Jon Langford, member of the influential British punk band The Mekons, found his way into the kids' music scene by pure coincidence. When his son took a class at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago along with the offspring of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and Califone/Red Red Meat's Tim Rutili, a music teacher asked the three dads to put together a show for little rockers.
"I hadn't thought about making kids' music before this," says Langford. "But it happened at a time when a lot of new kids' music was coming out, and it didn't seem like that big of a deal. I knew I wanted to make it fun and create music that adults could appreciate, too."
After a successful gig at the School of Folk, and another at the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, Ill. with singer and fellow Mekon Sally Timms, Langford decided to take kiddie music seriously. Around the same time, he and his family vacationed in his homeland of Wales, where he spent a lot of time hanging out with his kids on the beach and making up songs.
Today, Langford fronts The Wee Hairy Beasties and the group releases their new CD "Animal Crackers" (Bloodshot Records) on Sunday, Nov. 5 at 11:30 a.m. at Alverno's Pitman Theatre, 3431 S. 39th St.
"It'll be a theatrical little show," says Langford. " Mostly a dance party and sing-a-long."
The Wee Hairy Beasties sell out most of their Chicago shows, and although they technically cater to kids, they have many adult fans. Langford says he was inspired by Dan Zanes' efforts to create listenable music for the entire family, but being a punk rocker at heart, Langford wanted to make edgier music.
"Our songs are a bit more twisted. You might say it's mildly disturbing children's music. My kids don't really like the hippie stuff," says Langford, who has two sons: Jimmy, 9, and Tommy, 4.
Aside from being a legendary punk rocker, Langford fronted a number of alternative-country bands including the Pine Valley Cosmonauts and The Waco Brothers, which he formed with Milwaukee ex-pat Dean Schlabowske. He is also a painter, printmaker and political activist.
Langford, who moved to Chicago in 1991, has a few other Milwaukee connections. He is friends with Alverno's David Ravel -- who invited Langford to do a multimedia art show at Alverno in 2003 -- and WMSE's Tom Crawford. Langford was also in discussions in the 1980s to produce a single for Milwaukee band The Blowtorch; a project that never panned out.
Langford says gigging for kids is different from doing adult shows, and in some ways, more difficult. "Kids don't care who I am or what I've done before, they just want to be entertained in the moment. It takes more focus because if you lose their focus, you're dead," he says.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
