Listening to XM Kids brought me back a few years, back to the time when Jeff was still Jeffrey and video meant tapes, not DVDs or TiVo.

I thought I’d feel silly playing kids’ music in my office, but I kept the volume down, and I think I got away with it this time. So far, anyway.

I didn’t particularly like the morning zoo show (but I don’t like that format on regular radio, either), and I was surprised when I heard rap music (and I liked it just about as little as my other exposures to more…um…adult rap), but most of what I heard during the day was OK and much of it was awfully familiar.

I especially enjoyed “Sesame Sounds”, though I would have been even happier if they’d played my favorite Sesame Street tune, Put Down the Ducky.

I don’t think I’ll spend much time on XM Kids, but I might stop by again during Sesame Sounds! It was sure better than Radio Disney — and I didn’t hear any Hilary Duff!

I’m sure I heard folk music while I was growing up in Richmond, but it wasn’t something I listened to often or voluntarily. That changed in college — WRPI played a lot of folk music. I fondly remember “Mostly Folk”, every Sunday night (I’m amazed to see that it’s still on the Sunday night schedule, more than 25 years later), but there was plenty of folk and folk-rock to be heard throughout the week (groups like Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, and Pentangle come to mind).

Later, I fell in with a group of science fiction fans based at Albany State who introduced me to the joys of live music at Caffè Lena, in Saratoga Springs. I remember enjoying The Boys of the Lough, U. Utah Phillips, Rosalie Sorrels, The Balfa Brothers, and many more; I also liked the food at Lena’s (that means desserts!), but the music was the real attraction. Diane and I had one of our first dates at Lena’s, which is another reason I remember it so fondly!

So I was eager to visit The Village during Bootcamp, and I was not disappointed. Of course, this wasn’t much of a surprise — The Village has been one of my presets the whole time I’ve had XM. But I hadn’t listened for a sustained period before today — I’d tune in, listen for a while, and then move on.

Since today is St. Patrick’s Day, The Village played a lot of Celtic music all day, which pleased me a lot. But everything I heard today has been great — my only real complaint is the lack of specific artist/title information on the display during the live shows and the Midnight Special replay.

Needless to say, I’ll be back.