Music Minute - Katherine Dines: Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta SEASONS: Songs to Celebrate All Four Seasons

 Winner of 39 national awards in a career spanning three decades, esteemed children’s musician Katherine Dines is excited to announce the June 28^th release of her 13^th album, Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta SEASONS: Songs to Celebrate All Four Seasons.

 

A treasure trove of gentle melodies ideally suited for fingerplays, “tickles,” and other fun movement activities for young children, Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta SEASONS takes little ones through the seasons of the year, connecting them to the simple wonders of childhood and creating a sense of peace, trust, joy, and stability. Katherine Dines says, “An album of songs about all four seasons is also one way to connect children to nature and encourage greater global awareness.”

 

Since 1994, Katherine Dines has researched child development, working directly with children, parents, and teachers. Through the years, she has utilized different ways of connecting children’s music to intentional movement, including American Sign Language, which she began incorporating into her shows about nine years ago when planning a series of performances for children and families who had severe hearing loss. Katherine notes, “ASL is an emotionally expressive language, and young children love using their fingers and hands to express themselves, so adding ASL to songs for kids is a natural fit.”

Several fingerplays and other activity ideas for Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta SEASONS came from educator Brigid Finucane, who, during the pandemic, invited Katherine to contribute one song a month to a Facebook page called “Lullabies, Tickles, and Fingerplays.” Katherine says, “Creating songs for that Facebook page was really the motivation for this album.” Soon to come are videos offering parents, teachers, and care providers ideas for using ASL, simple movements, and other activities with the songs on Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta SEASONS.

 

ABOUT KATHERINE DINES:

Katherine Dines is a songwriter and recording and teaching artist who has captivated children, family audiences, and educators around the world since 1993. A fifth generation Coloradoan (her great great grandfather was the fourth territorial governor of the state), Katherine accidentally found her way into the children’s music genre after moving to Nashville to pen songs for the country and pop markets. While there, a publisher asked her to write lullabies, two of which were included on Child’s Gift of Lullabyes, a Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling album that was translated into several languages.

Encouraged by educators to write music for children, Katherine proceeded to create three albums, branded them as “Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta®” (based on a field holler passed down through six generations of her family), and began to give presentations and keynotes at various local, state, and national conferences throughout the U.S. Although she was offered two recording contracts, she maintained her independence and toured the globe three times with the U.S. Department of Defense. 

 

Katherine incorporates movement, global instruments, American Sign Language, stories, zany props, and participation into her performances. To date, the 12 albums in the “Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta Music® for Growing Families” series have garnered 39 national awards. Her songs have been licensed by Disney, Walmart, Hallmark, Chicken Soup for Little Souls, and Build-a-Bear, featured on United Airlines, and can be heard on many family-oriented radio stations. 

Today, Katherine Dines continues to perform and present workshops and keynote addresses for early childhood education and library conferences. As a teaching artist, she works with THINK360 Arts and Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts. Katherine is also a judge for the International Songwriting Contest, a board member of Theater Arts Festival for Youth (TAFFY), a District Advocate for the Recording Academy, and Chair of the Advisory Board for the Children’s Music Network. Katherine’s future plans include creating books from several of her story songs, making musical adaptations of Aesop’s fables, and possibly even recording a country album for kids!

 

Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta SEASONS will be available through Katherine's website HERE, at SongsforTeaching.com, and at major online outlets and streaming platforms, including Amazon, Pandora, Bandcamp, Spotify, and more.