Tim Kubart is a Grammy Award winning and Emmy nominated singer, songwriter, host, and author. He is best known as the host of "Sunny Side Up" which is the only live morning show for preschoolers on the Sprout channel. Tim alongside his co-host Chica the Chicken share their mornings with preschoolers across the country live from 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.
Parents might recognize Tim as the energetic "Tambourine Guy" who appears on the Postmodern Jukebox viral music collective. He is also comfortable behind the scenes since he serves as a songwriter for notable children's brands including the iconic multi-award-winning series, "Sesame Street." Tim's work with "Sesame Street" includes composing "We Can All Be Friends" which is a song that helped to introduce Julia, the first Muppet with autism.
Tim is also preparing for the publication of his first children's book titled "Oopsie-Do!" via HarperCollins publishers and he is also gearing up for a concert at Flushing Town Hall on May 20, 2017. The show begins at 2:15pm and prices range from $6 to $13. A puppet making workshop will start the event at 1pm for any families interested in coming early.
In an exclusive Interview, Tim recently discussed his career and current and pending projects.
Music
Blasting News (BN): How did you get interested in music and why did you gravitate towards children's music?
Tim Kubart (TK): I started making music in school while growing up on Long Island. I was lucky enough to have amazing teachers starting as young as second grade that inspired me and taught me that performance and art were valuable things.
My first time making music for kids was during college. I was volunteering at a homeless shelter for women and children on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the director of the homeless shelter found out I played guitar. I was in a silly college band at the time, but I had never played for kids. He told me to learn some kids' songs, so I learned "The Wheels on the Bus" and things, and wrote my own song called "The Octopus Song." The first time I played for the kids in the nursery, it became immediately clear that this was what I was going to do with my life.
BN: How did you break into children's media, specifically "Sesame Street"?
TK: I'm a huge fan of so many different parts of the children's media scene. I love performing, but I also love writing. I have been lucky enough to write most of the songs I sing on "Sunny Side Up" on Sprout (NBCUniversal). Sesame came about when I Tweeted at the music director!
Bill Sherman had worked on the "Hamilton" cast album, so I Tweeted at him and Questlove because they were nominated for a Grammy. I was nominated the same day for "Best Children's Album" and asked if they'd check out my work! It was worth a try! Bill did look up my album, and learned that I was also working on Sprout. We met, and he asked if I wanted to write songs for Elmo and company. Of course, the answer was yes!
Media
BN: What is it like to work with "Sesame Street" and how did you get involved with the introduction of the new Muppet with autism, Julia?
TK: For “Sesame Street” I get assigned songs to work on. Julia was the first song I was assigned to write. I spend a lot of time researching what's going on in the children's world, so I had known about Julia for a while.
I was so excited because I knew it was going to be a big deal to the entire autistic community and "Sesame Street" handles the topic with such care and attention.
BN: You also host a show for Sprout called “Sunny Side Up” so how did that incredible opportunity arise?
TK: I'm the host, writer and producer of an existing show called "Sunny Side Up." The show has been on for ten years, but about four years ago I was hired to become one of the hosts. It's been a huge learning experience because all of the content we do on the show we create ourselves. I didn't realize how handy all of the arts and crafts classes I took as a kid would be!
BN: You won a Grammy, have been nominated for an Emmy, and have been awarded many other accolades so what was it like to be officially recognized in this way?
TK: I started working in children's media when I was still in college. It's all I want to do, and being recognized is great mostly because it can open doors to make even more stuff! I just want to make the best stuff I can for kids and families, and work with other people that make great stuff and truly care about the product they are putting in front of kids.
