Music Minute: Kelli Welli and Nanny Nikki - Spooky Kooky Halloween Song

 Self-proclaimed goofball and award-winning singer-songwriter, Kelli Welli, joins her good friend, Grammy® nominee Nanny Nikki (also a complete goofball), to present a definitely probably maybe somewhat spooky Halloween sing-along song for the kid in everyone, "Spooky Kooky Halloween Song."

Kelli Welli wrote the original version of "Spooky Kooky Halloween Song" for a Halloween performance in Portland, Oregon last year. When it was time to record the song, Kelli immediately thought of joining forces with Chicago-based musician Nanny Nikki, who had some great ideas for hamming up the existing song by turning it into a friendly competition in which each silly friend tries to be "spookier." Producer Bryan Daste helped to give the song just the right vibe: spooky, but not all that spooky!

"I thought working with Nikki on this song would be pretty fun, but I was wrong – it was WAY MORE FUN than I expected," says Kelli Welli. "This was our first collaboration, and Nikki brought in such awesome ideas. We're truly kindred spirits. And when two goofballs find the freedom to be themselves together ... that's a joy-filled space."

Nanny Nikki adds, ""Working with Kelli was like talking with another version of myself. We are so very much in the world in the same way.... you might even say that it's a little spooky!"


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 three award-winning children’s albums, was the Grand Prize Winner in the children’s category of the 2021 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, and is a finalist in this year's John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Kelli was a winner of the West Coast Songwriters International Song Contest in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, and she was a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition in 2019, 2020, and 2021 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 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 Welli lives with her family in Portland, Oregon.

ABOUT NANNY NIKKI: 
 Grammy® nominated for her contribution to the One Tribe Collective album, All One Tribe, which celebrates the rich culture and diversity that Black voices bring to family music, Nanny Nikki (Nikki Rung) recently released her first solo EP, Sing & Soar.

There has never been a time in Nanny Nikki's life when she hasn't been singing to or with children. From her roots in children's choir, musical theater, and gospel choir to 15 years as a professional nanny, Nikki knows kids and knows how to relate to them through music. She is now an interactive children's entertainer and teaching artist who performs in person and virtually throughout the country.

Nanny Nikki and her family live outside Chicago.