Above "So Glad" Watercolor by Mary Byrom

Marcus Gale at Portsmouth Harbor in New Hampshire, Photographed by Rick Pickford

Marcus Gale and Mary Byrom at Portsmouth Harbor in New Hampshire, Photographed by Rick Pickford

You'll be 'So Glad' you saw Marcus Gale (and your kids will be estatic)

By Melanie Asmar

spotlight@seacoastonline.com
When: Nov. 15, 2 p.m.; Nov. 22, 11 a.m.
Where: Family Resource Center at Landmark Hill (518 U.S. Route 1), Kittery, Maine (Nov. 15); South Berwick Town Hall, 180 Main St., South Berwick, Maine (Nov. 22)
Cost: Free
Information: (207) 451-9291 for the Kittery show, www.marcusgale.com

The tools of Marcus Gale’s trade are an acoustic guitar, two puppets named Froggie and Doggie, maracas and a blue cap he calls his "singing hat." Gale, a resident of North Berwick, Maine, is a children’s folk singer who is out to show the world that he is "So Glad!" with his second compact disc of children’s songs. The 10 original tracks take a child through a typical day, beginning with a yawn in "Wake Up" and ending with the lullaby "Good Night." And in each song, Gale said he tries to sing about things that would make a preschooler glad.
"I think about what a 4-year-old would think about," said Gale of how he writes his songs. "I look around at the world, at nature, at things kids would easily recognize and at basic fun experiences, and I come up with songs like ‘Beach Day,’ ‘Best Friend’ and ‘My Dog’."
Gale’s songs are upbeat, folksy and soothing. With lyrics like "my dog is soft and furry/my dog likes to run/my dog never worries/my dog is lots of fun," Gale keeps it basic. "I write music for the kids," said Gale. "Much of the children’s music around now is sophisticated, complicated and over their heads. Most kids can only hear five-note melodies." Gale keeps his message simple, too. "My basic message is that life is good and there is so much that makes you feel so glad," said Gale.

The album "So Glad" is a follow-up to 1996’s "Sing Along, Laugh Along," a collection of traditional songs like "Old McDonald" and "Day-O! (Banana Boat Song)." Gale said the pressure to put out a second CD came mostly from parents. "After a while, they were pestering me for a new CD; it was audience demand," said Gale. "Most parents who buy my music are hip enough to sing along." And if they won’t sing at first, Marcus knows how to get them out of their seats.
"At shows, I’ll have the parents up doing a Motown line dance to Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect’," said Gale. Audience participation is a key element of Gale’s live shows. He said he always gives people a way to interact, which is his way of countering what he calls a sedentary culture focused on things like television. Gale invites kids up on stage to make barnyard noises during "Old McDonald" and passes out maracas when he sings "Lasagna," a ditty about Italian food to the tune of "La Bamba." "If the audience is young, I’ll use my puppets, Froggie and Doggie," said Gale. "The puppets tease me onstage. Young kids love it when something can get the better of an adult. Or I’ll have Froggie sing his ABC’s backwards and I’ll say ‘Is that right kids?’ and they’ll all scream ‘Nooooo!’"

For the grand finale of the new live show that accompanies his CD, Gale has the audience stand up and act out the motions to the song "So Glad!" Gale said kids and parents get happy as their "hands are a-clap-clap-clappin’" and their "hips are a-rock-rock-rockin’."
"At one point, the lyrics say ‘when I’m jump-jump-jumpin’, my heart starts a pump-pump-pumpin’" and that’s my little inside joke with the parents because they see me jumping around up there and it’s like an exhausting aerobic workout," said Gale. Gale said he realized that children need interaction from an entertainer when he started volunteering at a preschool in Portland, Maine 10 years ago. A former rock ‘n’ roll guitarist and a Beatles fan, Gale began visiting the preschool with his guitar and singing folk songs with the kids, and his career as a children’s musician took off from there. He has since performed throughout New England and in Washington, D.C., as well as for former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton when she visited the East End Children’s Workshop in Portland in 1996. Everywhere he goes, he tries to spread his message. "My career is a mission to bring positive values to kids - like honesty, kindness and patience," said Gale. Gale maintains those values through Falun Gong, a Chinese practice that combines exercise and meditation, which he says gives him more energy and enables him to improve himself as a person. Gale also enjoys the support and talent of his wife, artist Mary Byron, and photographer/graphic artist Rick Pickford of Dover who designed the jacket of Gale’s new CD. Mary drew the picture of the smiling red house sitting on top of the world for the cover of the CD, while Pickford took the photo of the smiling Gale with a guitar slung over his shoulder and a smiling Mary behind him. In addition to lending her artist’s touch, Mary apparently puts her two-cents in musically, as well. "My wife says there needs to be another Mr. Rogers out there," said Gale, and then adds that if he could do a television show, he would want it to be live, not like cartoons. "Kids give you immediate feedback, and so much energy," said Gale. "My live shows are like a community event - you can see friends and meet neighbors."
Maine and N.H. residents will have the chance to be Gale’s neighbor on Saturday, Nov. 15 when he performs at the Family Resource Center at Landmark Hill in Kittery, and on Saturday, Nov. 22 at South Berwick Town Hall.


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