JEFF IFTEKARUDDIN: THIS JUST IN!







What an amazing school!  From the moment I arrived on campus I was made to feel at home.  Things started off with a fun sing-a-long in the fresh Oceanside morning air.  All of the students gathered outside on the playground for the Friday-Sing.  The kids were all excellently behaved and I knew it was going to be a great day of music labs!

Despite a few technical difficulties we got things going outside with "Time to wake up!"  Soon after, classes began to visit me in one of the buildings.  Each building has a theme and mine was: "Patience."  I met with classes from 8am until about 1pm and I was astounded by the behavior of the kids.  They were all respectful, patient, and full of excellent questions!  I could tell how much each class respected their teachers and everyone was eager to participate and sing along.  We even had a few teachers get up in front of their students and dance and sing and smile for "Time to wake up!"

I fielded questions about the guitars I had brought with me; my Godin A6 acoustic-electric, my washburn D-6, my Epiphone Texan-12, and my National Reso-lectric.  I also played different guitars for different classes to let them hear the vast sonic differences between the guitars.

After the last group of classes I said goodbye to the kids until later that night at Barnes and Noble in Oceanside.

Starting things off at 6pm, all of the kids in attendance (many in their p.j.s!) sang a rousing participatory version of "Time to wake up!" and "The Mistake Song" with me  I think that everyone in then entire store heard us singing and stomping along!  Then Ms. Pira's second graders gave a wonderful performance of several awesome movement songs and kept us all entertained.  

Little did we know that we were in the presence of royalty!  Famous author and resident Queen, Shelly Moore Thomas arrived to read some very special selections.  Donning her crown and introducing the various friends who had traveled with her, she had the entire crowd spellbound with her story-telling prowess.  I found myself feeling like I was in 2nd grade as she made us all laugh out loud with her hilarious puppets, including a karate practicing Alien named Elvis.  She read from a few of her fantastic books and even let a child hold onto her crown while she read!  You can find out all about her at http://www.thestoryqueen.com

Then Mission Meadows principal Mrs. Golden read from the Pigeon book series and told us the story of "Don't let the pigeon drive the bus!"  All of the kids gathered around their principal while she read on the stage.

I then played a few more songs and got to meet and speak with more teachers and parents from the Mission Meadows family.

All in all it was an excellent night with a stellar group of people and I would especially like to thank Connie Sol at Barnes and Noble for being such a gracious host and event sponsor as well as Ms. Pira for being such a great liason at Mission Meadows!

See ya soon!

Hey y'all...

So I'm looking forward to a couple of special shows this Friday in Oceanside, California.  I'll be performing for the kids at Mission Meadows Elementary School Friday morning and giving them a preview of some songs that I'll be playing later that night at Barnes and Noble.  During the day I'll be meeting with the classrooms one on one and performing some songs for them as well as doing some mini guitar clinics.  I always love to bring some of my favorite "axes" to show and tell.  I think I'm going to bring the 1950's Kay hollowbody and the National Resolectric...they are my favorites!  2nd grade stellar teaching whiz Stephanie Pira is organizing a book fair later that night at Barnes and Noble.  For the duration of the bookfair Barnes and Noble is going to donate 10% of the proceeds to support Mission Meadows Elementary School...how cool is that?!

After a performance by Stephanie's 2nd graders and a reading from famous author Shelley Moore Thomas (http://www.thestoryqueen.com)  I will be playing a few songs off of my new album for the kids and parents to rock out to.  Maybe we'll even get the parents to participate!

See you there at 6PM!

Barnes and Noble

Oceanside, CA

2615 Vista Way

Hey Everybody!

New Years Eve 2010 is here and I wanted to be sure to let you all know that the album is official mixed and mastered.  All of the details are being perfected for the CD printing and we are only a few short weeks away from the official release of: Songs about Turtles, Wolves, and Stan the Man: Music for Kids Who Get it!  I am very excited to share this music with you and your family for many reasons.  I wanted to create fun acoustic rock music for the whole family and for every kid to enjoy!  The album is filled with songs that you can rock out to at home or in the car or on your mp3 player.  The album will take you on a sonic adventure and be sure to lift your spirits and make you dance!  Stay tuned, because very soon I will be announcing how you can purchase the album on iTunes, Amazon.com and Cdbaby.com

As we approach this New Year what are your thoughts about 2011?  Are a lot of fun, new and exciting things going to happen?  Have you taken time to look back on 2010 and think about all the goals you accomplished and all the hurdles that you soared over?  Are you even the same person that you were on January 1st, 2010?  Well, we know you're the same person...but don't you think you've accomplished a heck of a lot this year?  If you feel that you haven't, then maybe 2011 could be a fresh start for you...because there is nothing as tasty and refreshing as a nice cold glass of Fresh Start!

I promise to deliver you regular updates on the tour and on the release of this album and will be revealing some exciting projects that are connected to this album...***you may be part of a youtube video for one of the songs on the album!***

Well I'm off to go ring in the new year courtesy of my neighbour's beautiful Gibson J-45 (he lends it to me when I'm in town).  Happy New Year!

To be continued (in a short while!)  In the meantime, enjoy the songs in the Flash player!

-Jeff

CEO Little Rockers Clubm

Hey Little Rockers, and big rockers!

I wanted to let you all know that there are many new things going on.  I have a blogeroo over at wodrpess that you can read here: http://themusicofjeff.wordpress.com/  I wanted to give you a chance to take a peek into my brain.  I will be sharing all of my thoughts and ideas and inspirations behind making music.

I also created a youtube channel for all the little rockers out there.  You can find it right here: http://www.youtube.com/user/Littlerockersclub  I will do my best to make the club the perfect place for us to sing and make music...in the heart of Hollywood!

I thought I was going to have the album out earlier but it will definitely be coming out this fall.  Very soon you will be able to buy it through iTunes, Amazon, and CDbaby.  Thank you for your patience.  I promise it will be worth the wait!

Thanks for all your support!

Keep rockin'!

-Jeff 

Hey Everybody! Welcome to the new website! I am happy to announce that recording is underway for my newest album, "Songs about Turtles, Wolves, and Stan the Man; Music for kids who get it" I have been recording at legendary Cattaraugus Studios in Culver City, Ca. The slated release date is May 24th, 2010! The album features a wide variety of not-your-typical kids songs dealing with many different emotions and topics, and even a song about a certain breakfast treat thrown in for good measure. Songs like "Hiram the angry Hummingbird" tell us about a hummingbird named Hiram who is not having one of his better days. Throughout the journey of the song, Hiram realizes that he actually has a magical power inside of him! "The Mistake Song" reminds us that yes, indeed, everyone does make mistakes and that life truly does go on after we make them. "Waking Dreamer" tells of an adventure that takes place behind closed eyes in dreamland...where you can travel through time, live in a castle, and have a flying car. Jeff adds: "I really wanted to write an album full of tunes that I would have liked to have heard when I was a kid. I believe that children are inherently smart and that I can speak to them directly through my songs and that they will truly get it. Kids are awesome listeners and truly understand what these songs are about. I look forward to playing schools all over the world"