"KIndie" Music for the Kids

On August 9 and 10, Mister G will be debuting songs off his second CD "Bugs" at the Grange Hall and Cinema Circus, respectively. Mister G is Ben Gundersheimer, a critically acclaimed singer/songwriter/producer who, after 20 years as a frontman for a Boston-based rock band, has turned his musical talent toward creating fun, educational songs for kids. Mister G is part of the "kIndie" music scene and his children's songs are infused with such styles as rock, ska, bossa nova, zydeco and bluegrass. He was eecently called "clever" and "irresistable" by People Magazine.

Mister G may be playing this group of songs for the first time on the Island, but he is no stranger to the Vineyard. "I've been coming to Martha's Vineyard since I was a baby," said Mister G, whose grandparents built a house in Chilmark in the '60s. You could even say that Mister G's musical career began on the Island, as he played his first professional gig here and spent a summer performing acoustic rock music in Oak Bluffs at the Rare Duck Lounge. "I performed as many of my originals as I could, but I had to please the bar crowd with the classics, The Beatles, Tom Petty, James Taylor, etc."

"Bugs" was released this past May, just in time for summer family get-togethers and his performances are a not-to-be-missed event. The
song themes vary from world travels, to a shark in the bathtub, to annoying siblings and “Pam the Pug” sitting on a rug. “Grilled Cheese”
is a ska-beat ode to Mister G’s favorite lunch treat. The title track, “Bugs,” is a favorite at Mister G concerts. “Kids go crazy for it,
screaming their heads off at the idea of bugs on them, and laughing at the thought of bugs crawling on me," laughs Mister G. Every song inspires listeners to sing, dance and laugh.

This homecoming for Mister G is especially exciting as the Grange Hall is "one of my favorite places on the Island. I have great memories of going to the fair there as a kid," he said. And Mister G also grew up going to the summer program at the Chilmark Community Center, "so it'll be a thrill to be back there, too," said Mister G. He intends to get the audience up and moving saying, "I hope this will be a big, fun family dance party for everybody to enjoy. We'll be singing some real Island summer themed songs, like "Shark in My Bathtub" and "Vamos a la Playa."

Check out Mister G on August 9 at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury at 6 p.m. and on August 10 at Cinema Circus at the Chilmark Community Center.