Kid-friendly CD fundraiser for hospital foundation

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/04/2010 (5619 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Today is going to be a super fun day for music fans.

Radio stations Hot 103 and QX-104 are releasing a new local compilation album with all proceeds donated to the Children’s Hospital Foundation.

The album, We Are Family: A Collection of Super-Fun Songs for Kids & Parents!, features 22 bands and songwriters performing a selection of original kids music alongside well-known favourites. Some of the artists include Fred Penner, Jaylene Johnson, Bryce Pallister, Alana Levandoski, Little Hawk, Flo, Paper Moon and Matt Epp.

The CD will be available at all three Winnipeg Costco locations, the front desk of Hot 103 and at hot103live.com. Two thousand copies were made with the goal of raising $20,000.

"It’s the first thing at Costco that you can buy just one of," said program director/morning host Ace Burpee, who performs the song Had a Little Doggie with his mom on the disc.

"We used to sing it when I was little, and it has animal noises on it. Kids love animal noises — they go crazy for animal noises."

His morning show co-host Chrissy Troy also makes an appearance, performing a duet with Penner that he wrote especially for her, called Fred and Chrissy.

Staff at the radio station started working on the album in November after completing a Christmas benefit disc for Winnipeg Harvest and the Christmas Cheer Board.

"These songs are all so ridiculously good. We wanted to make something the parents would like listening to as well as kids. Most of these artists obviously had to record them, too; it’s not like they were sitting on a recorded kids’ song. They put a lot of work into it, so it’s cool that everyone helped out like that," Burpee said.

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You’ve heard of May Day, now it’s time for May Eh, or rather a new annual music showcase, Eight Days in May, Eh.

The eight-night event features musicians from Winnipeg, Churchill and Edmonton who participated in this year’s Aboriginal Music Program. Featured artists include the Dusty Roads Band, A History of Night, the Sweet Alibi, Sonia Eidse, Rodney Contois, Skybird, Evan Reeve and Rotten Dan.

The shows take place between May 2 and May 15 at Le Garage, Ragpickers, the Academy, the Windsor Hotel, J. Fox’s and the Yellow Dog Tavern. Admission is $8 per night.

For a complete lineup go to dustyroadsband.com.