Albany Times Union
Greg Haymes
Dec 2006

Sporting his straw hat and overalls, Farmer Jason leaves the Lower 40 behind and heads to the big city of Albany for a free concert at the WAMC Performing Arts Studio at 11:30 a.m. Friday.

The children's music performer will undoubtedly have quite a crowd of youngsters on hand as he whips through catchy, contagious kids songs like "Ode to a Toad," "He's a Moose on the Loose" and the soon-to-be-classic "Punk Rock Skunk," all culled from his recently released sophomore album, "Rockin' in the Forest With Farmer Jason" on the Kid Rhino label.

But don't be surprised if you find a bunch of adults in the audience digging the music just as much as the kids. Farmer Jason, you see, is the kid-friendly alter-ego of Jason Ringenberg, who has not only been cranking out some rollicking solo albums in recent years, but was also the frontman and braintrust for the pioneering cow-punk combo Jason and the Scorchers back in the 1980s.

While Farmer Jason's albums -- including his 2003 debut, "A Day at the Farm With Farmer Jason," which was just re-released on Kid Rhino -- are aimed at youngsters, he doesn't water down the music. He was bolstered in the studio by a top-notch batch of Nashville-based musicians, including Todd Snider, Kristi Rose, Fats Kaplin and Webb Wilder. And "Rockin' in the Forest" has the best promotional sticker that I've ever seen on a children's music disc: "Hey-Ho! Anarchy in the Pre-K!"

Fans who would prefer to hear Ringenberg's high-energy, more adult-oriented show shouldn't fret, either. After he trades in his overalls for a pair of jeans, Ringenberg will also be rocking his way into Valentine's in Albany on Friday night. And if we're really lucky, he just might play "Punk Rock Skunk" again, this time for the grown-ups.