Dan Bern entertains students at Coffin School

As part of their “Music in our Schools” project, the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Marblehead, sent Los Angeles-based musician, Dan Bern, to the Coffin School to perform for the second and third grade classes on Friday, April 17. The UUCM holds an annual benefit called “All You Need is Love” and the proceeds from this all Beatles themed benefit go to sending musicians into various schools. In years past, this fund has sent musicians to the Glover School, High School, and the Charter School.

Dan Bern was able to arrive in Marblehead earlier than originally anticipated and agreed to do a concert at the Coffin School before his concert at the me&thee coffeehouse that night. Dan is a versatile musician. He writes and performs children’s music as well as music for “adults.” Dan’s latest children’s CD is called Three Feet Tall and has songs about fried chicken, boo boos, and various animals. Dan is an avid baseball fan and entertained the kids with a song about Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants.

Eileen D’Amour, the music teacher at the Coffin School, was thrilled with the opportunity to present Dan (on guitar and vocals), Paul Kuhn (on fiddle) and Adam Busch (on drums). She said “Dan brought an interactive, fun folk performance to the Coffin School! Students were engaged and entertained from beginning to end. Dan and his band were very talented. And Dan was very generous- he gave out some copies of his album and encouraged others to burn copies for themselves. What a treat”

Collen Nial, a Coffin School parent had this to say: “We are so very lucky to have access to artists like Dan Bern here in Marblehead. The program with me&thee to bring top performers to town and into the schools is a win-win for artists and students alike. We could all use a little more music in our lives!” Colleen’s son, Alistair, was one of the lucky winners of Dan’s CD said “Seeing Dan Bern at Coffin School was super awesome because his music was so funny and he let us sing along. He also taught us to clap like they do in California. It was cool to see a real musician in my school!” Alistair’s friend, Xavier, was also enthused about the concert: v “It was funny plus the songs were too. Also great interaction!”

The UUCM and me&thee efforts to continue sending high-caliber musicians into the local schools continues. The Tenth Annual “All You Need is Love” concert takes place at the UU Church of Marblehead on Saturday, May 30. Tickets are available at www.uumarblehead.org, Spiirt of 76, Arnould’s Gallery and at the door. This is a terrific family event and tickets are very reasonably priced.

Ciick on the song titles below to two videos of Dan Bern at Coffin School

“Pop!”

“Barry Bonds”