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Wholenote Magazine

“25 years ago musical entertainment for children was almost a Canadian industry. Streaming through the door that was opened by Raffi and blown in by Sharon, Lois and Bram came a whole procession of artists with a whole stack of accompanying record albums. They weren’t all great, but Debbie Carroll is the equal of the best of them, and continues the tradition of providing high-quality music for young children. This is her second album for Kathy Reid-Naiman’s Merriweather label, following the success of her first CD, the award-winning “Up and Over the Moon”. The 19 tracks are a delightful combination of original material and traditional action and movement songs. Carroll has a sweet, perfectly-pitched voice reminiscent of Sharon Hampson, and sings simply and without mannerism. The sixteen backing musicians include names from the earliest days of Canadian kids music, including Dennis Pendrith, Bucky Berger, and the ubiquitous Chris and Ken Whiteley, the latter playing just about every instrument you can imagine plus a few you can’t. Indeed, one of the most pleasing aspects of this album is the care taken with the musical arrangements, which are sensitive and imaginative but never complicated. Just listen to Ken Whiteley’s mandolin playing on Somebody’s Hiding, or Christina Smith’s fiddle on Red Winged Blackbird and you know you are in the presence of top-notch professionals. Ken Whiteley also produced this album… and ‘simply beautiful’ it certainly is.” Terry Robbins, Wholenote magazine online, Oct 1-Nov 7