Bongo Barry taps into creativity

Music comes naturally to Barry Bernstein.

The Overland Park native has managed to make it his career for nearly 30 years now, and this summer will be “Doin’ the Dewey Decimal Stomp” at nearly 60 different library shows in Kansas and Missouri between now and August.

A registered music therapist, workshop facilitator and recording artist, Bernstein, 55, believes that anyone can sing and play, and he has a passion for creating participatory musical experiences.

That he is skilled in such endeavors was clear June 1, as he kicked off his summer tour at the Gardner Library. Wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt, shorts and a straw hat and switching back and forth between guitar and drums, Bernstein quickly engaged a crowd of about 40 children and adults.

A couple of Woody Guthrie songs, his original tribute to the founder of the library-organizing system, Melvil Dewey (“Do we do the Dewey? Yes we do!”), a couple of rhythmic rounds and before you know it, 45 minutes have passed, filled with a program that delights the children.

Bernstein concluded the show by wishing the audience “Peace, love and barbecue.”

“Everyone had a great time,” Cassie Coles, library youth-services specialist, said. “Having family events like this makes the library a familiar place, and that is the goal of our programming.”

Bernstein said his children’s shows are always based on a theme.

“For the summer reading program, this year’s theme is ‘Get Creative With Your Library,’ so I decided to get creative with the songwriting and rhythm-weave exercises,” he said.

There is another new twist to this year’s summer tour, Bernstein said: He will record each show as it occurs, then within 24 hours he will post the audio recording on his Web site, healthysounds.com, for people to download free.

“The technology is there,” Bernstein said. “I have always loved being on the leading edge of technology.”

To that end, Bongo Barry also has a Facebook page and a Twitter account, twitter.com/bongob.

He also has recorded a CD of the songs featured in this summer’s show, and he sells them at gigs, along with T-shirts, egg-shaped shakers and more.

Bernstein’s teenage daughters, Leah and Sydney, often serve as roadies and advisers. And this summer, he has hired Elizabeth Boresow, a sophomore music therapy student at the University of Kansas, to help out. She played the trombone on one song during the June 1 show.

Whether he is doing a show for children or for corporate workers in a team-building exercise, his approach remains the same, Bernstein said.

To find out exact show dates visit www.healthysounds.com.

“It’s all focused on getting people to make their own music and the metaphoric content that opens up for them, as far as listening to each other, noting your communal patterns and how you deal with others,” he said.

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