After writing and performing music for almost 20 years, Matt became inspired to write children's songs with the arrival of his first child. Using humour to write about things he enjoyed seemed to strike a chord in young ears. Matt discovered the joys of performing for young children and getting them involved.
Today, Matt is performing for children across Nova Scotia. Using fun props and instruments to engage children has proven to help make his shows a success. He just released a fun-filled album of original songs titled, "Songs For Kids Age 1 to 101". The humourous nature of songs such as Fat Cat, Pat the Platypus, Hot Dogs and Cookies and Garbage Day are hits with children and adults alike.
The smiles, laughs and voices singing in response to his performances are the rewards that continue to drive Matt. He is extremely excited to continue to share his children's music with Nova Scotia and the world!
Valley Family Fun
December 03, 2014
Laura Churchill Duke
Laura Churchill Duke
In three words: I love it!
This is a fantastically fun CD for kids and adults. The songs are very catchy with easy, memorable lyrics – especially for kids. One afternoon, I overheard my 8 year old singing the song Fat Cat which has quickly become our favourite.
The lyrics are clever and don’t downplay to children. Children can learn about things such as the solar system, why it’s important to read and even about platypuses! The Twinkle Twinkle Black Sheep song is extremely clever and unique and very fun to dance to!
I would equate Matt the Music Man to Raffi. It’s a CD even adults won’t grow tired of listening to because the music is fun and encompasses many different styles.
The CD is best suited for preschoolers and lower elementary school students.
To listen to some of the samples of music, visit the website.
To give us some props to use while listening to Matt the Music Man’s Fat Cat song, we decided to make a few simple cat puppets.
I am NOT crafty, so we chose three easy designs. I made up a few samples and had my sons and my nieces choose which one they would like to make. They ranged in age from 2 to 8. Here’s what we came up with:
Folded Paper Cat
Take a square piece of paper and turn it so it is a diamond. (You may have to cut it to make it square).
Fold in the corners to make ears
Draw on a face
Attach a popsicle stick to the back
Attach a popsicle stick to the back
Paper Plate Cat
Cut out eyes, ears and whiskers.Glue the ears on to the back side of the plate and the glue on the eyes and whiskers on the front.Draw a cat faceAttach a popsicle stick to the back
Paper Bag Cat
This by far was the most popular puppet!
Cut out eyes, ears and whiskers from construction paper.
Glue the ears onto the back of the bag and the eyes, nose and whiskers to the front
Draw in the rest of the face
Put your hand inside the bag to use the puppet
I laid all the supplies out on the table and let the kids choose which puppet they wanted to make. We had a wide variety of cats!
With our new puppets we had a dance party to Matt the Music Man’s Fat Cat song. As you will see, the kids really got into the song! It was a big hit!
If you are looking for something new to add to your music collection, would like to support local musicians, or need a Christmas gift for someone, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Matt the Music Man’s children’s CD. Put a smile on everyone’s face. You won’t be disappointed!
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A pre- "Matt the Music Man" album review:
Bare Bones 'is a fascinating and unique musical offering'
The Daily Gleaner, Saturday November 21st, 2009
Wilfred Langmaid
"Frederictonian Matt McFarlane had the fire of music light within him in the 1990s. The spark was rock, grunge, and alternative music of that decade.
This spark is the antecedent of a very raw, aggressive way of acoustic guitar playing, singing, and song construction.
That fascinating combination - heavy '90s rock at the core of solo acoustic singer/songwriter craft - makes McFarlane's entirely self-written, self-recorded, self-mixed, and self-produced album Bare Bones a fascinating and unique musical offering.
The fusion works for a few reasons. Most importantly, McFarlane is at the core a decent songwriter. The 11 tracks that make up the so-aptly-named Bare Bones are diverse; their power has the dual weaponry of good lyric writing and a furious delivery on vocals and guitar.
The whole thing is a stirring one-person offering of the roots of man's musical soul, delivered by a hitherto-unknown local musician who has the skills to make a unique offering work well."
Fredericton-based freelance writer Wilfred Langmaid has reviewed albums in The Daily Gleaner since 1981, and is a past judge for both the Junos and the East Coast Music Awards. His column appears each Saturday.
