Tina Kenny Jones

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- When it comes to the "Kindie" music scene, local instrumentalist Tina Kenny has reached a sort of rock star status.

Kindie being indie music for kids, of course.

Kenny, 28, is the bassist for the Red Pants Band, the soon-to-be Lollapalooza Music Festival headliners formed by Danny Weinkauf of They Might Be Giants -- the band best known for their Grammy-winning theme song to the show "Malcolm in the Middle."

Kenny and her bandmates will take the stage at the "Kidzapalooza" component of the Chicago music festival, performing songs like "Champion of the Spelling Bee" and "Ice Cream."

When they perform one of Weinkauf's biggest hits, "Marsupial," the crowd will likely go wild, jumping like kangaroos to the educational lyrics and upbeat rhythms of the rousing anthem.


"Kids are such a great audience, they just, as soon as you start playing, start singing and bouncing," Kenny said. "There's no judgement, nothing but, 'let's have a good time.'"


Kenny happened upon the genre by chance. The multi-instrumentalist is a musician and composer who performs every other Tuesday at 120 Bay Cafe with her band, Tina Kenny and the Balance. A friend of hers knew Weinkauf and mentioned he was looking for bandmates to perform with his kindie album, "No School Today."

After emailing Weinkauf, the bassist in They Might Be Giants, she was brought into the studio and soon after joined the band. She couldn't believe she'd be performing with the member of a band she had listened to throughout her high school years -- just by cold emailing him.

They Might Be Giants has reached an almost cult-like status, selling four million records of songs written for children and winning two Grammys in the category. The band is usually the first name dropped when anyone tries to describe what "Kindie" means.

Though she never anticipated being big in the kids music scene, Kenny, a Curtis High School grad, has positioned herself well for success in the music industry. She attended Berkeley College of Music with the intention of scoring music for films -- something she's been able to do since graduating in 2007 with several independent films.

When not performing with Tina Kenny and the Balance, the 28-year-old teaches music lessons to children around Staten Island. Prior to that band, for four years, she and several of her friends formed the Bad Mouth Betties, an all-woman retro rock band. She plays most brass instruments, guitar, piano and sings.




Most recently, her scoring work was the backdrop to an interactive show with the Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble. The ensemble's musicians played a song she composed during a movie by local filmmaker Don Arangio. It was performed live with the film at the Staten Island Museum.

This week, Kenny learned a music video she worked on with Weinkauf will be featured on an upcoming episode of Sesame Street -- perhaps the ultimate kids music platform. It features one of her music students, 14-year-old Joie Bianco, also from Staten Island.

Since breaking into the kids music scene, Kenny said she's experienced a surge in her own creativity. Songs written for kids may seem simple, but the lack of limitations is liberating, she said.

"With writing kids music, you don't have to write about anything specific, you know, with adult music maybe a song has to be about love or something like that, and it has to be this length of time," Kenny said. "There's none of that in kids music. It could be potentially educational, but it doesn't have to be. You can really write about anything you want. I definitely feel more room for creativity." - SI Live