By Wendy Hagenmaier
Town Crier Editorial Intern
If you’re searching for the perfect way to honor mom on Mother’s Day, Sunday, Hidden Villa Farm and Wilderness Preserve in Los Altos Hills is offering an event that’s sure to be a musical success.
Join acclaimed children’s singer/songwriters Lisa Atkinson and Nancy Cassidy 5-7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Visitors Welcome Center for Hidden Villa’s annual Mother’s Day concert. Pack a picnic dinner, roll up a blanket, and truck the family up to the scenic organic farm to enjoy an evening of music for mothers in the great outdoors. Hidden Villa representative Michele Brown said of performers Atkinson and Cassidy, “They’ve been with Hidden Villa through the years. They usually perform for kid’s venues, but this time, we’ve invited them out to showcase for the grownups.”
An East coast native now living in San Mateo, Atkinson has been delighting kids of all ages with her award-winning music for more than 15 years. Atkinson says her career as a children’s musician began 19 years ago, when she first became a mother. “I had always been told I couldn’t have kids, so I was very excited when my daughter was born,” she said. “I had been singing for adults in the East Coast folk circuit and began writing music for her. I soon got a record contract and decided that’s the way I’d go.”
Since then, Atkinson has recorded three audiocassettes and has twice been honored with the Parent’s Choice Gold Award. You can also catch her performing for Hidden Villa’s Halloween Haunts and campfire sing-alongs.
Well-known for her four cassette/book albums, including “The Book of Kidsongs” for Klutz Press, Palo Alto resident Cassidy has been creating acclaimed children’s music nearly as long as she has been involved at Hidden Villa.
“My mother went there when she was a little girl, and I served as co-camp director from 1982 to 1986,” Cassidy said. “I’ve always liked children, and I started making children’s tapes when my son was two, in 1986.”
With sales of more than 500,000 copies, Cassidy’s “Kidsongs” recording earned a gold album, and Bruce Springsteen recently recorded her popular song, “Chicken Lips and Lizard Hips” for a tape benefiting the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The May 12 performance will mark the Cassidy-Atkinson duo’s first concert together.
Weather permitting, the festivities will take place outside, amid the rolling hills Frank and Josephine Duveneck purchased in 1924.
Atkinson anticipated, “We’ll sing several songs about mothers and families that we don’t get to sing in a strictly kids concert. We’ll be celebrating moms that day.”
Cost per person is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $7.50 for children 12 and under, with reservations recommended.
Call 949-8653 or logon to www.hiddenvilla.org. Snacks and drinks will be sold.
In case you’re already planning ahead to Father’s Day, Hidden Villa plans to host a day for dads: The Banana Slug String Band will perform 6-8 p.m., June 16, for the farm’s Father’s Day concert.
