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Bumble Bee Blues free |
"The Battersby Duo is a National Treasure." Senator Bob Graham
Tim and Laura, the incomparable Musical Comedy Duo for Children and Families, are a "banquet of silliness, designed to please the most refined of juvenile palates," says The American Library Association. Their concerts are a mixture of high energy "bee"-bop, with dashes of do-wop and liberal doses of fun. "Shamelessly goofy and a must-see," writes Mike Joyce of The Washington Post." Hilarious fun," says The St Petersburg Times....."a guaranteed hit," says Wolf Trap. The Battersby's are naturals for our audiences. Meanwhile down the lane at Sesame Street, the honchos there opine that, "The Battersby's are a top notch Duo with enough flexibility and versatility to entertain any children's group." The icing on the proverbial cake comes in the form of Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, who writes." We will remember with pleasure that The Battersby's are a part of our neighborhood."
The Bat Duo Bio. Two Sillies Too
Winners of 3 Parents Choice Awards and an Emmy, The Battersby Duo is considered to be one of the finest Musical Comedy Teams for Children and Families in the USA today.Perfoming to more than 2 million Kids each year, Tim and Laura tour Nationally, appearing in Theatres, Schools, Festivals, TV and Radio. They've performed at The Kennedy Center, The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center,Wolf Trap's Theatre in the Woods, The Marcus Center in Milwaukee, The Filene Center, The Spoleto Festival in Charleston SC, Sesame Street, The Today Show on NBC, and have appeared at The White House 6 times, performing for The President and First Lady. They have written more than 400 songs in their 30 year career. Tim is also the composer for the movie "The Last Chance," .
As Educators, we all recognize that nothing in the curriculum is more important to a Child's Early Education than those experiences, which reinforce the learning of literacy. Not just reading, but writing, thinking, talking, listening, and creating. All of these skills and concepts are crucial to the educational, psychological, and social well being of the young Student. Efforts to understand, and affirm all students, and to treat their cultural and linguistic backgrounds as valid and important should be reflected in every facet of school life.
Our commitment to the Education of Young Children in America is the reason we are The Battersby Duo. Our message is simple; Be happy, love life, and love education. Our "tongue in cheek" Monty Python style has earned us a reputation that has far exceeded our wildest expectations. Our simple songs encourage and nurture young minds; Our humor has tickled the odd funny bone. Thanks to the millions of Kids, Parents, and Teachers whom we have had the privilege of calling our Friends for the past 2 decades.
Goofy wacky and whimsical are all adjectives to describe the musical antics of The Battersby Duo. Beneath the facade of silliness, The Battersby's offer honest non-threatening glimpses in to a Childs world of understanding and imagination. Their unique harmony laced style of music, blends the blues with the 50's and folk with the 90's.Couple these ingredients with a dash of comedy, a hint of vaudeville and liberal doses of interactive theatrics, and you begin to understand why every Battersby Concert is delightfully provocative...and so much fun.
Most of the 1980's were spent raising our beautiful daughter, writing songs, being broke, and being a Family. They were wonderful times, and no amount of money could replace those indelible memories.
By 1992 Tim and Laura were incredibly busy, sometimes performing as many as 5 shows a day. At the request of many Parents we recorded a 12 song cassette entitled A Tail of Too Sillies. This album was recorded for $500.00 at The Sound Pig Studios in Manassas owned by our good friend Paul Koch. The first print was for a mere 100 copies . We sold out in 6 days and took the $500.00 we earned from the sales and printed 400 more. They lasted a further 4 days, so we took the $2000.00 and printed 2000 more...The more we made the more we sold.
Then we sent a bunch of copies to
review magazines such as Booklist and School Library Journal, and also
to newspapers like The Washington Post. A few weeks later editors
started calling us up, to let us
know that they intended to print
a review of A Tail of Too
Sillies within the next few
weeks.
What happened next was truly extraordinary. We knew the reviews in Booklist and School Library Journal were due out, but we did not know when. We arrived home one day exhausted from 4 shows to find a note from our mail carrier Greg informing us that we needed to come to the local Post Office to pick up our mail, as there was too much for him to deliver through our mail box. The next day we went to the Post office to find bags and bags of letters from Libraries, Schools, Teachers and Parents all ordering copies of this silly little cassette.
The reviews were awesome, and we were so grateful at that nail biting time to receive so many awards and accolades for our work. In 9 months, we sold over 25000 copies of A Tail of Too Sillies
In 1994 we were invited to perform at a Sesame Street taping at a Library in Washington DC. We delightedly accepted, and on the appointed day arrived, guitars in hand and voices in tune. There were lights and cameras everywhere. Big Bird was getting her feathers ruffled, Assistants were barking orders and the Director was sheepishly rifling through scripts. On the floor a thousand miles away from the pandemonium sat a kind looking middle aged woman with children sitting in a semi circle around her. She was reading them a story. The Children were entranced by this animated rendering. We sat down quietly at the back and listened as she brought the characters of her book to life.
Suddenly the calm was broken, and the Children were whisked away by a young intern, whose job it was to place the Children on the TV set so that cameras could roll for Big Birds big entrance.
After the first taping was finished, the Children were brought back, and we were asked to perform for them. In life there are good days and great days. This was indeed a great day. The Children were magnificent and if we had paid them a million dollars each, they could not have been better listeners. All of a sudden the TV lights were turned on us, and we realized that we were being filmed. Much to our relief Sesame Street approved of our show, and decided to tape it. Later after the show had aired, they very kindly sent us a now much used quotation, that we very much appreciated. It read. The Battersby's are a Top Notch Duo."
After all was said and done, the taping successfully in "the can" and the Children exported off to a (hopefully) very long nap, we found ourselves sitting next to the delightful lady whom we had first met while she was reading a story to the Children. Introductions ensued. She told us that she loved our music, and asked if we had a cassette that she could buy. We gave her a copy of A Tail of Too Sillies
It turned out that this sweet lady was Jan Piercy, the Director of The World Bank, and one of Hillary Clinton's best friends.
The following week The First Lady and Jan Piercy flew to a Women's Conference in Asia and Jan subjected Mrs. Clinton to our tape. Apparently she loved the tape so much that upon her return to Washington, she asked her Social Secretary to track us down, and invite us to a White House function to entertain her, The President and a host of local Children.
We performed at The White House for The Clintons once a year for the next six years. It was a wonderful time for us. And a great privilege
Contact and booking information:
Telephone: 352.799.3110 Facsimile: 352.754.5073
E Mail: batduo@bellsouth.net Website: www.battersbyduo.com