I have just been honored by the nation’s oldest evaluator of children’s media and toys. I’d like to thank the Parents’ Choice Foundation for giving me a Parents’ Choice Award Recommendation! I appreciate being amongst the few that the program honors for the best material for children’s music.
That’s worth a couple thousand smiles right there!
To see the entire review, click here.
Music + fun + children = Musicampalooza!! What a great day the “camp-ers” and I had singing, laughing, eating, playing outside and learning more about instruments, rhythm and music! Thank you to Joyce Courtney for helping with the day and for taking all the photos and video. These pictures definitely paint a thousand words about these music-loving children and the fun afternoon we had!
Parents, if you have a child between the ages of 8 and 10 that would like to experience a Musicampalooza with me, the next one is on Thursday morning, June 14, from 9:00am until 12:00pm. Many of the children have received attending this camp as a gift from Grandma and Grandpa!
There Was A Man- music video!
Speaking of dreams, I recently remembered a dream I had when I was about 11 years old. I dreamed that I was holding three different record albums and looking at them intently. This was before I had even begun to write songs or had goals of being a performing song-writer and recording artist. In my dream, I looked at the albums and thought, “these are cool looking albums, they look like a set of children’s songs!” As I examined the covers, I realized that the albums had my name on them, Steven Courtney. As I was dreaming, I felt a warm presence all around me and the feeling of light or rays of sunshine. The artwork on the albums, in the dream, were like nothing I had ever seen before. Simple, yet cool. (Back to this story later.)
Over the years I have been blessed to work with many graphic artists to create artwork for my various albums. Sue Capp created much of the material between 1990 to 1994, the albums “Today and Tonight” through “Happy Go Lucky Shoes.” Bill Dussinger, started designing for me in1998 and continues to the present day. He did the artwork during the “Big Happy House” years and lots of fun things: posters, tee shirts, coffee mugs, yo-yo’s and the like. Great stuff! Marty Shaughnessy created designs for projects like “Deep Sea Diver” and “Monkey Business As Usual” as well as graphics for the 2002 TV Show, “The Steven Courtney Channel.” In 2008 my daughter, Brooke, began designing artwork for Steven Courtney Entertainment as well. Brooke is super talented and spends her days as a professional photographer. Along with her husband, T.J. Mousetis, they run their photography business, as well as walk in love. Check out their hip clothing store at the Park City Mall, located in Lancaster, PA.
Phew! All that to say this … (back to dream from 1972). Brooke’s artwork for the album “Sun Hill Market” is so similar to the artwork from that dream! I don’t think I’ve ever told her or anyone about the dream before. When I finally saw the new design for “Sun Hill Market” I thought, “Wow, this is really different. I don’t have any other albums that look like this. Simple, and so cool.” When I held the finished product in my hands for the first time, I felt it again, that warm presence all around me, like light and sunshine.
I hope when you and your family listen to “Sun Hill Market” that you’ll feel it too ~ light and sunshine. s.c.
Last week at Musicampalooza everyone jumped in the Smilebooth for a few silly group photos. You can view and download (low-res) images for free, or can purchase prints if you wish right here.
If you want information regarding Smilebooth rentals and pricing, please fill out the contact form at brookecourtney.com
Thanks again to everyone who came out for the first ever Musicampalooza! If you’re interested in registering your child for the next camp on Saturday, April 14th – please visit our Facebook page for more information.
