Well, my summer tour has wrapped up and, while I could go on about the cool places I went and the cool people I met this summer, one of the highlights from my summer was playing music with the people I love most in this world. If you recall, I blogged previously about the China […]
Author: Stormin Bob Swanson
Christmas in July
So it’s been a sizzling summer in Mississippi — highs pushing 100 and heat index flirting with 110 most days so far this month. But it’s felt like Christmas of late, for a couple of reasons. The first of which is that my latest video, “How Hot Is It?,” is the closest thing I’ve had […]
An itch I gotta scratch
Like any other creative person, I go through periods when my artistic juices are flowing as well as “molasses moments.” Starting with writing a new tune (“Punderwater”) and reworking an existing tune (“The Weather Wiggle” as “The Tropical Twist”) for my “Dive into Science” tour this summer, the past few months have been one of […]
Merch madness
Now that my “Dive into Science” tour is underway (two of my boys and I will be heading for Eupora when I finish this post), wanted to mention some of the merchandise I’m selling this summer. Because of the summer reading program’s marine theme (“Oceans of Possibilities”), the merch table is looking a little bit […]
Now That’s What I Call Folk Music! (Vol. 1)
The best folk music is about folks, so you can imagine my surprise and delight to find myself a “folk” subject of a folk song. A little backstory . . . . Students in my physical science classes are required to complete a “Smarter Every Week” group project. Presentations typically occur on Fridays and focus […]
Just under the surface
Each summer I try to offer a slightly different show to go along with the summer reading program theme of the year. For example, in 2018 I played my “Music & Meteorology” program to go along with the “Libraries Rock!” summer reading theme. In 2019, I presented an “Out of this World” astronomy show to […]
The student becomes the teacher
Several months ago, fresh from recovering from a “breakthrough case” of COVID, I lamented a bit about the relative unimportance (in the grand scheme of things) of what I do — whether as a teacher, musician or children’s entertainer. This week I was reminded, on a couple of occasions, that I have made favorable impressions […]
The Other Fab Four — Next Generation
I started playing music a little later than the average bear. Apart from singing in church and two years of trumpet during my 5th and 6th grade years, I never really had much in the way of music instruction or inspiration during my childhood. It wasn’t until college that I got more involved in the […]
Telling tales out of school
While my summer tour is still a few months away, I’m knocking the dust off my instruments and demonstrations with a couple of local events. Yesterday, I played at Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary’s after-school science club. After my program, the kids had a bunch of questions for me. One that stuck out was, “Why did […]
Bob the Builder’s Christmas
I go by many names — Stormin’ Bob Swanson (The Singing Weatherman), StarMan Bob Swanson (The Singing Astronomer), and Bob the Builder. The last of these I picked up while living in Tupelo — a neighbor of mine, Peggy Hurley, would patrol the neighborhood in her pickup truck (sometimes walking her dog by holding the […]