We love Bill Harley. We just love Bill Harley. Twenty some years ago, John and I were driving to the camera store to pick up a new battery, and we had to stay in the car an extra ten minutes to listen to Bill Harley's story/song Zanzibar. That's what got us hooked. If you haven't heard it, you should rush out right now and listen to it on youtube. When Rose was two, it was her favorite song. It makes great philosophical points about education, and it's really funny.

Bill Harley is a children's singer/storyteller. He's funny, whimsical, honest about the perils and failures of being a kid or a parent, and his songs are catchy. He lives in Massachusetts, so the last time he played a gig here was ten years ago. We were there. We have a lovely picture of Rose looking a tad shy and sleepy as we all pose with Bill Harley.

We got to hear him again last night. There were obviously two other families like us, fans from way back with children now heading into their teens. And then there were a bunch of families with really young kids who just came for the free library programming. I hope they get hooked.

He told the story of The Ballad of Dirty Joe, which we have played so many times in our car it is now banned. He sang Abiyoyo in honor of Pete Seeger whom he had been friends with. And he sang a lot of funny songs with lots of hand motions. We bought the one cd we didn't have, and we are saving it for the next long car ride.