Playing nice

GROUP LOVE Members of AudraRox hug it out. Clockwise from top left: Kristi Davis, Adam Armstrong, Jordan Shapiro, Jen Milich, Audra Tsanos, Lily White.

Photo: Pieter M. van Hattem/Vistalux

Plus:

• The Quiet Two
• Astrograss
• Morgan Taylor
• The Dirty Sock Funtime Band
• The Deedle Deedle Dees
• Hot Peas ’n Butter

Eight years ago, after moving to New York for grad school, meeting her husband and having her first son, Audra Tsanos found herself far removed from her dream of taking Broadway by storm. These days, though, she sells out venues like the Maritime Hotel and counts best-selling author Jhumpa Lahiri as a fan. Her kids’ band, AudraRox, was even handpicked by execs at Nickelodeon’s Noggin Network to headline the 2007 season of their hit variety program, Jack’s Big Music Show, a move that’s sure to bring her to an unsuspecting nationwide audience. Tsanos explains her appeal: “I’ve gotten lots of moms dancing, drinking and enjoying themselves for the first time since they had their babies.”

Her CD’s title declares I Can Do It By Myself, but Tsanos didn’t achieve her loyal following all by her lonesome. Living the stay-at-home life brought her face-to-face with an unmined sonic landscape. “I didn’t like any of the kids’ music I was hearing, and I was kind of a snob about it,” says the lead singer. After months of trying to figure out what to do with herself, she met singer-songwriter David Weinstone as he was starting up his now beloved Music for Aardvarks program for kids. She first started teaching classes eight years ago, going on to meet some future members of her band when they attended her sessions with their children. Tsanos credits her steady teaching schedule (22 classes a week) with helping her amass an enthusiastic fan base of parents and kids.

AudraRox’s sound moves nimbly from raucous to sweet, with punky flourishes and clever lyrics designed to entertain moms, dads and kids. “I like keeping everything tongue-in-cheek,” Tsanos says, “so you get a parallel experience for parents who are 35 and kids who are three where they’re getting the same thing out of the music.” Her own elder son, Tino, 8, is following in his mother’s  musical footsteps; he’s the drummer and lead singer of his band, Toxic Muffin. Tsanos’s infectious energy and her enthusiasm for sophisticated songcraft have made her the accidental linchpin in a vibrant kids’ music scene. Connected through chance, these musicians’ sounds stretch all across the city, despite being based, for the most part, in Brooklyn. Read on to learn more who else rocks out in NYC, who’s dating whom and which guitarist plays in two bands.