If You're Old Enough To Walk You're Old Enough To Rock!

Saturday, April 15, 2006

MY GYM CHILDREN'S FITNESS CENTERS HELP KICK OFF JAMARAMA LIVE! KIDS' MUSIC FESTIVAL TOUR In Association With NOGGIN, Tour Takes Children's Music To Hip Heights Celebrated kid rockers The Laurie Berkner Band to headline first leg; Tour will feature Milkshake, The Ohmies, and local children's musicians

Starting this fall, parents formerly accustomed to jamming at rock concerts can bring the family to Jamarama Live!, a unique children's musical experience. Presented by Highland, LLC, Creative Artists Agency, and Jerry Leigh Entertainment, Inc., in association with NOGGIN (the commercial-free, educational TV network for preschoolers), each show will feature live musical performances and interactive attractions. My Gym Children's Fitness Centers, a champion for children's fitness, will present interactive opportunities for kids to get active at the concerts and will promote the concerts in each city in which it has gyms.

Jamarama Live! begins October 29 and will head across the country through May, 2006. The Laurie Berkner Band will kick off the first leg of the tour, which runs through November 20. Other performers include Milkshake and The Ohmies, as well as nationally known and rising local children's artists in each market. Jamarama Live! (www.jamaramalive.com) is an annual event, with three separate touring cycles during the year. 2006 dates will be announced before December 5 of this year. My Gym Children's Fitness Centers will not only help promote the tour at its 150 locations nationwide and on its website, www.my-gym.com, but will also be an exciting and engaging element of Jamarama Live offering children its unique brand of fun & exercise designed to get kids up, moving and feeling great about themselves. Children will dance along to the animated music video, "Monkey See-Monkey Do" and in most locations have tons of fun participating in interactive songs, dances, movement games and basic gymnastics routines! "We're excited to be part of the Jamarama Live! Show," said My Gym Enterprises Executive Vice President of Marketing and Entertainment Matt Hendison. "To be associated with such a high quality product is really an honor. We love this opportunity to help kids stay active and have fun in a healthy environment." Jamarama Live! will offer entertainment that little ones and their parents can enjoy. Artists on the tour have been hailed as innovators on the children's music scene, says Dana Millman-DuFine, Highland LLC co-president and producer of Jamarama Live!, "Usually family shows focus on a particular act or character. This is the first time anything like this has been attempted on a national scale. Jamarama Live! is a touring music festival that incorporates all kinds of children's music and audience participation. It's like an Ozzfest or Vans Warped Tour for kids. Warped has a t-shirt design tent; we've got a coloring wall!" "We're thrilled to be part of this exciting, live musical event and to further demonstrate our commitment to providing kids and families with quality entertainment � both on and off the screen," says Angela Leaney, Senior Vice President, Brand Communications, NOGGIN. "With the launch of our first big music series this September, Jack's Big Music Show, featuring The Laurie Berkner Band and Milkshake, our commitment to music is stronger than ever and we are excited to help bring this event to local markets throughout the U.S." Festival activities will include the Crayola� coloring wall; karaoke kiosks; freeze machines that capture a moment in time; a face/hair painting and "tattoo" booth and a Miffy storytelling area, featuring the beloved series of books by Dick Bruna. NOGGIN videos will be featured on video screens, and children can meet their favorite NOGGIN costumed characters including Moose A. Moose with Zee, and Miffy. Kids can also have their photo taken with Jack, the puppet from Jack's Big Music Show, through digital green screen technology. The Laurie Berkner Band, featuring singer and guitarist Laurie Berkner, bassist (and husband) Brian Mueller, and keyboardist Susie Lampert, has performed in sold-out concerts, complete with kiddie mosh pits, across the country. Child magazine recently hailed Laurie as "one of the biggest names in alternative children's music -- the kind of kids' singer whose songs parents sheepishly play even when their children aren't around." Other critical raves include Time magazine ("a kind of sippy-cup Sheryl Crow. . . melodies that bear repeated � very repeated � listenings"); Entertainment Weekly ("Laurie Berkner's ‘Victor Vito' video rocks hard. Minivan hard"); the "Today Show" ("Pretty much the hottest thing in children's music") and "Good Morning America" ("If you think the Beatles made a splash in '63, wait ‘till you see the mayhem caused by this woman").

