Various generations of Australian children have received their initial exposure to music through the child-friendly sounds of The Wiggles, The Hooley Dooleys and Hi-5.
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This year's Inland Sea of Sound festival will feature a more recent group who has entertained younger fans of music over the last decade: Lah-Lah's Big Live Band.
Lah-Lah's Big Live Band is a five-piece ensemble featuring vocals, percussion, woodwind, double bass and piano accordion to create a sound spanning numerous genres.
Tina Harris, who sings under the alias 'Lah-Lah,' said the idea of the group is to introduce children to music's many different possibilities.
"We've always prided ourselves on the fact that we play 'real' music for kids, we don't dumb anything down," Harris said.
"The point of difference for us is that we don't stick to a set genre, we incorporate everything from jazz and world to rock and classical."
Lah-Lah's Big Live Band has spent the last 11 years touring their unique brand of children's music across Australia, building a loyal group of followers known as 'The Stripy Sock Club.'
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The group has also produced two television series, Lah-Lah's Adventures and Lah-Lah's Stripy Sock Club, for audiences in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
"We will be performing songs from both series at the festival," Harris said.
Harris, who used to perform with Opera Australia, said the group is comprised of leading Australian performers in the jazz and world genres.
"When Mr Saxophone [Matt Ottignon] is not touring with us, he's performing with Guy Sebastian, and Buzz the Band Leader [Mark Harris] performed with the original members of The Wiggles for their recent bushfire relief gigs," she said.
"With all that live performance experience on stage, our shows evoke the same energy as adult-orientated sets, which I feel parents really appreciate."
Harris said the process of creating music for children requires a careful approach to songwriting.
"It's about providing subject matter that both children and parents can draw value from," she said.
"There's songs in the mix that are purely for enjoyment value, but others possess important educational messages."
Harris said it's important for certain festivals to promote a family-friendly environment for young children to gain an early exposure to music.
"It's brilliant that Inland Sea of Sound is letting children under 12 in for free, as music plays a vital role in their brain development and creativity," she said.
Lah-Lah's Big Live Band will perform on Saturday, February 29 at 12.30pm. For more information, visit inlandseaofsound.com.au.
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