Chibi Kodama, a family band, will perform in Maplewood on July 22, with parents Yvonne and John Cullimore and their daughters, Allie, Addy, Chasah, Story and Saoirse.
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Local residents looking for family-friendly entertainment this weekend only have to go as far as the Hilton Branch Library, where Maplewood’s summer concert series will feature Chibi Kodama, a family band from Tennessee that includes five sisters and their parents. The July 22 show will take place at 11 a.m. under the Springfield Avenue Gazebo located next to the library at 1688 Springfield Ave.
This summer marks the fourth year that Maplewood’s Office of Cultural Affairs, in cooperation with the Springfield Avenue Partnership, presents the Summer Concert Series at the Springfield Avenue Gazebo.
Chibi Kodama, which tours nationally, is comprised of the Cullimore family, makes alternative pop rock with a unique twist: Within those loud guitar riffs and stadium-worthy chorus lines are lyrics that are appropriate and relevant not only for the preteen adolescent demographic, but also their parents.
The name of the band came from the 1997 Japanese anime film “Princess Mononoke,” in which forest spirits named “kodama” lead the main character of the movie on grand adventures, and chibi is a Japanese endearment meaning “little” or “short.” Put them together and you have a family full of magical and inspiring little people.
The family includes parents John and Yvonne and their five daughters, ranging in age from 14 to 1: Allie, Addy, Chasah, Story and Saoirse.
Based in Knoxville, Tenn., John Cullimore said that the idea for starting a family band came to him one day while taking a drive with his children.
“I used to be in punk and metal bands in high school and in my early 20s, but I put all that aside as we started having kids. But one day I was in the car with my kids listening to some old grunge rock albums and my kids were singing along, and the thought occurred to me that it would be great to have similar music, but with lyrical themes that kids could relate to,” he said in a recent phone interview with the News-Record. “There’s a lot of kids music out there, but not a lot of kids rock, and a lot of rock music out there does not have lyrics that kids should or could relate to — things like the struggles with the insecurities of being a preteen and walking through the halls of school and how to develop and maintain friendships.”
With this thought in mind, John Cullimore and his family set out to add something new to the musical landscape: loud, feel-good rock music, but with lyrics that capture the essence of the adolescent and preteen experience, and what it’s like to be a parent to a child in those stages of life.
“We started writing music about things I knew were relevant to kids — like friends, getting along with siblings — and some people encouraged us to start performing it,” he said. “Our two oldest daughters sing and dance, and our middle daughter does the big choruses on the songs.”
Though the youngest two children in the band are a bit young to take the stage, Cullimore says that he does test out songs on them to gauge the reactions of his younger audience.
Like all great musicians, the family band uses personal experiences to guide their songwriting, a process that John Cullimore finds to be therapeutic for the whole family.
“During the writing process on the last album, our family had a traumatic situation that affected all of us and writing the album was a huge help with sticking together and working through a lot of those feelings,” he said. “When I am writing a song my focus is: What am I going through, and what are my girls going through? We don’t want to sing it if we aren’t relating to it. My oldest child wrote a song on one of our previous albums.”
The music also serves as a catalyst to explore changes in the family’s life, like their recent move from West Tennessee to Knoxville and, after being homeschooled for most of their lives, the three oldest children enrolled in their local public school district for the first time in Knoxville.
So what can families expect at a show with this loud, loving and emotional family?
“We want everyone to have a good time, enjoy the music and participate with us,” John Cullimore said. “Music is meant to be shared, and we want the audience to have just as much listening to it as we will playing it for them. Our goal is for everyone to feel free to dance and sing along with us and enjoy themselves.”
For more information on the band and its music, visit http://www.chibikodamamusic.com.
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