Sergio Wals

It is an honor for me to have been invited for a second time in less than a year to Musical Merry-Go Round. What a great radio show! Looking forward to seeing you again Grandpa Stark and hoping that lots and lots of little ones and kids at heart join us on KDHX 88.1 FM that morning. Remember guys, the show airs every Saturday from 8 to 10 a.m.

On May 30, I should be joining Grandpa Stark in his studio at 9:20 or so. For those of you that don’t live in the St. Louis metropolitan area, the show is also aired via the web. Just click on the following link http://kdhx.org/ and then press the “Listen Live” tag on the upper right corner of the website. Thanks for listening and for singing along! Hey Grandpa Stark, get ready to rock n’ roll, I have a BIG surprise for ya and for your super cool audience!!!

Now, it was St. Peter’s turn! On May 15, I visited Fairmount School in Missouri. First, Jeff and I were invited to join small groups of young authors reading their own literary creations. What a treat! Then we performed simultaneously in two different gyms in assembly format for every grade! Thanks indeed for the invitation and for the wireless headset mic!

Here’s Jeff performing in the other gym…

And if you were still wondering where the wild things are… well, I ran into one of them in the library of Fairmount!!! I was happy when the wild thing agreed to have its picture taken with me but after I saw it for the first time I couldn’t help but wonder if the wild thing was thinking I may be a distant cousin of them ’cause it kept looking at my crazy hair over and over again, lol

SERGIO’S FIRST CD IS ALREADY AVAILABLE!!! CHECK OUT THE LINKS BELOW TO ORDER ON-LINE… ALSO, AS OF JULY 29, AVAILABLE ON i-Tunes!!!

Hi ya’ll!!! I am very excited about the release of my first major project, “Michael Closed the Bathroom Door”, a Children’s Music CD!!! The CD is a collection of 12 songs. All of the lyrics were written by my good friend and children’s poet Jeff Mondak. For more on his work, please visit http://jeffspoemsforkids.com. The CD was produced and engineered by Alex Stangl, an incredibly talented producer and musician and a good friend, too. The CD was recorded in Peterborough, Canada, in May, 2008, in Alex’s studio. For more on Alex’s work and studio, go to http://home.cogeco.ca/~astangl/.

If you want to get a feel for the music that’s waiting for you in this CD, please go to the following link and listen to the first song that Jeff and I ever wrote together: “There’s a Bully in My Locker.”

http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewtrack.php?trackid=65757

Did you like it? You can also listen to “Laying Down the Laws of Motion”, another collab between Jeff and I.

http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewtrack.php?trackid=66355

Want to download any of these? Or any of the 10 other songs included in the CD? Felling like going “crazy Mexican” and get the whole CD? Just follow either of the following links!!!

http://cdbaby.com/cd/sergiowals

or

http://www.digstation.com/genre.aspx?genre=kidsfamily

Thanks for listening and for singing along with me!!!

On May 1, Jeff and I visited Westview Elementary in Champaign, IL. We had a chance to share poems and songs in some of the classrooms and we had a very nice time.

I have to say, though, I felt really nostalgic that morning as this was my last local performance while still a resident of the Champaign-Urbana area. Soon I will be moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, and I will miss ya’ll! Thanks to my new friends at Westview for the many many smiles and for singing along with me on this very special occasion!

On April 30, I had a chance to visit Eastland Middle School in Shannon, IL. Jeff and I performed throughout the day for our new friends in assembly format and then had a chance to join some of their parents during an evening event. We were certainly delighted with all the kindness and enthusiasm surrounding us and also with the exquisite food they had prepared for our supper!

Thanks to my friends Dony and Kathryn, who have generously helped me so much with my website, Jeff and I had a chance to tape part of our performance that day. The video will be available here soon!

In the meantime our video is available, you can enjoy a story (and excellent photographs) by Joe Tamborello, journalist from The Journal Standard from Freeport, IL, who covered the evening event.

http://www.journalstandard.com/archive/x342378582/Multimedia-A-night-of-childrens-music-and-poetry-in-Shannon

Also, he made available a pretty cool video on YouTube. Hope ya’ll enjoy!!! Here’s the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gRR8BWKgag

Well, and of course, I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to make new friends in their library…

The morning after the performance for the Eastern Iowa Reading Council, on April 24, Jeff and I had a chance to spend a full morning with our friends of Lambert School in Manchester, IA. Talk about a blast! Ya guys rocked the gym and Jeff and I even had a chance to put together a new song right on the spot in less than ten minutes to commemorate Mrs. Adams birthday!!! Congratulations again Mrs. Adams and thanks to all of our new friends in Lambert School!!! We really had a great time.

Below, one of our new friends, performs some martial arts as a warm up for Jeff’s poem “How I Became A Black Belt.”

Next, I got some really nice help from the teachers to rock the gym with “Rock n’ Roll Hop.” Ya gals were terrific!!!

Trite or not, ain’t a picture worth a thousand words? Thanks for your enthusiastic and warm welcome!

On April 23, Jeff and I had a chance to spend a wonderful evening in Manchester, IA with more than seventy teachers from the eastern region of this beautiful state. They spoiled us with a delicious dinner and then we tried to return the favor with poetry, music and laughter. Of course, we took the time to stop by the Field of Dreams right before our meeting given we were just a few miles away! Here are some pics for ya’ll!

On April 21, Jeff and I visited our friends of Thompson Elementary in Walton, Indiana. The Tigers shared with us a great day, which started with a huge assembly in their gym. After the assembly we both visited every classroom sharing a bit more of poetry and music. I really enjoyed getting all those questions and autograph requests, guys. You rock! I really appreciate the incredibly nice welcome and the fond memories. Ya’ll turned a cold Midwestern Spring morning into a very warm and awesome time to remember.

Looking forward to seeing ya’ll soon!!!

Wow! What a way to start the year… I traveled from Champaign to Bridgeview with my friend Jeff Mondak to have a joint performance at Bridgeview Elementary in Bridgeview, IL. But to get there, we drove on I-57 early in the mornin’ and some areas we went through had temperatures of negative 24!!! Glad I was wearing my winter boots!!! In spite of the cold, the Bobcats made us feel very very welcome when they opened the doors of their gym for the starting poetry-music assembly! More than 400 little ones gathered to listen, laugh, sing and wiggle!!!

Jeff opened with his poems and then I shared some of my songs. Hey, little ones from Bridgeview, ya’ll really rock!!!

After the assembly we held sessions at the library and we really enjoyed every grade. Thanks to all the teachers for your support!

We made a lot of new friends, but here I am with my new friend the Dragon who helped Jeff perform his poem “The Scales of Justice.”