Russell Sprout urges us to lift each other up with his latest single and video We Rise Above — showcasing on Tinnitist.
Produced by Juno winner and Grammy nominee Ken Whiteley (Raffi, Fred Penner), the song is freshly picked from Sprout’s new sophomore album Together, a family-friendly release filled with lessons of tolerance and kindness. Beginning as a plucked melody with sweetly simple lyrics and building to an anthemic singalong chorus, the lovely new ballad might be aimed at the younger set, but it wouldn’t be out of place on a playlist next to Flaming Lips and Polyphonic Spree.
“I knew the underlying theme of the record was going to be about kindness, mental and physical health, and events that would have a positive outcome,” Sprout recalls of Together. “Even if a cat was chasing a mouse, or there was a barn fire, or if you are in a bad mood, everything was going to work out.”
We Rise Above was chosen as the single because “the message is so important,” he says. “It was also the song that selected schools that I work with have already adopted as their own. Kids love to sing along, they especially like the actions that go along with it. The music video was shot in a local Toronto music studio and elementary school.”
Sprout (aka Russell Leon) is a longtime music teacher, multi-instrumentalist and accomplished performer in Toronto. A faculty member of University of Toronto’s Jackman Institute of Child Study and Humberside Montessori School, Sprout has has received the Best Children’s Song award from Folk Music Ontario. His onstage persona is as entertaining as his music; with his oversized cap, blue suitjacket, wide sunglasses and sneakers, he is silly and funny — and capable of getting onto the level of his audience through song and rapport.
Watch We Rise Above, um, above, listen to Together below, and get together with Russell Sprout at his website, Facebook and Instagram.
