with 35 shows scheduled for the next 10 days! If you’re in the neighbourhood, please join us for some cow-town inspired musical adventures! For a full list of our Stampede performance times and dates, please click here.

Yeehaw!

Bobs & Lolo

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