(Announcer) WoodSongs Kids is in part funded by the Kentucky Department of Tourism.
Information about the lakes, mountains, parks, sports, music, art festivals, and more is available online at KentuckyTourism.com.
By the Martin Guitar Company, building handcrafted guitars for professionals and front-porch pickers since 1833, online at MartinGuitars.com.
And by the Deering Banjo Company, making American-made handcrafted banjos.
Their full catalog of banjos is online at DeeringBanjos.com.
Their full catalog of banjos is online at DeeringBanjos.com.
- [Narrator] WoodSongs Kids, celebrating the music of America's front porch from the Lyric Theater in Lexington, Kentucky.
from the Lyric Theater in Lexington, Kentucky.
- Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, my name's Makayla Rayne Johnathon.
Welcome to WoodSongs Kids.
Here's my daddy, folksinger, Michael Johnathon.
(audience applauding) - Thank you, Makayla.
We get to do another show together.
Ready to sing a song?
♪ Sitting on a creaky old rockin' chair ♪ ♪ They say it's gonna rain  ♪ We don't care  ♪ Dancing with you all afternoon ♪ ♪ On the front porch with me  ♪ On the front porch with me  ♪ Listen to the rhythm of summer rain ♪ ♪ Tappin' out a tempo on my window pane ♪ ♪ Nothing like summer on the front porch swing ♪ ♪ Makin' my banjo ring  ♪ I'm playing my banjo on the rockin' chair ♪ ♪ You can play a fiddle in your underwear ♪ ♪ Pretty as a rainbow in your hair ♪ ♪ On the front porch with me  ♪ When you're on the front porch with me ♪ ♪ When you're on the front porch with me ♪ - Yay.
(audience applauding) Good job, Makayla, and welcome, everybody, to another broadcast of WoodSongs Kids.
We are celebrating this wonderful and amazing world of youngsters that play all different kinds of music.
They come from everywhere to be on our broadcast.
We treat WoodSongs Kids like a huge front porch.
It's very relaxed, but these kids are wonderful and we're so proud of all of them.
The very first artist that we're gonna introduce is a young girl.
She's 13 years old.
She does something called yodeling and this is a early American true type of a art form.
She's gonna explain it to us too, but here's a very old cowboy song that she's gonna play.
"Whatever Happened to the Yodeling Cowgirl," it's 13 years old, Phoebe White on WoodSongs Kids.
(audience applauding) (audience cheering) (Phoebe yodeling) (Phoebe yodeling) (Phoebe yodeling) (Phoebe yodeling) ♪ Whatever happened to the yodeling cowgirls ♪ ♪ That road across the silver screen ♪ ♪ The ones that rode with Roy and all of the boys ♪ ♪ That rode the range with Tex and Gene ♪ ♪ Whatever happened to the yodeling cowgirls ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm too young to know  ♪ If they could still be found  ♪ I bet they'd come to town  ♪ And put us on a yodeling show ♪ ♪ And they'd go  (Phoebe yodeling) (audience applauding) (Phoebe yodeling) ♪ Whatever happened to the yodeling cowgirls ♪ ♪ The ones that used to dress so cute ♪ ♪ With fringe hanging down and rhinestones around ♪ ♪ And multicolored cowboy boots ♪ ♪ Whatever happened to the yodeling cowgirls ♪ ♪ There must be at least some left ♪ ♪ But until I find the one  ♪ I'm gonna have some fun  ♪ And do the yodeling myself  (Phoebe yodeling) (Phoebe yodeling) (Phoebe yodeling) (Phoebe yodeling) (Phoebe yodeling) (Phoebe yodeling) (Phoebe yodeling) (audience applauding) (audience cheering) (audience applauding) (audience cheering) - A little fast now.
(Phoebe yodeling) (audience applauding) (audience cheering) (audience applauding) (audience cheering) Hold onto your hats, partners.
(Phoebe yodeling) (audience applauding) (audience cheering) - The amazing Phoebe White, 13 years old.
It's nice to see you, Phoebe.
- Nice to see you.
- And you're doing so good.
How does your tongue stay in your mouth when you're doing all that?
- It's really hard to keep it.
- Yeah, now, let me ask you, how old were you when you first heard your first yodel?
how old were you when you first heard your first yodel?
- Well, I heard LeAnn Rimes sing "Blue" and I was like, "Oh, that's so cool.
What is that?"
And then I wanted to learn how to, so I went home the next day, I tried and I tried, and then finally late that night, I got it.
- So LeAnn Rimes is the one who encouraged you.
- Yes.
- And her first single, I think she was like 10 or 11 years old when that came out and she did yodel on that.
That really caught your ear, right?
So explain to the audience, how do you yodel?
- So yodeling is when you flip your voice to one place and then flip it to another place without sliding up.
