Sandy Byer

Although much less musically prolific mainly because her peers, Sandy Byer has however been a force in contemporary children’s music and storytelling since its folk origins times. Byer’s children’s music column in Sing Out journal and her prominent assistance in Mariposa in the Universities as well as the Children’s Music Network possess made her among the “moms” of children’s music in Canada and america. Byer was created in NJ and informed in Boston. After shifting to Toronto in 1975, Byer got touching the fledgling children’s music motion in that town, Mariposa in the Universities. MITS was a gathering for pretty much all the greatest children’s music artists in the Toronto region — from Raffi to Sharon, Lois, and Bram to Eric Nagler. Byer brought her personal multifaceted musicianship towards the blend, playing banjo, concertina, hammer dulcimer, autoharp, and a number of exotic tools. Byer was a presented performer on many MITS compliation produces, including Goin’ Bananas, Banana Break up, and Group of Close friends. In 1987, Byer released her first recording on her personal Starlight Information label, A Bedtime Tale. Fellow MITS veteran Ken Whitley performed piano and acoustic guitar within the recording, ensuring high creation values. The recording featured many traditional tunes and tales, including “YOU WILL NOT BE FRIGHTENED” from Puerto Rico. A Bedtime Tale also shown Byer’s songwriting and story-writing skills with “Clean Brush Clean Your Tooth” and “When you attend Bed during the night.” A Bedtime Tale received limited distribution in america, but was presented within the We Like Kids nationwide radio system. Byer started composing the Kidsbeat column for Sing Out! journal in 1989. The column became a car to chronicle the improvement from the children’s music sector, and specifically, to inform the tales of itinerant children’s music artists who constitute a lot of the sector. Byer also concentrated even more on storytelling on stage, and became an trainer from the Storyteller’s College in Toronto. Being a longstanding person in the People’s Music Network, Byer became thinking about creating a gathering for children’s music artists across the boundary in america. The effect was the Children’s Music Network, a business dedicated to advertising positive social ideals through children’s music. Byer offered as a table member for CMN and helped form CMN’s family-oriented path.