Jamming on the Job Vol. 1
by Pierce Freelon & 123 Andres
PBS KIDS’ PODCAST ‘JAMMING ON THE JOB’ TO RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM CELEBRATING THE WORLD OF WORK, WITH 2024 GRAMMY-WINNERS AND NOMINEE FOR BEST CHILDREN’S MUSIC ALBUM: 123 ANDRÉS & PIERCE FREELON
AUGUST 13, 2024
Just in time for the back-to-school season, comes Jamming on the Job, Vol. 1, a family-focused album by 2024 Grammy nominee Pierce Freelon and 2024 Grammy winners 123 Andrés (Christina Sanabria and Andrés Salguero). Jamming on the Job, Vol.1 is inspired by the recently launched hit PBS KIDS “Jamming on the Job” podcast, and is a fun-filled and educational recording that explores the world of work, with 15 original songs for young listeners and their families to jam to while they picture themselves in the future with jobs like a nurse practitioner, prescribed fire manager, language instructor, robotics engineer, and more.
The “Jamming on the Job” podcast continues PBS KIDS’ legacy of high-quality and thoughtful educational content for young children; earning “Best Podcast of the Year For Kids” by Common Sense Media in 2023 and an “Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Honor” from the American Library Association in 2024. The “Jamming on the Job” podcast has been a hit, with over 15 million streams across podcast platforms.
The Jamming on the Job, Vol. 1 album collects the eight full-length featured songs from each of the podcast’s first eight episodes, plus the “Jamming on the Job” theme song, and seven original sonic surprises that will delight both fans of the podcast and new listeners alike. The featured songs were all written collaboratively by Christina, Andrés and Pierce, designed to be singable and catchy while helping kids see how their own interests and skills relate to those of the professionals they met in the series.
“Our challenge was to synthesize technical information and key learning goals into something that kids would want to hear again and again,” says Christina.
“The songs combine the best of each of our skills as musicians and songwriters, with the educational rigor of the PBS KIDS advisors,” added Pierce.
The careers were carefully selected by education experts to represent a range of industries, job types, and required levels of education. Musically as well, the songs reflect a range of sounds and styles.
“I’m a Nurse” is a gentle, healing journey exploring a day in the life of a nurse practitioner while “Robots Are So Awesome” is a grungy, guitar-heavy rock song about robotics engineers. “Make the Forest Safer” is a spicy flamenco anthem about the detail-oriented work of prescribed fire managers, while “Stop, Think, Decide,” gives into hilarity by throwing some silly mishaps at an airport operations manager who tries to keep a level head. “Farm Animal Veterinarian,” from Episode 8, mixes country music with Hip Hop, as families flap their wings and stomp their feet to a track about animal care.
These “career-focused” songs are interspersed with shorter gems, crafted by Pierce, that take a step back to frame the big picture. On “Focus” Pierce encourages kids to be present and mindful over a Hip Hop beat with lucious harmonies and vocal percussion. “Cafetorium” is a love-letter to students, teachers and administrators, in schools that make the most out of multi-purpose rooms while “Let Me See You Spin” – inspired by the wind turbines from Episode 4 – is a fun jam to help kids get their wiggles out.
“We’ve Got a Job to Jam On” is the centerpiece of the album and shouts out all of the different jobs featured throughout the first season of the podcast.
123 Andrés and Pierce Freelon celebrate the release of the Jamming on the Job, Vol. 1 album with a tour of free, in-person “Jamming on the Job” concerts for families in cities across the US, hosted by local PBS stations. The interactive concerts feature songs from the album and let kids take on the role of the featured jobs to solve problems. When the trio sings “Stick With It” for example, kids pretend to be wind turbine service technicians who show perseverance instead of giving up.
“On the album, on the podcast and at the concerts, our goal is always for young listeners to find out about cool careers, and know they are capable of having any of these jobs in the future if they want to,” says Andrés.
The “Jamming on the Job” concert tour continues in Austin, Texas on Saturday, September 14, in partnership with Austin’s KLRU then on to Phoenix, Arizona on Friday October 4. More cities and dates to be announced for fall and spring/summer 2025.
Jamming on the Job, Vol. 1 releases everywhere on August 18.
ABOUT PIERCE FREELON
Pierce Freelon is a GRAMMY® nominated artist, picture book author, podcaster & ice cream maker. His GRAMMY® nominated children’s music albums AnceStars (2023) and Black to the Future (2021) have been featured on NPR, Billboard and Today Show. Pierce is the author of two children's picture books with Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: Daddy and Me: Side by Side (2023) and Daddy-Daughter Day (2022). He is the founder of Coco Fro, a vegan freeze-dried ice cream company. Pierce is a Dad to two creative and hilarious kids, loves reading Octavia Butler books with his wife of 16 years, and aspires to dunk a basketball with two hands as a 40-year-old.
ABOUT 123 ANDRÉS
123 Andrés are Andrés and Christina, the GRAMMY®- and Latin Grammy-winning husband-wife music duo. Both native Spanish-speakers, they tour the US and Latin America performing for thousands of children and families each year, in Spanish and English. They have published three bilingual children’s picture books with Scholastic, and recently received their plaque from YouTube for surpassing 1 million subscribers on their channel. Their songs are incorporated in lesson plans for early learners at schools all across the US and Latin America.
ABOUT THE “JAMMING ON THE JOB” PODCAST
In each episode of this music-infused podcast, produced by PBS-NC for PBS KIDS, kids and families learn about a different fascinating job. Listeners join Christina, Andrés and BoomBox, voiced by Pierce, as they tour the country performing concerts. But at every stop, they run into an obstacle that threatens to derail the show! The trio jumps into problem-solving mode and meets a grownup with an interesting job who can help them along their way. As they learn about the inspiring career-of-the-day and the skills needed to be successful in that job, Christina, Andrés and BoomBox solve the big problem, and compose an original song about their new friend’s job.
JAMMING ON THE JOB, VOL.1 TRACK LISTING
1. Jamming on the Job (theme)
2. I’m a Nurse
3. Focus
4. Make the Forest Safer
5. Learn a Language With Me
6. Cafetorium
7. Stick With It
8. Let Me See You Spin!
9. Robots Are So Awesome
10. Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?
11. We’ve Got a Job to Jam On!
12. Stop, Think, Decide
13. Snacks
14. What Do I Like?
15. Farm Animal Veterinarian
16. Horses and Cows
For more information, contact Pierce Freelon
pierce@piercefreelon.com