Everybody Plays Air Guitar by Joe McDermott

While he learned to play guitar and played in rock bands, he moved to Austin and earned a Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas. Hoping to make it in the art world, he took a job as an art teacher at Athena Montessori. Five years later, he opened his own preschool, The Phoenix School, in Central Austin. Little did he know how this melding of creativity and immersion in early childhood education would lead to his future career as one of the nation’s top children’s music recording artists. “It’s amazing how it all evolved so organically. I’m not sure about fate, but it seemed there has been a guiding hand in this,” Joe says.

In a rambling old Austin house, Joe and his wife ran the preschool in the front two rooms, and on the weekends played music in the back room studio with friends. Joe realized that children were an unending source of inspiration for songwriting. One year, he recorded a tape with the school children recorded as a Christmas gift for the parents. It was just a dabble into the world of children’s music, but the response was so positive, and his own experiences as a parent made songwriting for children an irresistible force.

Joe’s first nationally distributed CD, I Am Baby, won a Parents’ Choice Recommended Honor in 1998; and both Great Big World (2001) and Everywhere You Go (2003) won the esteemed Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award. Joe was honored with his first NAPPA Gold Award for Everywhere You Go, which includes the Children’s Music Web Award winning song, “Baby Kangaroo.” This song also captured a second place prize in the International Song Writing Contest, Children’s Division in 2005, and is in regular rotation on the children’s channel of XM Radio.

Children’s music is now a full-time focus for Joe McDermott. “What I love about this genre is how open it is to expression. His artistic training helps him create painterly, visually rich songs that evoke emotions in “people of all sizes.” He’s been called “The maestro of imagination” for his creative approach and appeal.

McDermott’s proficient songwriting abilities enabled him to compose music for children’s video games and educational software, including scores for several Super Nintendo games. He won “Best Music for Cartridge Games” award for his work on Zombies Ate My Homework , a game which still enjoys a cult following. Joe’s music enhances several Scene It DVD games, including the “Friends” edition. One project teamed Joe with Stan and Jan Berenstain, authors of the classic Berenstain Bears books. Impressed by Joe’s work, author Stan Berenstain enlisted him to adapt ten of their books to song. After working with Joe, Stan Berenstain said, “Joe McDermott is not only a magnificent songwriter, he’s also an absolute wizard at communicating with children through music.” Many of Joe’s catchy songs have been arranged for orchestral performance, and he has performed with the Austin Symphony Orchestra.

Joe’s latest projects are his fourth family music release, Everybody Plays Air Guitar and work as the music director for Houston based Team Baby Entertainment, a Michael Eisner owned company which produces sports programming for children. He resides in Austin with his wife, Louise, and three children.

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