Chris Sheard – A Childhood Music Memory
Confetti Park
In this childhood music memory, New Orleans musician Chris Sheard recalls going on car rides with the family and only having one cassette tape to listen to, over and over again. One side featured Marvin Gaye, and the other featured Sam Cooke. The family would flip the tape over and over, and Chris learned every single word to every song by heart. Chris ponders how children today have infinite options of music to listen to on demand, via Spotify and other internet apps. While there is amazing access to music for today, has something been lost in the overwhelming options? Chris doesn’t...
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Interview with The Chickadees, young songbirds from Shreveport
Confetti Park
Meet the Chickadees, a trio of young musicians from Shreveport, Louisiana! These sensational ten-year-olds – Posy Harper, Evie Desobry and Ellie Spero – are a breath of fresh air to the local music scene with their infectious energy and impressive talent. Guided by their dedicated teacher, Miss Sandra Odom, the Chickadees are singing and strumming their way into the hearts of audiences. [Katy: I first met the Chickadees at the gravesite of Huddie Ledbetter at our annual Lead Belly Graveside Jam in October 2024, and I’ve been following their band since then. !)] The kids met at...
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Louis Michot - A Childhood Music Memory
Confetti Park
The Cajun fiddler and singer for Lost Bayou Ramblers recalls learning to dance with his cousins while the family band played Louis Michot, a talented fiddler and singer with the Grammy award-winning Cajun band , shared a sweet childhood music memory with Confetti Park. Growing up, Louis would often join his father and uncles' band, Les Frères Michot, in the vibrant dance halls and restaurants of Lafayette. (Randalls, Mulates, Prejeans, etc.) It was there, amidst joyous community gatherings, that Louis learned to dance. He was only six or seven! "I remember taking my cousins' arms,...
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Interview with hrilina ♡ : Water Wonderful World
Confetti Park
A new reading and coloring book about New Orleans’ relationship with water will entertain and educate! Katy recently interviewed hrilina ♡, a rising leader among young New Orleanians, who is proud to announce the release of a unique educational coloring book titled “Water Wonderful World.” Published by , the book explores the relationship we in South Louisiana have with water, particularly in and around New Orleans. hrilina ♡’s vision for this book was to create an engaging and fun experience for kids (and grownups) that teaches about the role of water in New...
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Interview with Arlo McCracken Allen
Confetti Park
At 12 years old, this musician and composer is already active on the local music scene in New Orleans. Katy Hobgood Ray interviews Arlo for Confetti Park. In a recent interview, New Orleans based music prodigy Arlo McCracken Allen shared insights into his musical journey that began at the young age of four when he first sat at a piano. Arlo quickly progressed from playing at home to performing with his dad’s band () and other notable musicians. Arlo plays piano and cello, but he loves electronic music. Influenced by video game music creator Toby Fox, Arlo aspires to compose soundtracks...
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Childhood Music Memory with Scott Durbin
Confetti Park
Music can carry powerful memories and emotions through generations, as Scott Durbin of the Imagination Movers shares with us. Scott, whose grandmother was Native American, recalls participating in powwows at a very young age. His family's tribe would come together to honor their cultural traditions, and music with drumming and dancing was a central component. "I remember being very young, dressed in garb and doing a powwow, and as much as a six year old can intuit a spiritual elevation because of the music and the beat, I knew this was amazing." Through experiencing the resonating drum...
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Storytime: The Mardi Gras Tree by Melinda Taliancich Falgoust
Confetti Park
Happy Mardi Gras, everybody! Wherever you’re watching the parades– whether it’s out in the parishes, Slidell, Metairie or along beautiful St. Charles Avenue–chances are you will need some shade and respite after a long day of truck floats. Find a tree, have a rest, look around, and enjoy the show. And keep your eyes peeled for the Mardi Gras trees! You know the ones… they glitter like rainbows, dedicated as bead catchers by the people passing by. In this episode of Confetti Park, we hear the whimsical tale of by . “Laissez bon temps rouler! – let the good times roll!...
