The Okee Dokee Brothers, Saddle Up, rides strong for all

The Okee Dokee Brothers, Saddle Up is a kindie release that manages to embrace and straddle both sides of the proverbial fence at once. From the cover art to the name of the group, The Okee Dokee Brothers one might expect the music to be on the kid side of kindie. By that I mean description I mean that kids would enjoy it more than adults; sure it might be kindie, but that description is more aligned with puppets than serious musicianship. You know what I’m talking about.

However, much like Charlie Murphy and his judgment of Prince’s basketball skills, don’t judge a book by its cover. The Okee Dokee Brothers Saddle Up is satisfying from start to finish with complex, expertly performed songs that bring in a wide variety of instruments and song pacing.

What’s more, it does all of this while solidly being a kindie release that is something the entire family will want to listen to. This is not just a kindie release for those that like acoustic guitar. There are dozens of instruments on Saddle Up that give each song its own personality as the music takes you on their trip down through the United States.

In the summer of 2015 the group took a month long trip by horseback along The Continental Divide.   This was their third trip, with the first one being about hiking, (Through the Woods) and the second about canoeing (Can You Canoe?). That second one earned them a Grammy Award for Best Children’s Grammy Album in 2012.

The result for their latest release is a palette full of sounds that will please anyone. Each song tells a story in a friendly toe-tapping rhythm that resonates with people on their front porches in the urban jungle to folks who are looking at mountain backdrop.

There’s some fiddle and steel guitar in the songs, but it’s not entirely country music. It’s worth mentioning that because some readers or potential listeners may see ‘country music’, jump in their Prius and get a mocha double decaf latte on their way out of here.  Saddle Up is a release that transcends any one main genre of music.  Toss in some blues, a little Mexican and cowboy humor and you’ll have one of the most unexpected musical releases that you didn’t think that you’d love.

It’s impossible to ignore the shades of John Denver that resonate in some of the songs too. They have more of a groove in The Okee Dokee Brothers, but his spirit is certainly there.  Proof of that can be heard in the Native American tinged Sister Moon and Brother Sun. It starts off with Navajo style singing and goes into an allegory about how the Earth was created. If the opening annoys you, just stick with it and about one minute into the song you’re all but hearing a more poetic nod to Rocky Mountain High.

Kindie is a funny thing. When you don’t have children you’re not too aware of its presence. Once you have kids you hear it everywhere, kind of like learning a couple of words in a foreign language.  With that in mind and our fondness for Saddle Up, we listened to the 2012 release from The Okee Dokee Brothers, Can you Canoe?. Saddle Up is leagues better than their 2012 release-and that one was very good, good enough to win the Grammy that year. One Horsepower, the upbeat song about riding a horse is what hooked our children. We grinned and enjoyed the ride. After that the rest of the songs hook you like a chocolate covered earworm to a music hungry cranium.

If you liked Can You Canoe? you will absolutely love Saddle Up.

If you never heard that, have no idea what kindie is or stumbled here looking for cat videos, you’ll absolutely love it too. This release transgresses the genre of kindie and easily goes to any demographic, regardless of if they’re looking family friendly music or not.

Do you have Netflix? If so you can watch the illustrated storybook from Saddle Up starting on June 1. In They’re also publishing an illustrated version of all three of their adventures into one hardcover book on Tuesday, May 17.