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Nashville has earned its status as a live-music paradise, but as any parent of young children can tell you, things get harder when the little ones arrive.
Luckily, The Rock and Roll Play House at Brooklyn Bowl has a fix. With daytime shows featuring the music of iconic artists parents love, plus the physical fun kids crave, it’s a unique concert series welcoming a new generation of live music fans. And this month, a special show is planned.
On January 22 at 12 p.m., Brooklyn Bowl will host families for The Rock and Roll Playhouse Plays: Music of Dolly Parton for Kids, with live tunes, plenty of dancing, educational activities, and more. It’s just the latest in a series of kid-friendly tributes which already included a Dolly Day last May. As senior director of The Rock and Roll Playhouse, Stephen Grybowski says the heartwarming concerts are here to stay.
“It’s the most beautiful [sight] watching 4-year- olds run around and dance to Dolly Parton hits,” he says with pride, speaking from the event’s home base in Brooklyn, New York. It was there in Brooklyn that The Rock and Roll Playhouse began in 2014, the brainchild of legendary concert promoter and founder of The Brooklyn Bowl, Peter Shapiro. With kids of his own, Shapiro suddenly realized his venue was empty and unused during the day—and that local musicians weren’t doing day shifts either. Famous for his work reviving The Grateful Dead for a new generation, he enlisted friend Phil Lesh to help introduce kids to the music of their parents, and what started as a simple test run became an overnight success.
“They all just had this magical day where parents could bring their kids and listen to the music of The Grateful Dead,” Grybowski explains.“And the kids lost it. They had the time of their lives.”
After three years the series expanded into Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago—mostly by request of parents who had moved to those cities and wanted to bring the Playhouse along—and then they moved into Nashville. Shows have now been held in 28 cities nationwide, and although the idea started with classic rock and jam-band icons like The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, and more, the series is now adding other artists that make sense regionally.
In December, Brooklyn Bowl Nashville invited familiestorockouttoTheBeatlesandTaylor Swift, while other shows around the country feature tunes by Elton John, The Allman Brothers Band, Jay-Z, and Aretha Franklin to name a few. That diversity highlights a key aspect of the series: connecting kids to the musical classics.
“It was really important for us to share music parents loved, so it would be something a parent would be excited to go to, even though it’s for their kids,” Grybowski says. “And it’s so special to be able to engage your two- to six-year-old around music that is meaningful to you.”
This month’s Dolly Parton dance-a-thon will take place on January 22, just three days after the icon’s 77th birthday, and at this point the team has perfected their approach. Doors open one hour early to allow for stroller parking and other necessities. “It’s not like adults going to a concert, when it’s not your first rodeo,” Grybowski says. The show itself lasts a kid- friendly 60 minutes flat.
“That’s because we’ve identified that two-to six-year-olds lose all attention span at the 60-minute mark,” Grybowski says with a laugh. “We draft up a setlist for a local cover band— usually the artist’s most engaging, upbeat classic songs—and then we integrate activities into it. We’ll do a freeze dance, we open every show with a ‘Hello’ song, stuff with call-and-response aspects that let the kids fully engage the band. Then we have a massive parachute which is super colorful and engaging, and the kids, they’re just losing it the whole time, dancing and having an absolute ball. It’s like pure bliss.”
Staff also carefully monitor sound levels to protect little ears, and a local teacher is booked to lead educational activities. It makes for a great one-time family outing, or something worth coming back to time and time again.
“We’ve got families who will come out and just show up because it’s live music, but then we also have massive Prince fans who will bring their whole family with everybody dressed up in purple from head to toe,” Grybowski says. “That’s pretty awesome. It makes it so much more of an experience than just watching a band onstage.”
That’s what makes the series so unique—and so perfect for Music City. It’s rare for parents to find something that channels kids’ energy in a positive direction and is also geared toward adults. Add in a chance to pass on your love for a classic artist to the next generation, and The Rock and Roll Playhouse is something special indeed.
“Just being able to connect the music a parent loves with their kids, it’s the most important thing we constantly hear,” Grybowski says. “But it’s kind of cool because for parents, once you have kids you don’t go out as much. You’ve got these people who really love live music, but maybe haven’t been to a concert in two or three years. Oftentimes, this can be a parent’s first time going back to a live show, and if it’s music they love and they’re able to bring their children to it? It’s a really profound thing. It seems so simple, but it’s so special.”
(The Rock and Roll Playhouse Plays: Music of Dolly Parton for Kids takes place January 22 at 12 p.m. at Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, with more shows planned each month. 925 3rd Ave. N, 615-953-5450; brooklynbowl.com/Nashville)