Elizabeth Mitchell, a Smithsonian Folkways Recording artist, has been recording and performing music for children since 1998. Elizabeth was the first new children's music artist signed to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in the 21st century. She has released four albums of children's music, including her 2006 release, You Are My Little Bird, which was voted Best Children's Album of 2006 by Amazon.com. Elizabeth has collaborated with musicians including Levon Helm, Dan Zanes, Ella Jenkins, Jon Langford and Ziggy Marley. She can be heard singing a duet with Ziggy on his 2009 release, Family Time. Elizabeth records and performs with her husband Daniel Littleton and daughter Storey Littleton. They live in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. Elizabeth is a founding member of the band Ida.
Elizabeth was born in New York City in 1968. She graduated from Brown University in 1990. Soon after graduating from Brown, Elizabeth moved to Brooklyn and got a job as an assistant teacher at the Roosevelt Island Day Nursery School in New York City. It was during this time that she discovered her love of making music with children. Elizabeth's first album of children's music, You Are My Flower, was recorded in a single afternoon in 1998 at the home studio of Warren Defever of the band His Name is Alive. It was not intended for commercial release, but after much word of mouth demand, she released the album on her and Daniel's record label, Last Affair Records.
You Are My Flower and You Are My Sunshine have since been re-released on Elizabeth's own label, Little Bird Records. Her daughter Storey was born in New York City in 2001. At the suggestion of all-ages family music artist Dan Zanes, Smithsonian Folkways signed Elizabeth as their first new children's music artist of the 21st century.
Smithsonian Folkways will release Elizabeth Mitchell's album 'Sunny Day' on October 5th, 2010. A true family affair, ‘Sunny Day’ features performances with Mitchell’s husband and musical partner, Daniel Littleton, their nine-year-old daughter Storey and Storey's cousins and friends. The album features two original songs written by Storey, and guest performers include Levon Helm, Dan Zanes, Jon Langford (Mekons), and the Children of Agape Choir of South Africa. There’s something here for every musical taste, from traditional American folk songs, to Japanese and Korean nursery songs, to fresh new arrangements of popular songs.
Discography
•You Are My Flower - Little Bird Records, 1998
•You Are My Sunshine - Little Bird Records, 2002
•Catch the Moon w/Lisa Loeb - Artemis Records, 2004
•You Are My Little Bird- Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2006
•Sunny Day - Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, October 2010 (Forthcoming)