ESSEX — At 42, Gloucester resident Ilene "Leeny" Altman has figured out what she wants to do when she grows up.
It's to write and perform kids' music, and she is catching up with her new dream by releasing her second children's album in as many years.
Altman will also be performing Saturday, from noon until 2 p.m., at the first "Kids Day at the Farm" event hosted by the Farm Bar and Grille on Western Avenue. Along with her performance, there be an ice cream social, face painting and prizes. Admission is $8 per child, while kids under the age of 2 get in for free.
Last year, she released her first children's album, "Be Nice," with a longtime friend Steve Equi of California.
This debut CD from Altman has since won numerous honors including a Parents' Choice Award, a Children's Music Web Award for Best Recording for Preschoolers, and the Preferred Choice Award from Creative Child Magazine. While celebrating the success of "Be Nice," Altman just kept writing children's songs for a future album.
"I had a lot of new ideas after 'Be Nice' came out," said Altman. "I was real amped up about writing new songs and how they were coming together."
For her second album, she collaborated with another longtime friend, Tamara Hey, who Altman met as a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston. The album — called "Sharing the Same Stars," by Leeny and Tamara — was released in late September. It features 14 original songs, with topics ranging from ladybugs to vitamin C and seat-belt safety. The styles of music include reggae, swing, country and more.
There is even a song dedicated to Singing Beach in Manchester, "where the sand sings under your feet" and "you walk to your own beat." Altman says this song has special meaning because she met her husband Nick there while playing Frisbee with mutual friends in 2001.
Both Altman and Hey had the goal of making the album what they call "funducational" — teaching while having fun and entertaining at the same time.
"It is cool to teach something to kids while we write songs that are fun and interesting at the same time," Hey said.
This album has also received a Preferred Choice Award from Creative Child Magazine, while Altman and Hey have offered the song "Put On My Seat Belt," to be used for by organizations across the country for educational purposes to teach kids about safety.
Altman said their performance this weekend won't just be a concert.
"We get the kids involved, asking questions and teaching them vocals right there to sing along," she said. "It is going to be fun, something the whole family will enjoy."
Jonathan Phelps can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3447, or via e-mil at gt_reporter@gloucestertimes.com
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