NORTHAMPTON — From week to week, this column strives to cover a wide array of music that may appeal to a diverse group of fans.
Whether its classic rock appreciated by older folks or Indie music that appeals to a younger crowd, Live Wire attempts to cover as many bases as possible.
But as we start the new year, the thought occurred that there is one fan base that is usually ignored here: children. And although children probably aren’t reading the newspaper or scouring the internet for young people’s entertainment, their parents sometimes are. So, this week’s feature centers on a show that will probably delight both children and parents alike: Mr. Liam’s Kids Series New Year’s Party with Tom Knight.
The series runs Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. at Northampton’s Iron Horse Music Hall. The New Year’s show will feature Knight, one of the area’s most popular children’s music performers, who has been playing children’s music for more than 30 years.
But what really sets Knight apart from many other kids’ music artists is that he incorporates puppetry into his shows. Knight talked about his artistry in a recent interview with The Republican.
Knight certainly has a diverse background in music. He studied violin in third grade, upright bass in sixth grade, trombone in junior high, Appalachian dulcimer in college and finally got around to guitar after college. But as far as writing songs, it has always been in his blood.
“I’ve always loved music. I can remember making up my own songs when I was walking to school and like third grade. I remember hearing some song on the radio when I was like 10 or something and I thought ‘I can write better lyrics than that,’” he said with a laugh.
But he didn’t truly start pursuing songwriting until after college. Fast-forward a few years, and Knight found himself working at a preschool in Ithaca, New York. A teacher learned that Knight played guitar and asked him to bring it in and play for the kids.
“I had some original songs, so I played them, and the kids really liked them. I didn’t realize they were kids’ songs, but it turned out they were,” he said with a chuckle.
Another teacher at the school was a puppeteer, and asked Knight to do music for the puppet show she was doing.
“I worked with her for years, but then I started getting more interested in the puppetry, and she started getting more interested in the music, so we went our own ways,” he said. “And I decided I didn’t want to be just another guy with a guitar so I started to figure out how to make and perform with puppets myself.”
While the puppets provide visuals for the audience, Knight noted that the puppet part of the show is always based on the music.
Obviously, he can’t operate the puppets and play music at the same time. So, he prerecords his music as sort of a karaoke track for the puppets to perform to.
For his public shows, he usually draws a crowd of ages 2 to 6. But he also performs at school assemblies, where the age groups can reach up to 11 or so.
“So, I have to kind of tweak the show a bit for the older kids,” he said.
He is also working on a more educational show about bullying. While he enjoys doing lighter performances, he is also looking to give his act more meaning at times.
“It feels like it could be something really powerful in this day and age when so many unkind things are being said by people in power,” he said.
Knight said the most challenging thing about his shows keeping the children engaged. He noted that some songs may work really well as a recording, but unless the kids have something to do, it’s not necessarily going to work for youngsters.
“Another thing is that if kids don’t like something, they’re not going to pretend that they do. Unlike adults, if they don’t like something, they’ll just walk away,” he said with a laugh. “But in some ways, that’s a good thing because it keeps me honest.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.masslive.com ’
