Two Irish musician comedians are making original music for kids that doesn't talk down to them - or make their parents cringe, writes Sylvia Thompson

A PROTEST SONG for modern traffic-bound children, an eco-tribute to snails, a boogie-woogie number about brushing your teeth and a ditty about the fluff in your belly button. A new collection of songs for children, written by Dermot and Bairbre Carmody and performed by stand-up musical comedians Dermot Carmody and Morgan C Jones, charts new territory in music for children in this country.

"I felt there was a limited repertoire of music for children here, a shortage of fun, up-to-date, 21st-century music that children would relate to," says Bairbre Carmody, a piano teacher who previously played for comedy and theatre acts, including jazz singer Agnes Bernelle. "A lot of the music for children is based on 20th-century folk music. It's conservative and old-fashioned, so I asked Dermot to write some songs."

Dermot Carmody rose to the challenge and, according to Bairbre, wrote the songs in a week.

"It's vaudeville for children," he says. "Children respond to music in the same way as adults do - you don't have to dumb it down for them."

And, in fact, one of the things you notice when you listen to the CD, There's a Snail in the Garden, is that while the lyrics are child-focused, the music would easily fit with regular bluesy lyrics.

Once the songs were recorded and made available on iTunes, the idea of performing them for young children and their families was born.

"It took a while to get the format right for the show," says Dermot Carmody. "We wondered whether we should have a narrative or bring in clowns, but then we realised we had a comedy double-act already, so I wrote a routine for two silly daddies on stage.

"Morgan and I both have small children, so we know the territory. But we're not party entertainers and we were keen to have something that the parents will enjoy as well."

Judging by their second public performance of the new material, in the Greystones Theatre recently, it works. The children in the audience immediately identified with the "two silly daddies" notion and willingly went along with the humorous banter between Carmody and Jones as they introduced each song. The adults were entertained too.

THE PLAN NOW is to tour There's A Snail in the Gardento arts festivals and arts centres throughout Ireland.

"Many arts festivals now have a strong element for children and there isn't a huge variety of music for children out there," says Dermot Carmody.

Meanwhile, Bairbre Carmody also has plans to set up her own music school, the Music Room in Blackrock, Co Dublin.

"I'm a big believer in the Kodály method, which is taught in places like the Leeson Park School of Music in Rathmines," she says. "In fact, I taught music there and I got fantastic training."

Broadly speaking, this approach encourages young children to feel rhythm and recognise patterns before they go on to learn how to read music.

"There is a lot of research which shows how the Kodály method improves the memories of four- to six-year-olds, and it also helps children with development problems," Bairbre Carmody explains.

However, she also has another goal, once she finds premises for the Music Room: to begin free piano and guitar lessons and music classes for pre-schoolers.

"I've just finished my Masters in cultural policy at University College Dublin and I'm very keen on music lessons being made available free to those who can't afford it," she says.

She mentions some pilot projects, in which county councils have set up instrument banks and offered music lessons in the community. However, she sees potential in private philanthropic gestures too.

"I know some piano teachers who give the odd free lesson, but my idea is that, in the Music Room, up to 15 per cent of the classes would be for those who can't afford them," she says. "And we'd fundraise to pay for these classes. Also, I want to emphasise that music is fun for children. Some approaches are too purist and lacking in humour."

No doubt, the two silly daddies will have a part to play in this ambitious new venture too.

• There's a Snail in the Gardenwill be performed in the Greystones Theatre, Greystones, Co Wicklow, on Dec 20 at 2pm, tickets €10, tel: 01-2871755. To download or buy the CD, There's a Snail in the Garden, follow links on www.shakabang.com. Dermot Carmody and Morgan C Jones's grown-up act, The 1989 Show, will tour in the New Year. See www.the1989show.com