A roundup of what we have coming up...

It's all in various places (including on the calendar in the sidebar), but just to put it all in one place...

First, the shows announced thus far in the No Nap Happy Hour series at the Iron Horse (tickets $10 in advance, $13 at the door, available at IHEG.com, please buy now!):

RESCHEDULED for Oct. 18: May 31 - Uncle Rock and the Playthings Trio kick off the series. Uncle Rock played the Meltdown and has done a number of solo shows here over the last couple of years, but this is the first local appearance by his band, the Playthings. Check out Uncle Rock at UncleRock.com -- it'll be a great time. Uncle Rock will also guest DJ on Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, on Saturday, May 30.

July 26 - Lunch Money. Check out this great NPR piece on Lunch Money (by friend-of-Spare-the-Rock Stefan) and also check out their website and you should be convinced. I just saw them in Brooklyn this last weekend and their shows are fun, engaging, and guaranteed to make you and your kids happy. Lunch Money will guest DJ on Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, on Saturday, July 25.

August 23 - Justin Roberts & the Not Ready for Naptime Trio. Justin Roberts creates intelligent and whimsical rock for the whole family and is one of the true stars of the kindie rock scene, often playing festivals and the like. This is a great opportunity to see Justin and the trio in what I think might be their first Valley appearance.

September 20 - Deedle Deedle Dees. If you were at the Meltdown, these guys need no real introduction; they co-headlined the event and rocked the house. They call themselves an educational rock band, but that doesn't remotely do them justice. Terrific musicians, witty songwriters, and infectious live, this show will be fantastic. They'll be playing lots of new songs from the probably-by-then-released new record (which, yes, includes a song about me wearing a dress to school).

October 18 - Uncle Rock and the Playthings Trio. Uncle Rock played the Meltdown and has done a number of solo shows here over the last couple of years, but this is the first local appearance by his band, the Playthings. Check out Uncle Rock at UncleRock.com -- it'll be a great time. Uncle Rock will also guest DJ on Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, sometime prior to that.

In addition to the guest DJ sets mentioned above, we've got these guest DJ sets airing on Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child:

Saturday, June 6 - Monte Belmonte (mornings on 93.9 The River) and Atticus (his son)

Saturday, June 13 - Ashley from the Jimmies

Saturday, June 20 - Ziggy Marley! Yes, Ziggy Marley. Ziggy will be playing a family show in Boston on July 24 and spinning some tunes on our show.

Saturday, June 27 - Recess Monkey takes over the whole darn show in the lead-up to the River's Summer Recess with Recess Monkey on July 12 (free show downtown - details to come)

Saturday, July 11 - Adam from the Bunny Clogs

And finally, while it's not a show we're putting on, Elizabeth Mitchell is coming back to town, playing at the Eric Carle Museum on Saturday, June 13.

Seriously. This is a crazy good batch of stuff. Please support the shows and the Iron Horse for taking a chance on family music! (Note that I don't make money off of any of the live shows -- I'm plugging them because I believe in family music.)