In Heavy Rotation.com
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
by Mike

Let me preface this by stating that my son is arguably Farmer Jason's #1 fan (see here, here, here, here and here), which means I listen to an awful lot of Farmer Jason. That's not a bad thing. Farmer Jason, purportedly the twin brother of Jason Ringenberg(founder of Jason & The Scorchers), just released his second disc - this time on Rhino Records. I've been anticipating the release of this disc since we got a preview at the 2005 Johnstown Folk Festival. Regardless of the label "kid's album," this is a genuinely catchy disk. While his first disc, A Day At The Farm, is a must-have, it's definitely not as solid as the new record. This latest one has no soft-spots and there's a little something for everyone. In Punk Rock Skunk, there's a tip of the hat to The Ramones and a great dig on some of the inexplicably popular music out there:

So if you see me coming you don't have to run I may be kind of crazy but I'm really rather fun And if I smell a little, well just get over it Lots of singers smell and they end up with a hit

There's a beat poem (A Butterfly Speaks), an anthem (The Forest Oh!), a ballad (Arrowhead), a rocker (Oppossum in a Pocket), and some comic relief (He's a Moose on the Loose w/ Todd Snider). Check out the video for Forest Rhymes, although be warned you won't be able to get it out of your head. He'll soon be on tour as part of Jamarama Live Kidsfest. While I'm still partial to the Scorchers (see below for a great Dylan cover, or here, here or listen) and his solo stuff, this is a reasonable facsimile and certainly is miles ahead of most stuff in this genre. This site is also worth checking out for a ton of Scorchers' info. As an aside, I ran across this clip of my youngest son swooping in on a fellow Farmer Jason fan at a recent show.