Often described as "the Ani DiFranco of kids' music," Laurie has a special talent for connecting with children on their own level (even if it means singing while lying down on the floor), and engaging adults who might normally rather be at a rock concert than a kid's concert. Said The New York Times, "Some fans bring cigarette lighters to concerts . . . At Laurie Berkner concerts, her fans bring stuffed animals and put them on their heads." The Laurie Berkner Band's videos have been featured for the past year on NOGGIN, and new videos will appear on every episode of its new series, "Jack's Big Music Show." What kind of children's musicians list influences ranging from Rodgers and Hammerstein to The White Stripes? Milkshake! Headed by vocalist Lisa Mathews and acoustic guitar player Mikel Gehl, the band evolved from its beginnings in the ‘80s as the new wave band Beyond Words, through the melodic adult rock of the popular Baltimore-based group Love Riot in the ‘90s, to the natural evolution, after becoming parents, of making great rock music for kids. Said Parenting magazine, "Think of what would happen if the B-52s and Cowboy Junkies visited your child's preschool, and you'll get an idea of the dreamy music this rocking duet makes. . . luscious harmonies and witty, merry-go-round spins. If kids don't beg to hit the replay button, parents will." Milkshake's videos also appear on NOGGIN's "Jack's Big Music Show." The Ohmies! is an interactive theatrical production that encourages children to center their minds and strengthen their bodies through world music and yoga. Each character represents a basic yoga pose, such as the butterfly or downward facing dog. An open musical jam includes audience participation in singing, stomping, clapping and creating a new original song. The musical score, performed by the Ohmland Bug Band, is comprised of original music in world styles from African percussion to traditional American music with an East-Indian flair. The production has received critical acclaim from media outlets ranging from the Los Angeles Times to Yoga Journal. The Ohmies! enjoyed an off-Broadway, sold-out run at New York's Bleecker Theatre, and another sold-out run at L.A.'s Geffen Playhouse.

Highland LLC is a music management and live entertainment company created by Dana Millman-DuFine and David Codikow. The duo has created successful entities such as the Vans Warped Tour (the country's longest-running rock festival) and the Down From the Mountain Tour (2002 Bluegrass Tour of the Year). Highland LLC also currently manages Grammy Award-winning multi-platinum band Velvet Revolver. Creative Artists Agency is the world's premier talent agency, encompassing many of the most successful artists in the entertainment industry. Its music department has been awarded Pollstar's Best Booking Agency of the Year for the past three years. CAA is responsible for producing events such as Vans Warped Tour, Ozzfest, and 2004's Vote For Change Tour.

Jerry Leigh Entertainment, Inc. is the country's leading manufacturer of licensed apparel for Nickelodeon, Disney, Gwen Stefani, Levi's and more. "I am very excited to be able to apply my years of experience to this new venue," says president Andrew Leigh. Jerry Leigh will create all the merchandise associated with Jamarama Live! Owned by Nickelodeon, NOGGIN airs from 6:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. (ET), and currently reaches 45 million households via cable, digital cable, and satellite TV. NOGGIN is like preschool on TV, with educational programming both on-air and online at www.noggin.com. Media: For more information on Jamarama Live!, contact Sarah Geist Rosen at SKG Publicity, 847.432.8177 or [email protected] For information on My Gym, visit www.my-gym.com or contact Lisa Orman at KidStuff Public Relations, 608.767.1102, [email protected] Laurie Berkner's website: www.laurieberkner.com Milkshake's website: www.milkshakemusic.com The Ohmies! website: www.ohmland.com

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