- [Michael] So give me a slow motion example.
♪ Oh-oo  So it's just like, just...
So it's just like, just... - [Phoebe] Just like this.
- I'm not gonna try it.
(all laughing) But it's like going in octave, right?
- Yes.
- Going like a perfect octave up.
- [Phoebe] Without sliding.
- So was that hard for you to learn?
- Yeah.
- So you would practice around the house and your mom would sit there going, "What on earth are you doing?"
(audience laughs) - [Phoebe] Yeah, they'd be holding their ears.
- Yeah, but now you're doing it so well, you even hang out with the people at the Grand Ole Opry backstage.
Now everybody's starting to love what you're doing and I have here in my hand your very own first official album, right?
- [Phoebe] Yeah.
(audience applauding) - It's called "Unexpected."
- It's called "Unexpected."
And you have this wonderful bluegrass band, the McClain Family Band, but who are the other, who's the other big artists on this?
- Riders in the Sky.
- [Michael] Riders in the Sky, and of course, Ranger Doug is one of the best yodelers ever, right?
- Yes.
- And you get to hang out.
And who gave you your hat?
- [Phoebe] Woody Paul.
- Woody Paul from Riders in the Sky, so you have a lot of high-powered friends here, right?
(audience applauding) - [Phoebe] Yeah.
- So now you're also playing your guitar.
Have you been playing the guitar long?
Have you been playing the guitar long?
- About four or five years.
- Four or five years and you're already like playing festivals and winning Western awards and stuff, right, with your guitar.
It's kind of an exciting thing for a 13-year-old.
Well, you're gonna get onto another song and it's called "My Oklahoma."
How did you learn this song?
Where did you you hear this song?
- [Phoebe] Riders in the Sky.
- Riders in the Sky.
"My Oklahoma," it's Phoebe White, 13 years old on WoodSongs Kids.
(audience applauding) (audience applauding) ♪ Stars  ♪ Out in the morning  ♪ And the still  ♪ Rustle of corn  ♪ What a good place  ♪ To be born  ♪ Clouds  ♪ Over the prairie  ♪ As the wind  ♪ Blows them away  ♪ To the still start  ♪ Of the day  ♪ Hey  ♪ My Oklahoma  ♪ Are you still  ♪ Waitin' for me  ♪ With your gold grains waving free ♪ ♪ With your gold grains waving free ♪ ♪ Clouds  ♪ Over the prairie  ♪ As the wind  ♪ Blows them away  ♪ 'Till the still start  ♪ Of the day  ♪ Hey  ♪ My Oklahoma  ♪ Are you still  ♪ Waitin' for me  ♪ With your gold grains waving free ♪ ♪ With your gold grains waving free ♪ ♪ With your gold grains waving free ♪ ♪ With your gold grains waving free ♪ (audience applauding) (audience cheering) - What a beautiful song, "My Oklahoma," 13-year-old Phoebe White, a master yodeler already, and you're hanging out with Riders in the Sky and they introduced you to that song, right?
- Yes.
- So now you're learning all of these songs, but you really are focused all of these songs, but you really are focused on like the early American cowboy movement, right?
How did that become an interest to you, because LeAnn Rimes yodeled, but she's not like American Cowboy music.
You've made a deep dive right into the early Western and cowboy music and the old yodelers of the past, Patsy Montana and others like that.
Why was that so interesting to you?
- Because no one does it anymore and I thought, "Oh, I could try that."
- [Michael] You like being original, right?
- Yes.
- Well, you're doing a good job being original.
You're doing great.
(audience applauding) (audience cheering) Okay, so you're gonna get into another song called "Cowgirl Lullaby."
Tell me about this song first.
What is it about this song that you like?
- The yodel.
- The yodel?
- Yes.
- [Michael] It's always the yodel with you, right?
- Yes.
- Okay, so let's hear it.
It's "Cowgirl Lullaby."
It's Phoebe White, she's 13 years old right here on WoodSongs Kids.
(audience applauding) (audience cheering) ♪ Oh, give me the rollin' prairie wide ♪ ♪ Give me the mountain there on high ♪ ♪ Give me a pony smooth to ride ♪ ♪ And my cowgirl lullaby  ♪ And my cowgirl lullaby  (Phoebe yodeling) (audience applauding) ♪ I've traveled near and I've traveled far ♪ ♪ I brought the country yo, so fine ♪ ♪ I would take the city's best  ♪ For that little ranch over mine ♪ ♪ Oh, give the rollin' prairie wide ♪ ♪ Give the mountain there on high ♪ ♪ Give me a pony smooth to ride ♪ ♪ And my cowgirl lullaby  (Phoebe yodeling) ♪ Yoren Stream flows by my door ♪ ♪ The home of the speckled trout galore ♪ ♪ Deer roam by and take their time ♪ ♪ By the little ranch over mine ♪ ♪ Oh, give me the rollin' prairie wide ♪ ♪ Give the mountian there on high ♪ ♪ Give me a pony smooth to ride ♪ ♪ And my cowgirl lullaby  ♪ I'll find me a guy who can rope and ride ♪ ♪ I love this cowgirl life of mine ♪ ♪ We'll make our life of love divine ♪ ♪ By that little ranch over mine ♪ ♪ Oh, give me the rollin' prairie wide ♪ ♪ Give me the mountain there on high ♪ ♪ Give me a pony smooth to ride ♪ ♪ And my cowgirl lullaby  (Phoebe yodeling) (Phoebe yodeling) (Phoebe yodeling) (audience applauding) (audience cheering) - Phoebe White, 13 years old, certainly a master yodeler.
