{"id":1154,"date":"2012-03-23T07:37:02","date_gmt":"2012-03-23T12:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sparetherock.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=1154"},"modified":"2026-03-03T13:55:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T19:55:40","slug":"syndication","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sparetherock.com\/wordpress\/syndication\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"

A family radio phenomenon.<\/p>\n

– Austin Chronicle<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Remember how kids used to wake up on Saturday morning excited to watch cartoons? \u00a0My kids wake up Saturday morning excited for the first strains of TMBG singing “It’s Spare The Rock…with Bill & Ella…and sometimes Liam!!”<\/p>\n

Since we started carrying the show, it has become a local cultural phenomenon. \u00a0I hear stories from families all the time about how their weekend begins with a family dance around the kitchen making pancakes and listening to Spare The Rock. \u00a0Plus, Bill Childs is a nerd. \u00a0So are his kids. \u00a0And nerd is the new cool. \u00a0Do you think they are going to let crappy kids music hit the airwaves? \u00a0I’ve heard everything from Rush to Dan Zanes, The Pixies to Brady Rymer. \u00a0Pete Seeger to The F****** Muppets. \u00a0Yeah, I said it in a thing about kids music. \u00a0I f****** love this show.<\/p>\n

– Monte Belmonte, Program Director Emeritus, WRSI (93.9 The River)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Spare the Rock doesn’t, and that’s why everybody loves it.<\/p>\n

– John Flansburgh, They Might Be Giants<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

(Note: In accordance with FCC regulations, neither Mr. Belmonte nor the staff of Spare the Rock say any swears on the air. \u00a0Promise.)<\/p>\n

For over twenty years<\/a> Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child<\/strong> has been providing the soundtrack to thousands of childhoods around the country. \u00a0The show plays “indie music for indie kids,” including the best of music aimed at kids (like Dan Zanes, Moona Luna, Ella Jenkins, Pierce Freelon, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mega Ran, Strawbitty Yops, Lunch Money, Caspar Babypants, and They Might Be Giants) right along side kid-friendly tracks from the likes of The Ramones, Mike Doughty, Ella Fitzgerald, Brian Eno, Pizzicato Five, Andrew Bird, Fishbone, and more.<\/p>\n

\"hydepark\"<\/a>Throw in exclusive in-studios from dozens of artists, including the likes of Mates of State, Jonathan Coulton, Asylum Street Spankers, Dan Zanes, Dog on Fleas, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, Elizabeth Mitchell, They Might Be Giants, and many more, and you’ve got an idea of what the show is about. \u00a0One thing it’s not<\/em> is your typical kids’ programming.<\/p>\n

We’re radio nerds, and we want to raise another generation of radio nerds. \u00a0That means a set that starts with Elvis Costello, switches to Brooklyn history-oriented family rock band the Deedle Deedle Dees, and then pivots to Guided By Voices, or one that starts with British folk punker Frank Turner, then family hip-hop artist Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, and finishes up with Earth Wind & Fire. \u00a0Check out some recent playlists<\/a> and you’ll get the idea. It’s Kidz Bop- and condescension-free, and genuinely curated<\/em>, not randomly generated. \u00a0It is good radio, period, not just good-for-kids.<\/p>\n

\"\"Our flagship station is KUTX 98.9<\/a>, but Spare the Rock is also available at PRX.org<\/a> in a one-hour format in syndication for any radio station that wishes to air it, commercial or non-commercial, anywhere in the world. \u00a0We’re on the air now from Alaska to Virginia, on commercial and noncommercial stations.<\/p>\n

As described below, the show was based for years at a heritage commercial AAA station, WRSI (93.9 The River), and is now based at a the best non-commercial AAA station in all the states and colonies, KUTX 98.9 Austin, and attracts audiences far beyond kids. \u00a0It’s a show that can and does work on many formats.<\/p>\n

History<\/strong><\/p>\n

We launched Spare the Rock on\u00a0Valley Free Radio<\/a>\u00a0in August of 2005. \u00a0In February 2008, we moved to\u00a093.9 The River<\/a>\u00a0(101.5 in southern Vermont) and have, since then, aired on both stations. \u00a0We also helped bring a lot of family entertainment to the Pioneer Valley, including the No Nap Happy Hour series at the Iron Horse and at\u00a0Flywheel<\/a>\u00a0and the NCMC series at the\u00a0Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art<\/a>, along with co-producing the River’s Meltdown<\/a>, an annual family music and book festival that drew thousands for over a decade. \u00a0I also booked and ran the family stage at the Green River Festival<\/a>. \u00a0I also was a weekend and fill-in DJ on the River for several years.<\/p>\n

Spare the Rock is a family production, with me (Bill Childs) and my kids Ella\/Joss and Liam\/Firefly hosting and producing when they’re home from their adventures (Joss is doing their Ph.D. at Brown, Liam is a teacher at an environmental education center in northern Minnesota). \u00a0I also have written about family music for various media outlets (including Parenting<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Valley Kids<\/a><\/em><\/em>) and co-founded\u00a0KindieFest<\/a>, a yearly family music conference, which ran for five years through 2013.<\/p>\n

And in 2010, I founded Spare the Rock Records to release\u00a0Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti<\/a>, <\/em>which has so far raised over $200,000 for Haitian relief efforts.\u00a0 The label’s second CD, Science Fair<\/em><\/a>, was released in July 2012, themed around and benefiting science education for girls. \u00a0Our third release, Keep Hoping Machine Running<\/em><\/a>, featured Woody Guthrie covers in a digital-only release. \u00a0And the fourth, Let All The Children Boogie<\/a><\/em>, is all David Bowie covers and benefits the It Gets Better Project.\u00a0 In all, the label has raised nearly $300,000 for non-profits as of 2025. They are also excellent and sometimes pretty weird. It’s okay. Kids are weird.<\/p>\n

\"\" In August 2012, we moved to Austin, Texas, and then in 2020 to Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the show switched to one hour, recorded in a broadcast-quality home studio. \u00a0It is available to other stations via syndication. \u00a0We’ve produced wildly successful events during South by Southwest, including the Family Music Meltdown during SXSW, an annual covers event at the Scottish Rite Theater (Yahoo called our Bowie show one of the five best things at SXSW that day), family programming at KUTX’s Live at the Four Seasons, the Hush Hush Music Bash during ACL, and various shows throughout the year. \u00a0I also produced the Come And Tyke It stage at Sound on Sound Fest (RIP). I continue to collaborate with the great folks at KUTX to book the openers for Rock the Park<\/a> and others in Austin for various other events.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think you should throw rocks at kids:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"About the name: no, we are neither encouraging stoning children, nor are we advocating the use of music as punishment. \u00a0It\u2019s just a play on words, suggesting that a kid without rock will be ruined for life. \u00a0I only kind of believe that.<\/p>\n

Some people have written nice things about us, though most of these links are dead:<\/strong><\/p>\n