SAN DIEGO — San Diego's beloved family band, Hullabaloo, is celebrating twenty years of "foot-stomping" music for children. In this Zevely Zone, I rocked out with the kids at San Diego's Malcolm X Library.
Hullabaloo has been making music for children and families at large festivals across the United States and tiny backyard parties for two decades.
To honor the band's 20th anniversary, Hullabaloo proudly announces the February 23rd release of their 15th album, Live from Sun Studio.
Strumming a square guitar, he built himself, Steve Denyes has spent the past two decades playing music outside the box. Someone once wrote he is the biggest rock star in San Diego just ask any five-year-old.
"Right, ha, ha. Ask anyone older than five they do not know me," laughed Steve. He grew up dreaming about playing stadiums, not birthday parties. "We're like no, no, no, we don't play kid music, we are musicians, we don't do this," laughed Steve.
But after the native San Diegan says he got over himself, Hullabaloo was born. Four thousand shows later, the kids keep coming back for a sound their parents describe as somewhere between Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. One year he played 350 shows. No one has ever worked harder to tire your kid out for nap time.
Throughout February, Hullabaloo is performing 20 shows in 20 days in the San Diego area to celebrate the band's 20th year of making music for kids and families. Each show will be a benefit concert for the charity Feeding San Diego, which rescues food that would otherwise be left to spoil and provides it to people in need.
The concerts, so far, have raised 6-thousand dollars for Feeding San Diego. "This community has been supporting me for 20 years and literally putting food on the table for me, so to be able to able to put food on someone else's table and give back is important and really fulfilling," said Steve.
Speaking of food, Steve always hoped to be recognized in grocery stores.
"If I walk into Trader Joe's the kids in the cart say 'hey' I know that guy," said Steve. "Somehow you and I wound up with the best jobs in San Diego."
I replied, "Shhh. Don't tell anyone!" At every concert, kids get to make a ruckus or as Steve calls it a good old-fashioned Hullabaloo.
"I'm doing something I love every single day. A dream come true is probably the shorthand," said Steve. "Wow, it's been a wild ride."
Live from Sun Studio will be available as a free, digital-only release at major online outlets. Album highlights include the rip-roaring train song, "Choo, Choo, Choo," a good, old-fashioned, rock 'n' roll dance number, "Hey Everybody," and "Ants in My Pants," which Steve Denyes dubs "a public service announcement: Don't take a nap with a chocolate bar in your pocket!"
Steve was inspired to write another highlight, the spirited "Run Bunny Run," by the hundreds of bunnies that roamed the island in the Pacific Northwest where his mom once lived.
Hullabaloo's final benefit concert is on Saturday, February 24 at the San Diego Botanic Gardens in Encinitas. For more information you can the visit the Hullabaloo website by clicking here.