If you've got a youngster that you think belongs on our broadcast, we'd love to hear from you.
If you're a parent or guardian, just go to the WoodSongs website, click on the kids TV button.
We listen to every single submission that comes in and very often they're absolutely wonderful, like the amazing Phoebe White.
I think you are just doing wonderful.
(audience applauding) (audience cheering) We love you.
We're gonna take a a bit of a left turn here now 'cause where Phoebe is doing early American country Western music, it's called of the classical music of cowboys, we're gonna listen to a keyboard player, a piano player, that is specializing in actual classical music and we're very proud that he could be here.
His name is Kyle Yang, he's 13 years old.
Let's listen to him play this on WoodSongs Kids.
(audience applauding) (classical piano music) ("Op 1 no 9 Ricordanza") ("Op 1 no 9 Ricordanza") (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (audience cheering) (audience applauding) Such beautiful playing.
So good.
- Thank you.
- So we have 13-year-old Kyle Yang.
You're 13 years old, but you're so amazing at how you play the piano.
Is this something you started when you were really young?
- No, actually I was seven.
- Seven?
- Yeah.
- So you've been playing for half your life, in other words, more or less, right?
- [Kyle] Yeah.
- Now, when you were seven years old, were you playing songs or just scales?
- Actually, when I was seven years old, - Actually, when I was seven years old, I heard a man in a park playing guitar so this got me interested in playing guitar.
so this got me interested in playing guitar.
- So guitar was your first instrument.
- Yeah.
- That you were interested in.
- Right.
- But you've taken the piano real seriously.
- Right, that's because like the guitar, it's very hard.
- Right, that's because like the guitar, it's very hard.
I don't really have any other words for it.
I don't really have any other words for it.
My fingers kept on hurting and then my parents were like, "Hey, what if you tried the piano first?
Get some music fundamentals."
And then I never just left the piano.
- And so you've been, now, you obviously study the classics, right?
So you read music.
- Right.
- Most musicians on WoodSongs Kids don't read music, so you're kind of rare in that you've learned how to read, but you don't have music in front of you, so you've memorized it.
- Yeah.
- Is that a hard thing to memorize a song like that?
- Yeah, definitely.
- So, what do you have to go through in order to memorize a piece like that?
- Well, I have to say it's kind of like climbing Mount Everest.
(all laugh) But, you know, like you could slip and fall and die metaphorically, but- and die metaphorically, but- - In other words, you have to put an effort into it.
You have to like really put an effort into it.
- And then, but like when you reach the top, that is the best feeling.
- Okay, so you're 13 years old and you play like a master.
Now, let's talk about the piano.
We have, this is an electric piano, but it's considered a weighted 88, all right, so it feels like a regular piano, right?
- [Kyle] Right.
- So now we're gonna go into another song.
The first song that you played was, I hope I pronounce his name right, Franz Liszt.
Was that- - That was spot on.
- The artist, and he was from Hungary about 150 years ago.
- The artist, and he was from Hungary about 150 years ago.
- Yeah.
- So that's an old song.
And now you're gonna play one from a Russian artist that's a little more recent.
What is it about this piece that you're about to play that you like?
- Well, it's very like uptempo, fast-paced, and it just has like a different quality to it compared to most classical pieces.
- Well, he's 13 years old.
He plays the piano, Kyle Yang right here on WoodSongs Kids.
(audience applauding) (audience cheering) (audience applauding) (audience cheering) (classical piano music) ("Op 5 no 10 Bagatelle") ("Op 5 no 10 Bagatelle") (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (classical piano music continues) (audience cheering) (audience applauding) It's like flawless, beautiful.
Kyle Yang, 13 years old on WoodSongs Kids.
So what would you say to other youngsters that might wanna play the piano?
What should their attitude toward the piano be as they're trying to learn it?
as they're trying to learn it?
- Well, just put your faith in it and practice really hard every day and even though it might be difficult for the first five years-ish, (all laughing) eventually- - Eventually get the hang of it, right?
