Justin Roberts

Justin Roberts:
"One Little Cookie"
(from Yellow Bus 2001. Buy/download)
"Day Camp"
(From Way Out 2004. Buy/download)

Well, I definitely did not expect to get scooped on this by Scan, but Rick Cornell had a very nice post about Justin Roberts, who performs at the Carrboro ArtsCenter tomorrow (5/12) at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Rick's exactly right -- Justin makes kid-themed music that adults will get a lot out of as well. His most recent albums -- Way Out and especially Meltdown! -- are really wonderful pop with sophisticated and interesting arrangements and production. Whereas on the early albums he was sort of a kids' music James Taylor, he's developed into more like a kids' music Brian Wilson. (Honestly, I think he's gone about as far as he can go in that direction -- I love Meltdown, but if he goes any further in that direction, it'll be overdone.)

Rick even called out "One Little Cookie" which has always been one of my favorites as well. One of my wife's favorites is "Day Camp", which has a nice Violent Femmes feel to it. Click here to launch Justin's radio player, where you can hear a couple of other songs, starting with the excellent "Our Imaginary Rhino" from Meltdown!

I'll be at the 11:00 show tomorrow, the third one we've seen at the ArtsCenter. Justin puts on a great show even when it's just him and a supporting musician. (I'd love to see the full Not-ready-for-Naptime Players band someday, though!) The early show's sold out, but it looks like you can still get tickets for the afternoon show. If you've got kids, go see this show!