Sweet Colleens

The Monkey Dance: All the Kids Are Doin’ It is the first foray into kids music by the Minneapolis-based Sweet Colleens, but the genre is clearly a natural fit for these goodnatured denizens of the roots music world. Released in January 2010 with two packed concerts to over 600 people at Minneapolis’s legendary Cedar Cultural Center, The Monkey Dance features more musical instruments than you could shake a banana at. The predominantly original songs range in style from funky to folky, Cajun to Caribbean, sad to sentimental to…well…just plain goofy. Special guests on the CD include The Minneapolis Youth Chorus and Michelle Campagne of the seminal French-Canadian folk-pop group Hart Rouge. While The Monkey Dance is quickly winning over the under-10 crowd (not to mention minivan CD players everywhere), parents will also find themselves humming along to the Sweet Colleens’ sophisticated, rootsy arrangements—kids music that does it up right without dumbing it down. Happy listening… and don’t forget your monkeydancing shoes!