Children’s hospital benefit album to feature members from notable Maine bands

When Joshua Lovejoy isn’t maintaining the Maine Music Wiki, he’s working on another local music project: a benefit album for the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. With a projected release date for the winter, the album is set to feature unique songs about children from members of The Lomax, Gypsy Tailwind, Sidecar Radio, 6gig, and more.

While the idea was conceived by his wife last fall, Lovejoy has continued the work, gaining the support of local musicians and planning the release. The album was originally themed around songs local musicians would sing for their children, but now it has changed, pushing the focus to songs about the musicians’ children instead, à la Ben Fold’s “Gracie” or Wilco’s “My Darling,” as Lovejoy referenced in an interview. In other words, this is an album about children, not a children’s album.

“Everyone has been pretty receptive so far,” Lovejoy said.

Over the past few months, Lovejoy has received support from some notable players in the music scene, including Andrew Ellis of The Lomax, Anna Lombard of Gypsy Tailwind, Christian Hayes of Sidecar Radio, Elli Gray, Greg Klien of Dark Hollow Bottling Company, Joe Brien of The Troubles, Kenya Hall, Kevin Kennie of Headstart, and Walter Craven of 6gig. We can expect to hear new recordings from them, and Lovejoy said he’s hoping more musicians will contribute in hopes of reaching a track list of 12 to 15 songs.

“The hardest part is just knowing who has kids. A lot of it is just learning second hand,” Lovejoy confessed.

Those interested should e-mail Lovejoy at joshua@pumpfirst.com, and the deadline for submitting songs is September 1.

For now, some parting words from Lovejoy: “My focus is on the music and getting the project together, and so I tend to forget in a way that in the end the whole thing is going to benefit a very special and important place. Within the last couple of months, my friend’s daughter was in the hospital for a respiratory issue and at the same time my cousin was in to have testing done for her seizures. As a parent, I hope that none of my children ever have to be admitted, but it’s comforting to know that we have such a great place right in Portland.”

To learn more, go to http://pumpfirst.com.