- [Kyle] Yeah, eventually.
- Now, how important was it to you to have grownups around you, parents around you that not just encouraged you, but didn't mind you pursuing it, that actually got behind you as you were trying to learn it?
- Well, of course it was very helpful and then I absolutely support them and will help them as well for doing this.
and will help them as well for doing this.
Yeah, like for example, I would try to do extra chores at night when they help me a lot, so yeah, of course, when they help me a lot, so yeah, of course, they were very important.
- It's nice to have that support system, right?
It's an encouragement we should give to all parents.
Encourage your kids.
(audience applauding) They can end up like Kyle Yang, a master musician, playing all this wonderful classical music.
Thank you so much, Kyle.
You did a great job.
Well, we're gonna turn our attention, we've got time for one more song, and we're gonna invite our yodeler, Phoebe White, to come back and this is a song off of your album "Unexpected," right?
This is kind of a difficult song for you to record.
You did this with the McClain Family Band.
- Yes.
- Right?
And it starts with this big acapella opening on the record, but you've got a solo version of it that you're gonna play.
So tell everybody the title of the song.
- "Yodeling Blues."
- "Yodeling Blues," it's Phoebe White, 13 years old, right here on WoodSongs Kids.
(audience applauding) ♪ Oh, yodelay yodelay got the blues ♪ ♪ Yodelay yodelay just for you  ♪ Yodelay yodelay and the sweetest little home I ever knew ♪ ♪ Oh, yodelay yodelay gotta go  ♪ Yodelay yodelay don't you know ♪ ♪ Yodelay yodelay and I'll sing the yodelay blues ♪ ♪ Way up in New York City  ♪ They talk a different style  ♪ So busy making money  ♪ Ain't got time to smile  ♪ It was so doggone crowded  ♪ We felt so hemmed in there  ♪ We came back home to Texas  ♪ To get a breath of air  ♪ Oh, yodelay yodelay got the blues ♪ ♪ Yodelay yodelay just for you  ♪ Yodelay yodelay and the sweetest little home I ever knew ♪ ♪ Oh, yodelay yodelay gotta go  ♪ Yodelay yodelay don't you know ♪ ♪ Yodelay yodelay and I'll sing the yodelay blues ♪ ♪ Down in the valley  ♪ You'll hear me when the lights are low ♪ ♪ Down in the valley  ♪ You'll hear my yodelay blues  ♪ We're so lonesome  ♪ We don't know what to do  ♪ I guess we're sentimental  ♪ Feeling the way we do  ♪ Oh, yodelay yodelay gotta go  ♪ Yodelay yodelay don't you know ♪ ♪ Yodelay yodelay and I'll sing the yodelay blues ♪ ♪ Oh, yodelay yodelay gotta go  ♪ Yodelay yodelay don't you know ♪ ♪ Yodelay yodelay and I'll sing the yodelay blues ♪ (audience applauding) (audience cheering) - Wonderful yodeler, Phoebe White, 13 years old.
Let's also give it up for Kyle Yang, also 13 years old.
(audience cheering) And what a difference between the classical piano and the early classical American cowboy music that Phoebe White would play, but music is like all kinds of art.
It's a wonderful palette of different kinds of colors.
Classical piano, classical American culture like Phoebe White does.
The point is that you have to have fun and that's the message to all of the youngsters that tune in.
You don't have to be perfect, we just want you to have fun.
And what was really, really important is something that a president from about 50, 60 years ago said, John F. Kennedy, he said, "Children are a living message sent to a time that we will not see, protect them."
And that's our message to all the parents out there.
Protect your children.
(audience applauding) Give them that wonderful palette of many different artistic colors.
Like Mr. Rogers said not too long ago, he said, "Listening is where love begins."
And that's what we encourage all the parents to do.
Listen to what your children are doing, what their dreams are, and what their pursuits are.
And we're so grateful that everybody could tune into our show.
Right, Makayla?
Why don't you tell everybody thank you.
- Thank you for watching our show.
We'll be back next week for more... - [All] WoodSongs Kids!
(audience applauding) (audience cheering) - [Announcer] Close captioning provided by VisitLex.com.
- [Announcer] Close captioning provided by VisitLex.com.
WoodSongs Kids is funded in part by WoodSongs Kids is funded in part by the Kentucky Department of Tourism.
Information about the lakes, mountains, parks, sports, music, art festivals, and more is available online at KentuckyTourism.com.
By the Martin Guitar Company, building handcrafted guitars for professionals and front-porch pickers since 1833, online at MartinGuitars.com.
And by the Deering Banjo Company, making American-made handcrafted banjos.
Their full catalog of Banjos is online at DeeringBanjos.com.
Their full catalog of Banjos is online at DeeringBanjos.com.
(gentle music) (gentle music)