Nyack's Bossy Frog Works Toward New CD

Dictums like "eat local" and "shop local" are familiar, especially in villages as varied as Nyack.

But how about a new axiom: "listen local." Or, to be more precise, "listen to local kids music."

Nyack's eminent kids music doyen, Jeffrey Friedberg, is aiming to release his eighth CD of children's music in the coming months, with a local hook.

Friedberg, of Upper Nyack, is also leader of the Bossy Frog outfit, which plays over 200 shows each year, many of them in Nyack.

"This upcoming CD is different," Friedberg said, noting it's done by Jeff and Friends, not the Bossy Frog Group.

In this case, the friends are musical acts spanning Rockland County and a spate of genres. Titled "15 Songs Every Kid Should Know and Love," the album will tether famous ditties like Old MacDonald with the likes of jazz and Cajun sounds.

"I want to make something beautiful-sounding that kids and parents will enjoy listening to," Friedberg said. "These songs are part of our cultural DNA—I want kids to learn them so they'll know them, and teach them to their kids. I want to keep them alive."

The album will include 15 tracks, all covers of traditional songs. The Upsouth Twisters are locked in to play a Cajun take on Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me, and jazz trumpeter Steve Bernstein will likely lay down a jazzy Itsy Bitsy Spider.

The current eight acts on the bill also include Mayra Casales, Sean Flemming, Lynn Stein; genres span from Irish to bluegrass.

Friedberg aims to record the work in full come November, but needs financing first. He's relying on a Kickstarter campaign to raise the needed $9,500 by Nov. 1.

"If we get 400 people to pre-order the CD, then we could make it no problem," Friedberg said. "By the end of December or January, it should be ready for release."

"It's a real Rockland project from start to finish," he added, noting the album would be recorded at OK Records in Nyack.

The CD's capstone will be the tune Frog Went-a-Courtin', which will feature a layer done by each musician or group—resulting in a melting pot of genres, all on one track.

The Bossy Frog Band is slated to play Temple Beth Torah on Sept. 30 and the Lafayette Theater in Suffern on Dec. 27, where the group will trot out new characters.

"We always have something up our sleeve," Friedberg said.