Firefly

Claudia Robin Gunn with Dean Jones

Take some powerful messages you want your kids to grow up with, shake them in the musical blender with a bunch of sweet and spicy ingredients, and make them into songs about things that go together like dancing lettuces and best friend superheroes battling the school bullies. Fun, thoughtful, memorable, hummable.

Did you know how fireflies 🧚🏻 have evolved to create their own biological light sources using a chemical reaction involving luciferase, oxygen, and ATP? Take that as a metaphor to signify the inner glow in every child, powered by love and belief in themselves, and you have the essence of this children's music album, Firefly.

The Making of the Record

Firefly was crafted across the seas in a studio collaboration with producer and featured artist GRAMMY® award winner Dean Jones. We began in late 2021 with a single 'Little by Little' and then progressed, much like the song suggests, inch by inch until we had this album done. My lead vocals and harmonies, plus demo guitars, were tracked here in New Zealand at the Little Wild Music studio, while all instrumentation and arrangements were engineered and produced by Dean at No Parking Studios in New York. Alan Douches at West West Side took the mastering honors for both the digital release and upcoming vinyl run. Jason Sarubbi features on bass for track 5 'Hope is a Verb', and Jessica and Tony Jones contribute sax for track 6 'Winning'.

I'm delighted to also have worked with two artists I respect and appreciate Suzi Shelton, and Little Miss Ann sharing lead vocals on the song 'Colours'. Suzi and Ann both recorded their vocals from their bases, respectively in Chicago and Brooklyn.

New Zealand broadcast funding agency NZ On Air supported the creation of this album through the New Music Kids programme.