Teddy Bear Band Celebrates 38 Years with 10,000th Show!
38 Years and 10,000th Show
Tuesday July 11th, at 7:00 p.m.
Boerboom Park 256 6th Ave SE, Osseo, MN 55369
FREE Event
On July 11th Teddy Bear Band will join a rare list of Minnesota music groups who have endured to play 10,000 shows. In celebration of their 38 year run they will perform at Osseo’s Boerboom Park at 7 pm. One result of their long career is that the band’s early fans are now parents themselves and bring their own young children to “TBB” shows.
Why has their popularity endured? Child development expert Dr. Marti Erickson, retired from the U of M and now host of Mom Enough®, a weekly parenting show with her daughter Erin, says, “They know what connects with young children because they understand child development. When you understand the interests and thinking of two and three and four year olds, you can get them involved and keep them involved through age appropriate music and movement. And, as many studies have shown, active involvement in music stimulates children’s learning in many important ways. If you’ve seen one of their shows, the level of involvement they generate is remarkable.”
When the band started in 1985 all four guys were participating in Bloomington’s Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) program. One of them, Ron Gustafson, was the Early Childhood Teacher for the others’ Daddy & Me class. According to Gustafson, “The idea was to take music from our circle time activities and put it on stage. Three of the Dads were musicians. I invited them to join me in a benefit performance and came up with the name Teddy Bear Band.” Bass Player and professional musician Richard Erickson saw the potential for community performances. Gustafson and Erickson auditioned for the MELSA Library System and Teddy Bear Band was on its way playing over 150 shows in its’ first year.
In 38 years, the band has played nearly 10,000 shows and the pace is not slowing down. In June and July alone they’re playing 32 gigs. Performance locations include Duluth, Granite Falls, Hutchinson, Sandstone, Isanti, Gaylord, St. Cloud and more.
Grandparents enjoy coming to shows with their adult children who saw “TBB” when they were kids. After a recent show a grandparent, Caroline M. said “It was a joy and privilege to be there with my daughter who used to dance as a baby at your concerts 35 years ago! Now with my daughter-in-law too I had fun with my 4 grandchildren.” The upcoming 10,000th show in Osseo will also function as a family reunion for three generations of Teddy Bear Band fans. Families and fans of all ages are invited to attend. The band encourages everyone to “BYOTB” bring your own teddy bear.
For additional information visit http://teddybearband.com/
