Jim Gill takes his silly songs very seriously.
And it seems clear that, if he wished, he could create a few rhyming reasons why his tunes about spaghetti legs, dance contests, shakin’ everywhere and more have risen up the charts of childhood and have become perhaps more important than ever in a world’s pandemic stress that invariably has reached youngsters.
Gill makes no attempt to mask such a probable reality.
In fact, the veteran nationally touring children’s performer and author is as determined to see his exuberant, playful music spread more rapidly and powerfully than any virus or fear. In recent months, as public gatherings have been restricted, Gill has customized video concerts for a variety of specific audiences. Come Dec. 7-9, Gill’s latest 30-minute streaming concert becomes available on the Facebook pages of the Bartholomew County Public Library, Jackson County Public Library, and the Greensburg-Decatur County Public Library.
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“All this certainly has been stressful for everyone,” Gill said, speaking by phone from his Chicago-area home in Oak Park, Illinois. “And I assume that grown-ups do their best to protect their young children from all that kind of stress.
“But, speaking from personal experience growing up in a house with some economic stress, I know that when a family experiences it, you as a child experience it, too — even though, looking back on it, I don’t think my parents ever said a lot about that.”
In the past, Gill has performed locally at The Commons in downtown Columbus and at First United Methodist Church’s Fridays at First series, where he was a hit. But his nationwide popularity is so significant that one adult fan sent him a photo of the follower’s election-day ballot — with Gill as a write-in candidate for President.
The artist, after all, sings a musical-game song called “Vote For Jim Gill.” But the singer acknowledged that his recent-months campaign of mostly video shows has left him missing his pint-sized audiences.
“I did three live shows this summer,” Gill said. “And each time, when I got home, I was really sad.”
But he cannot remain that way for long — not when his biggest little supporters send him drawings of their variation on Gill’s tune “May There Always Be Sunshine.” One child recently sent him a picture titled “May There Always Be Robots” with a detailed illustration of such a figure.
“I just feel so lucky to still be able to do this,” he said.
A big part of his work effort originates with wife Sue, who edits his videos and works to sometimes make even the captions or song lyrics dance on the screen. The duo realized after a few Zoom shows earlier this year that audience members were slow to follow his commands to clap, dance and more without those around them to demonstrate. So Gill’s videos often feature a small corner-of-the-screen clip of him doing whatever it is the singer/musician is asking his charges to do.
“My songs are really about getting everyone to sing along and to do these various motions,” he said, adding that 3-year-olds and others rely on visual cues to do as they are told. “And on Zoom, I realized that most of the time, the (online) audience never could even normally see my feet.”
Behind the music, he is a child development specialist, having completed his graduate studies in child development at the Erikson Institute of Chicago with a special emphasis on the study of play. That included a stint as a 20-year-old working at a summer camp in Rockford, Illinois, with children, including those with special needs.
“There was this great, clap-along kind of energy,” Gill said. “And there was just something about it that made it the perfect match for me.”
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Who: Nationally touring children’s entertainer and book author Jim Gill.
When: Performing via video presentation on the Facebook page of the Bartholomew County Public Library (with a link to be provided later) Dec. 7-9 and also via video through the Jackson County Public Library and the Greensburg-Decatur County Public Library.
Artist website: jimgill.com
Information: mybcpl.org
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