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Steve Scaffidi on why authors should self-publish their books—and advice on how to do it!
Confetti Park
In this episode of Confetti Park, we connect with the creative mind of Steven Scaffidi, a veteran of the entertainment industry.
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Storytime: Can We Take A Road Trip? By Papa Dude
Confetti Park
Summertime means road trips! In this episode of Confetti Park, we take a road trip with Papa Dude and his best friend Charlie Crab. They take us on a trip across America, and we get visit some of the most interesting and fun places the continental United States has to offer.
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Valerie James Abbott on the shocking realization that her two-year-old had hearing loss
Confetti Park
In this episode of Confetti Park, Katy Hobgood Ray interviews Valerie James Abbott, a mother whose journey with her own daughter's hearing loss inspired a children's book called Padapillo.
info_outlineWelcome to Confetti Park, a radio show out of New Orleans, Louisiana. We play lots of songs and stories from the Bayou State and from the Mississippi Delta region. This is a music medley of songs, poems, and jump rope jingles featured on a recent episode.
- Louisiana’s Alphabet Song – Kristen Cole and Daniel Morgan
- Joke of the Day: Cows Go Moo
- Hey Diddle Diddle – Wee Sing
- Rock Paper Scissors – Ph Fred
- The Itsy Bitsy Spider – Jeremy Lyons
- Do Your Ears Hang Low? – Johnette Downing
- Music Memory from David Phy
- Lovely Little Ladybug – Confetti Park Players Children’s ChorusConfetti Park Players
- Tit Cochon Roti – Girard Dole
- Kukuriku – Judy Caplan Ginsburgh
- This Little Light of Mine – Kermit Ruffins
- Quarter Past Purple – a poem by Carlos Colon
- Butterflies – a poem by Lily Bell
- The Coast of Louisiana – a poem by Hrilina Ramrakhiani
- Chien Jaune et Chien Caille – Girard Dole
- When You’re in Love, You’ll Understand – Jim Cummings: The Princess & the Frog
- Cinderella – a poem by Manele Anika
- Warehouse Mouse – Imagination Movers
This episode, “Cows Go Moo,” the show begins with a song showcasing the Louisiana state bird, the state insect, the state flower… and so on. This is “Louisiana’s Alphabet Song,” featuring Kristen Cole and Daniel Morgan. The old nursery rhyme favorite “Itsy Bitsy Spider” is performed by Jeremy Lyons, from his DeltaBilly style Silly Goose Music. And Ph Fred leads a group with Rock Paper Scissors. What a great song!
Who doesn’t love a Silly Song performed by New Orleans kids’ favorite, Johnette Downing? Sing along and play along with “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” You’ll hear “Lovely Little Ladybug” performed by the Confetti Park Players, a kids chorus in New Orleans, and “Kukuriku, the Rooster’s Song,” sung by Judy Caplan Gibsburgh of Alexandria, La. Rabbi Judy has been performing music for kids since the 1980s! Check out her website at judymusic.com
Other songs featured: a hand-clapping version of the Sunday school classic “This Little Light of Mine,” by New Orleans trumpeter Kermit Ruffins and his children; the Imagination Movers with “Warehouse Mouse” and “When You’re in Love, You’ll Understand” featuring Jim Cummings, who played Ray, the lightning bug of the Princess & the Frog…. a beautiful Disney movie set in the swamps of Louisiana.
Sprinkled throughout are many terrific poems by Louisiana creators, of all ages. Also featured on this episode is a Music Memory from trombonist David Phy and a folk tale called the Beaver’s Tale of Greed, narrated by Iran Martin of Bossier City.
The Confetti Park radio show streams online and airs in cities across the United States, made available to all community radio stations on the Pacifica Network. Check to see if your local community radio station carries it, and ask! Support for Confetti Park comes from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation and Music Rising at Tulane University.