Children's band
the Jimmies, fairly accurately described as "bubblegum meets indie," are the creation and vision of New Yorker Ashley Albert, the daughter of music producer
Howard Albert. Albert grew up surrounded by music and musicians, and for her, falling asleep on the studio couch while performers like
the Allman Brothers or
Eric Clapton tracked material in the next room was all a part of normal life. Working in a studio became second nature to her, and she has made her living for years doing countless voices and voice-overs for television commercials, all of which also familiarized her with the creative video side of working in a studio. The Jimmies band officially began in 2006 when some sponsors needed a kids band. Albert tried her hand at writing some children's songs and quickly discovered that she had a knack for coming up with simple, catchy songs that combined fun and energy with a kind of quirky, universal wisdom. She also had a vision for the videos for each song, and
the Jimmies are as fun to watch as they are to hear. Membership in the band has been fairly fluid, but Albert's approach and vision (which includes a bubble gun and a groundhog puppet, among other things) gives whatever configuration of
the Jimmies hits the stage a remarkably consistent look and feel. A debut album,
Make Your Own Someday, produced by Albert along with her father,
Howard Albert, and her uncle,
Ron Albert, in Miami, appeared on Albert's own Pluckypea Records imprint in 2008 and was originally distributed out of her New York living room. The album was re-released with a national distributor in 2009, along with a multimedia DVD of the band called Trying Funny Stuff. ~ Steve Leggett