WERS 88.9 fm - Performance Wrap-Up: Leeny and Tamara

February 21 2008,

Though they've been friends for quite a while, both with an extensive background in music, this is the first collaboration between Leeny and Tamara, and the fact that it's in the children's genre is nothing to be shy about. Already with critical acclaim from her first children's album, Leeny (Ilene Altman) says that she first became interested in writing children's music when she sang songs to entertain her nephew. This is Tamara's (Tamara Hey) first time writing children's music and she says of the experience, "there's a lot more research involved, it's like I am using a different part of my brain.""

Their new album, Sharing the Same Stars, draws inspiration from all sorts of things, "I was at the gym and a mom was coming from the pool with her son and they were rushing out to go to the bathroom, and she was saying, you know, "you're gonna have to hold it!" and I thought, "yeah I'm gonna have to write this song."" Leeny and Tamara also want to write songs that will reach out to kids, "since as kids we were both shy, we wanted to be able to say, it's okay, things won't always be this way, things can change." Leeny and Tamara try to write with a variety of things in mind, some with a more educational tone, and others, more light-hearted. For example, one song in particular, "Across the USA,"talks about facts from all the states.

"We do both types of songs, songs that are educational and fun, some with facts, for example, the seatbelt song has a message about wearing seatbelts, and the song "It's Cool To Be You" is about being comfortable with yourself. But being nice is a really our main message."" There may be a lot of layers to children's music, but in the end, kids love being silly, and that came across clearly with the last song they played, "What have you done with all the penguins?"" which even included some audience participation!

 -Words by Micaela Mielniczenko

-Images by Meredith Cohen