Sunday, June 14, 2015

PETE SINJIN, AKA "HOOTENANNY PETE," RELEASES NEW FAMILY ALBUM, "HOUSE OF SONG"


Pete Sinjin, aka "Hootenanny Pete," Releases New Family Album, House of Song

Celebrates Album Release with Performance at Greenwood Park on Saturday, June 20th

“I’m gonna build myself a house of song,
House of song, House of song,
I’m gonna build myself a house of song to live my whole life long

I’m gonna build a table for my friends,
 Long as life for all of them
Neighbors, strangers welcome in to sing the whole night long

Yeah, we’ll raise them roofbeams all night long
All night long, all night ling
Yeah, we’ll raise those roofbeams all night long
with laughter, love and song”

Brooklyn, NY - Pete Sinjin will be releasing his new family album, House of Song, with a celebration featuring a full band performance on Saturday, June 20th, at Greenwood Park in Park Slope.


"Hootenanny Pete" is a beloved Brooklyn treasure, especially to the littlest Brooklynites and their parents. He and his wife Kira opened the Hootenanny Art House in 2007, instilling a love for music in thousands of children in the community. The community they’ve built through song supported the making of House of Song by supporting Pete and Kira’s Kickstarter campaign, which included homemade, hand-delivered chocolate cookies in addition to music. In 13 days, the project made 150% of its goal.

House of Song is a record for families, as opposed to a "kids" record. It’s a record designed to inspire and to motivate, to dance to and sing to. The songs on the album feature a big sound with full instrumentation as well as an emotional range that is wide and diverse.


Pete explains, "The original inspiration for House of Song came about while walking the streets of NYC and recognizing the diversity of its people. From there came the notion of a house that invited and celebrated 'all people, all races, all colors, all faces.' A gathering place where everyone could find themselves singing in harmony and raising the rooftop with the spirit of love and acceptance."

The album starts off with Pete’s solitary voice singing, "I’m gonna build myself a house of song," and he is shortly joined by a banjo; then drums, accordion, and handclaps fall in line to build into a full-on New Orleans-style street parade, and we are all encouraged to join in.


Pete leads the parade through songs with universal themes that encourage hope and creativity, a trip to Coney Island for the "Mermaid Parade," and odes to Pete’s heroes, Pete Seeger on "Poem for Pete" and Lou Gehrig, "Luckiest Man (The Ballad of Lou Gehrig)."

The album ends with a big dance party to "Olly Ollie Oxen Free," using that call from childhood games to encourage everyone to be who you are, cast off your fears, and don’t be ashamed of what you are inside…in other words, come out! Celebrate that person and join the party.

Pete states, "This album invites all of us, big and little, old and young, to find our spirit to grow, to create, to make friends, to celebrate and honor life’s heroes, to honor your own self, whoever that may be, and to take part in making a better world."

House of Song was co-produced by Sinjin and Riley McMahon, and recorded at Riley’s New Warsaw studio in Bushwick.  Sinjin and McMahon were joined by Liam Hurley (Josh Ritter) on drums, Shane Endsley  (Ani Difranco) on trumpets, Jay Foote (Lone Bellow) on bass, and Tony Lauria (Spottiswoode and his Enemies) on accordion.


Join them to celebrate the release of House of Song on Saturday, June 20th.


Pete Sinjin and band Celebrate Release of House of Song

Saturday, June 20th

Greenwood Park Beer Garden

555 7th Ave. (between 19th and 20th streets)

Brooklyn, NY 11215

Doors open at 10:00 a.m.

Show begins at 10:30 a.m.

Tickets $10 in advance, $15 at the door – includes food!

Cash bar will be open, and there will be door prizes and art activities.

Get tickets here: www.petesinjin.com

http://www.hootenannyarthouse.com/houseofsong/

For more information, please contact Patrice Fehlen at September Gurl Music, 718.768.3859 or patrice @ septembergurl.com.


ABOUT PETE SINJIN

These days, Pete Sinjin is best known as "Hootenanny Pete" around the Brooklyn neighborhood where he and his family have operated the Hootenanny Art House since 2007.

Pete has shared his love of music with thousands of kids over more than a decade of teaching classes from California to Brooklyn.

He's played a wide variety of music his whole life, from punk to rockabilly to folk and country, and he's played it all for both adults and kids. You'll hear all these elements make their way into his own music, from Woody Guthrie's folk art stylings, to New Orleans street parade music, to the bass and groove of Kingston, Jamaica.

Pete's also had the great honor of appearing on Sesame Street, and performing in concert with Sesame's own Bob McGrath. He's even led kids through a Cuban-inspired kids song in the Scarlett Johannson film, The Nanny Diaries.

Pete's first family album, Hoots, Hollers and Rooftop Serenades was released to coincide with his Americana-inspired grown-up album Better Angels Radio, in 2010. Mirroring that, House of Song will be followed up closely with Pete's next music entry titled The Heart and the Compass.