Music

Meet Del Ray, VA native — college senior Elizabeth Lane, who is performing at our August 8, 2026 book fair and 1st Birthday Bash, noon to 4pm: Elaine’s, 208 Queen Street in Old Town Alexandria

Meet the musician: Elizabeth Lane is an award-winning 21-year-old Singer-Songwriter born & raised in Alexandria, Virginia. At 15, she started writing songs after her vocal coach from Rock of Ages Music, Taisha Estrada, encouraged her to do so. She has recorded and released 18 original songs since then, including a full-length album, and has garnered over 300,000 streams worldwide.

In 2023, Elizabeth was awarded the Bernard/Ebb Young Songwriter Award, recognizing the best youth songwriter across the DC, Maryland, and Virginia region. When she’s not writing songs or performing, Elizabeth is a busy college student at UC Santa Barbara, where she is double-majoring in Communication and Political Science.

Watch her performance on InkandescentKids.tv • Listen to her song, Something New on InkKidsRadio.com • Check out all of Elizabeth’s music on Spotify

Student musician Gia Attiken is performing at our August 8 Birthday Bash, noon to 4pm: Elaine’s, 208 Queen Street in Old Town Alexandria

Meet Gia Attiken: Music has been the driving force in Gia Attiken’s life for as long as she can remember. Inspired by watching her father perform when she was just three years old, she has spent over a decade developing her skills as a musician, songwriter, and performer. She …

January 2026: Start the new year off right with rock star and social justice activist Michael Franti whose songs teach us the art of embracing “Peace, Love, and Social Justice”

American poet, musician, and composer Michael Franti and his band Spearhead have been rocking their message of peace, love, and social justice since 1994.

Blending funk reggae, jazz, folk, and rock, their album is “All People.” Their high-energy shows, which they perform around the country, get the audience jumping, singing, …

Say Howdy to Best-Selling Illustrator and Children’s Author Sandra Boynton and sing along with her award-winning book, “Frog Trouble”

A Note from Hope, publisher, Inkandescent Kids magazine — Hang on to yer hat, cowboy. One listen-to and read-through of Sandra Boynton’s illustrated country music songbook/CD combo, “Frog Trouble,” and you’ll be humming your way through the day.

Created for children ages 1 to “older than dirt,” this is Boynton’s …

Is Talent Genetic? Ask Author Lee Woodruff’s Nephew, Musician Collin McLoughlin

By Lee Woodruff
Activist, Author
LeeWoodruff.com

In March, Billboard posted this message: “After scouting the U.S. to find the most promising unsigned bands, Billboard has found three of the Northeast’s best. Click here to read about each of the groups, check out a video, and listen to a song from …

Making Music Makes You Smarter: Here’s Why

A Note from Hope Katz Gibbs, publisher, Inkandescent Kids magazine — Any fan of music (and who isn’t) knows that music has the power to make you feel happy, sad, nostalgic, or energetic enough to run a marathon.

It also has the ability to make you smarter, especially if …