Eric Herman Musical artist

Eric Herman (real name Eric Herman Endres) is a children's music performer based in the Pacific Northwest. His music combines various styles of rock music with often wryly humorous kid-related lyrics to create what he refers to as "cool tunes for kids." Popular songs of his include the viral YouTube hit, "The Elephant Song", "There's a Monster in My House", "Blackbeard, Bluebeard and Redbeard" and "Cowboy Bergaleoukaleopaleous".Herman performed with Western New York area rock bands including Ember and The Infydels, and he was a regular performer on the Buffalo area acoustic singer/songwriter and live theater scenes. In 2003 a successful production of a musical comedy he wrote, A Week in the Life, was staged at the Alleyway Theater in Buffalo, New York, earning him an Artie Award nomination as "Best Actor in a Musical". But with the success of his first album of music for kids, The Kid in the Mirror, Herman decided to devote his full attention to producing and performing kids' music under the act name Eric Herman and the Invisible Band. His second album, Monkey Business, proved even more successful, with Seattle's Victory Music Review calling it "one of the best kids' records ever". He has since released three more CDs, Snow Day!, Snail's Pace and What a Ride!, to further acclaim.Eric Herman songs and videos have been heard and seen nationally on PBS Kids, The Today Show, XM Kids and Fox & Friends. His song "Blackbeard, Bluebeard and Redbeard" was voted "Best Children's Song" by the international Just Plain Folks Music Organization for their 2006 awards, and he received a Parents' Choice Award in 2009 for his What a Ride! album. Eric's music videos have become extremely popular, with over 40 million views on YouTube, led by "The Elephant Song", which was featured by YouTube in May 2007. In 2010 "The Elephant Song" was covered by the duo, Victor and Leo, for the CD/DVD release "XSPB 10" by Brazilian superstar, Xuxa, and his video for "The Tale of the Sun and the Moon" was featured prominently in a scene of the Warner Bros. movie Life as We Know It (film). Eric's songs have been regular top sellers on the popular indie music site, CDBaby, at one time holding 8 of the top 10 ten spots.Several of Herman's songs have words written by or with noted children's poetry author, Kenn Nesbitt (who has also provided voice characters for some recordings, including the voice of Bluebeard on "Blackbeard, Bluebeard and Redbeard"), and Herman credits his wife, Roseann, with co-writing many of his songs and co-producing his albums. Herman also collaborated with children's musician Eric Ode for the song "My Lucky Day" and singer/songwriter Steve Brown for the song "How to Move a Monster". Guest artists performing on Eric Herman recordings include Sam Payne ("Scat Cat"), Gwendolyn (artist) Sanford of Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang ("Come Play"), Jim Dague of Scribblemonster ("How to Move a Monster"), The Hughes Brothers ("Cowboy Bergaleoukaleopaleous"), Robbi K ("How Big"), Jen Marco Handy ("This Little Light of Mine"), Ryan Tilby ("Carseat Snack"), Josh Dutton of The Duttons ("What a Ride"), Tito Uquillas of The Hipwaders ("Time Machine") and Mr. Billy ("How to Move a Monster").Eric Herman created and hosts the "Cool Tunes for Kids" blogsite, with interviews and features about other noted kids' music artists, such as Trout Fishing in America (band), Ralph's World, Imagination Movers and They Might Be Giants, as well as articles by Herman about his experiences working in the kids' music field.In 2011, Eric expanded his performance options to include a live band, which he calls "Eric Herman and the Thunder Puppies". Band members as of 2014 are Chris Baugh (bass/vocals), Ben Macy (keyboard/accordion), Dave Pettey (guitar/vocals), and Javier Ruiz (drums/vocals).Herman has identified himself as a Latter-day Saint, but his music for kids is non-religious in nature.