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About

Hey Lolly Music, created by Austin musician Laura Freeman, brings you an array of interactive, educational children’s shows that are fun for the whole family. Learn about other languages, the colors of the rainbow, enjoying our beautiful Mother Earth and more! Her album Color Wheel Cartwheel was recognized by Parenting Magazine as a baby must-have. Come see us for a rainbowlicious, puddle-stomping, monster-marching good time!
Contact Laura for more information.

Calendar

Nothing from Nov 20 2024 to Dec 20 2024.

See Full Calendar

Booking

BOOK A BAND
Laura Freeman
Laura’s sweet and sassy solo act is great for intimate spaces.

The Hey Lolly Band
Kids, gather ‘round our fun folk-rock trio with Laura on lead vocals and guitar, Heather Jarry on back-up vocals, puppets and upright bass, and Masumi Jones on drums.

The Hey Lolly Brass Band
Pump up the volume with the band that flew on a banana from Whattlebee land! Join Laura on vocals and baritone, Kara on clarinet, Eddie on trombone, Brian on trumpet, Kate on sousaphone, Doug on snare, Heather on bass drum.

The Hey Lolly Puppet Theater
Our original, creative puppet shows are delightfully interactive!

BOOK A SHOW
The Green Show
Laura Freeman’s original songs educate children about the seasons, recycling, bees, compost, farming and enjoying our beautiful Mother Earth. This show can be customized to your time and budget.

Iris Saves the Land of Black and White
The Land of Black and White is ruled by a (puppet) king who has banned all color. It’s up to Iris and the kids in the audience to bring back color to the land. Help us bring the color back! (30 min)

Armadillo Alice
Based on Alice in Wonderland, Alice dreams she’s an armadillo and wakes up with a new appreciation for books and reading. Puppetry, music and audience participation bring this story to life! Great for beginning readers. (30 min)

A Long Winter’s Night (in Texas)
This original children’s musical is a distinctively Texas tale with echoes of Dickens. Suzi longs for snow in Texas until the night of the Winter Solstice when she gets more than she bargained for. (Must book multiple shows)

The Salamander’s Tail
Commissioned by Save Our Springs, this short puppet show featuring Sal the salamander educates our children about the Edwards Aquifer and what we can do to help preserve our water supply and keep it clean. (10 min)

SERVICES
Performance
Interactive and educational children’s shows for schools, libraries, festivals, birthday parties and more.

Songwriting
Hire Laura Freeman to write a song for your musical, show, album or children’s event.

Playwrighting
Laura Freeman debuted her playwrighting skills with A Long Winter’s Night (in Texas). Contact her for more information!

Press

Color Wheel Cartwheel, Parenting Magazine, Baby Must Have, Hey Lolly music, childrens music, austin childrens music, kids music, childrens entertainer, puppet shows, kid videos for kids, original children's music

Original Children’s Music/ Parenting Magazine Review

Whoo Hoo – Parenting Magazine really likes my original children’s music. Here’s the review.

Parenting Picks
Featuring a song for every color in the rainbow and a sparkling spectrum of musical genres, this album lifts spirits while teaching hues. Pirate fans will especially enjoy “Sea Shanty,” in which a parrot squawks about feeling blue.”

Where to buy or download the CD https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/laurafreeman3

Featured in Parenting Magazine’s Baby Must Haves. https://www.amazon.com/PARENTING-Baby-Must-Haves-Essential-Everything/dp/1933821116 % %%title%%

It was so exciting to have Parenting Magazine review Color Wheel Cartwheel and then to select my CD for their Baby Must Have book.

Writing a Rainbow

Writing a song for every color of the rainbow was one of my favorite writing challenges. Each color has a different emotion and that’s reflected in the genre of the song.  For lyrics, I used many images of each color from the natural world.    Red became a rock song, Orange is a cha cha cha, Blue turned into a sea shanty of sorts and also a lullaby. In fact, I’ve had many parents tell me that they sing my Blue song to put their children to sleep. When I got to Indigo and Violet I put them together in a sweet folky song. I’ve always imagined two little girls named Indigo and Violet having this conversation while they are dressed in old fashioned dresses with sunhats on. I’m not sure why, I was really into Little House on the Prairie as a kid so perhaps it filtered down to my brain and into this song. I finished that song but then realized I really wanted a Purple song. So I wrote a big fun dance song and now when I sing it we all pretend to put on our fancy purple outfits and then we boogie down.

Children Listen

When children are about 3 or 4 they are fascinated by colors. I’ll sing one color song and then they start calling out the next color. They want to hear the whole rainbow.

I hope my original children’s music gets out there in the world and paints rainbow smiles on everyone’s faces. If you’re in the Austin area maybe you can catch the puppet show that goes with the album!

Parenting Magazine

Baby Must-Haves
The eight original songs on this album – most named for the colors of the rainbow – form their own rainbow of musical style and moods.Songwriter Laura Freeman’s strong voice is an amazing supple match fo the wide variety of music, including Motown, Latin, ‘50s pop, slinky jazz, classic country, and zydeco.

Rhapsody

Review of A Baker’s Dozen
Laura Freeman’s a bit of a character, the kind of musician the city of Austin seems to produce without even thinking about it. Imagine Hazel Dickens set loose on a pack of children’s songs, or Michelle Shocked singing about math, dogs and compost. There are a few hard edges on this release of folk and country songs, which is exactly why toddlers and beyond will respond to.
Read more.

OffBeat Magazine

Review of Color Wheel Cartwheel
What would colors sound if they had their own sonic identity? Those are the questions children’s entertainer Laura Freeman postulates here as each color of the rainbow becomes a song of its own as part of this educational vehicle…Though Freeman is loaded with sassy pipes, what makes this doubly fun is her vocal inflections that provide creative comedy in its own right…Color this one fun for all ages.
Read more.

Crafty Moms Share

Color Explorations: Color Wheel, Color Mixing & More!
We have been loving the music on Laura Freeman’s Color Wheel Cartwheel CD. It includes ways to say rainbow and the colors in many different languages and then a song about each color and finally a song about the rainbow of colors. It is very fun!
Read more.

Boston Children’s Music.com

Review of Somersault Season
What I like most about this CD is the movement and interaction. In the song My Brother’s a Monster, the lyrics ask you to growl, roar, shuffle around, shake your claws, and stomp…In 1, 2, 3, 4, you’re asked to touch the floor, tickle your knee, and dance! But my favorite is Can You Shake it? Get out your shaker and follow the instructions: shake it high, low, fast, slow!
Read more.

Mom’s Most Traveled

Music for Little Ears: Somersault Season
This is an adorable, eclectic CD from Laura Freeman…The music is truly delightful. Some of the tracks are more like spoken word: a whimsical introduction to poetry…You definitely don’t already have children’s music like this in your collection.
Read more.

Common Sense Media

Review of Somersault Season
It’s hard to stand out when it comes to children’s music, but Laura Freeman does it easily, through kid-silly, engaging vocals, simple lyrics, and great music. Her style is intimate but funny, and has just the right balance of goofiness while still being educational for your kids.
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The Austin Chronicle – Best of Winner!

Best Exploding Puppet Inevitable
Here’s a suggestion: Turn off the TV and head down to Cherrywood Coffeehouse to do the coffee dance, or hear Sal Amander’s “Tale of the Springs.” Guitar, upright bass, drums, uke, and puppets keep this trio’s hands busy and tykes entranced.
Read more.

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