Music Minute: Kelli Welli - Five Little Ducks

"Five Little Ducks," a new video from John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize winner Kelli Welli, is out today. Watch the "Five Little Ducks" video HERE. "This was the first number song I wrote, and I like to think of it as a line dance of sorts… or like I’m a square dance caller for ducks," says Kelli Welli. "It’s hard to keep the order of the ducks in my mind while singing it live, but it’s very fun to watch the grownups in the audience try to follow what’s going on. Kids pretty much have it dialed!" The "Five Little Ducks" video was created using a felted, stop-motion process by Portland, Oregon-based artist Jules Bianchi. "It was super important to both Kelli and me to give every duck a distinct personality. They even have names!" says Jules Bianchi. "We came up with a small element for each one (glasses, beanie, tuft of hair, bow tie, scarf) and figured out individual colors to make them unique. I had a lot of fun changing angles, creating camera moves, and thinking of new ways to make the ducks interact while they switched places in line five times. I also created a frog to add a fun surprise to the video. I think he was a delightful addition!" "Five Little Ducks" is featured on Kelli Welli's third album for families, the NAPPA award-winning Robots Don’t Tell Jokes, which was recently released by 8 Pound Gorilla Records. ABOUT KELLI WELLI Kelli Caldwell, who performs for kids as Kelli Welli, is an active songwriter in both the children’s and singer-songwriter/Americana (“grown-up”) music arenas. She has released two award-winning children’s albums and was the Grand Prize Winner in the children’s category of the 2021 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Kelli was a winner of the West Coast Songwriters International Song Contest in 2019, 2020, and 2021, and she was a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition in 2019 and 2020 and the Great American Song Contest in 2021. Although Kelli is relatively new to the thriving Portland, Oregon kindie performance scene, she has been named a TOP 5 Parent Pick by PDX Parent magazine. Kelli has a Master of Publishing degree from Canada’s Simon Fraser University and a B.A. in Speech Communication with minors in Japanese and German from Oregon State University. She worked in public relations for Harper's Magazine in NYC, then owned a creative design agency in Portland before focusing more fully on her music and raising her boy/girl twins. She has studied speech-level singing with The Voice Project, spent more than eight years on the Portland Songwriters Association board, and is currently a member of the Recording Academy, West Coast Songwriters, Nashville Songwriters Association International, Children’s Music Network, MusicPortland, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Kelli Welli's releases include the albums Robots Don't Tell Jokes (2022; National Parenting Products Award), Let’s Go, Pistachio (2021; National Parenting Products Award) and Ooh La La Too Doo Na Na Oop Bop Oop Bop Ribbit (2020; National Parenting Products Award, Moms Choice Gold Award), as well as three EPs released in 2016: LOVE, Turtle Doggie Monkey Froggie La La La La La, and Lullabies: For Kids and the People Who Love Them. Kelli’s debut Americana album for adults, Heart Wanderer, will release later this year. ABOUT JULES BIANCHI As a child, Jules Bianchi had a penchant for painting and drawing, but when her father gave her a camera at age 12, photography became her all-consuming passion. She studied film in college and had a career shooting weddings all over the world until she landed in Portland, Oregon in 2015, ready to try something new. Jules studied video production at Portland Community College and became obsessed with stop motion animation. During the pandemic (and quite by accident) Jules discovered needle felting and started an Instagram account and YouTube channel to document her needle felting journey while she was stuck at home. She soon realized she could needle felt characters to bring to life with stop motion, and a new creative outlet was born. ABOUT 8 POUND GORILLA RECORDS 8 Pound Gorilla Records is the inevitable offspring of 800 Pound Gorilla Records, the world’s largest Comedy Record Label. Moving into kids’ and family programming was a natural decision for the company’s founders, Ryan Bitzer and Damion Greiman. Once again, they’ve discovered an under-served genre. There’s a veritable treasure-trove of talented artists around the world making high-quality family-oriented music that remains largely unknown to mainstream audiences. With unique marketing strategies and analytics-driven audience building techniques, 8 Pound Gorilla Records is building a platform for this genre that will bring increased awareness and opportunities for these talented performers. They’re partnering with the best independent kids’ musicians on the planet to help build a community of music and joy for families everywhere. # # # Visit Kelli Welli's website HERE. Kelli Welli on Facebook. Kelli Welli on Twitter. Kelli Welli on Instagram. Kelli Welli on YouTube.