The Annies
| The Annies | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Putney, Vermont, United States |
| Genres | Children's music |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Labels | Jakoko Publishing and Orange Blorange Publishing |
| Website | http://www.theannies.com |
| Members | Annie Frelich and Annie Quest |
The Annies are an acoustic guitar and vocal children's music and puppet performance duo from Putney, Vermont made up of Annie Frelich and Annie Quest. Their live shows are characterized by the interaction between original music, stories, and a number of puppet characters that the Annies operate. The Annies perform for birthday parties, kid’s workshops (for puppet-making and song writing), or for teacher curriculum development focusing on expanding creativity in the classroom.[1]
Annie Frelich and Katie Bowen, a violinist also perform a side project called The FITtles aimed at educating children about nutrition, health, positive body image, strength, and flexibility.[2]
Annies songs
The Annies songs are performed with both Annie Quest and Annie Frelich singing in harmony while playing acoustic guitar. The lyrics are characterized by their focus on imagination, children’s artwork and creativity, humor, and a love of nature and exploration. The songs contain a number of puns and some difficult scientific words that children enjoy pronouncing, like orthoptera and hibernaculum.
Annies puppets
The Annies puppet characters have varied personalities and sizes. Their construction and use of everyday materials encourages the children in the audience to make their own puppets put on shows of their own. Some characters include:[3]
- Toadillia
- Latka
- Louie The Louse
- Lady Jane
- Carlsbad Cactus
- The Legendary Orange Haired Gazig
Discography
Crazy Stew
The Annies have released one studio album named Crazy Stew, produced in 2007. While live performances contain only the two Annies voices and acoustic guitars, the album contains collaborations with double bass, hand drums, bassoon, string instruments, and others.
The track listing includes:
- Crazy Stew
- The Insectabet
- It’s Toadally Fantabulous (To Be A Toad)
- Beats In The Field, Birds In The Air
- Babies In My Garden
- The Ballad Of The Weird Pirate
- Growin’ Up
- I Believe In Magic I Believe In Dragons
- I Am The Artist
- The Under The Sea Carousel
- The Snorchestra
- Puppets For The People
I Am The Arrrtist – Live and Unhinged
I Am The Arrrtist - Live and Unhinged is a DVD created from a live show given at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in 2005. The DVD was produced by Vermont Digital Productions.