ANSONIA — As a member of the band, The Alpaca Gnomes, Ben Mikula has played his guitars in front of rowdy crowds on stages all over Connecticut. At his newest venue in Ansonia, though, the fans are just as rowdy but stand only as tall as his knees.
Mikula, of Seymour, a former pre-school teacher and full-time musician, is appearing on April 6 and then again on April 20 in the Children’s Room at the Ansonia Library on South Cliff Street at 10 a.m.
When he performs for the pre‑K crowd, he goes by the stage name “The Singing Gnome.”
“I’ve been playing music for this age group for a long time and I truly enjoy it,” Mikula said. “I am hoping to bring my love and enjoyment of music to the little ones. Every once in a while I will put a book to music, as I have with the story, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar.’ It shows the children how words can be expressed in many different ways. Singing reinforces vocabulary as well.”
Mikula was invited to bring his acoustic guitar to the library by Children’s Librarian Jennifer Shuart, with whom he worked as a co-teacher at the Redwing Pond House pre-school in Ansonia. He is also scheduled for children’s events at the Manchester Public Library in April and said he hopes to build this career in the future.
His children’s program – which is open to children accompanied by an adult — is lively and interactive. Mikula performs classic children’s songs “with a little twist.” For example, he and the children sing and dance to the “A,B,C” song slowly and then quickly and really slowly. When he sings “The Itsy, Bitsy, Spider” he adds two other spiders and changes his voice. He has also written several original songs in which the children are asked to participate: “The Pizza Song,” “I Like Ice Cream,” and “Hop on the Train.”
“My original songs offer more opportunities for children to be exposed to new vocabulary,” Mikula said. Here’s an example of how “The Pizza Song” works: “I know a girl. Her name’s Magnolia. And when she’s hungry she puts bacon on her pizza, uh huh.” For the “I Like Ice Cream” song: “I like ice cream. How ‘bout you? Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, too. I like ice cream. How ‘bout you? What’s Delilah’s favorite ice cream? Delilah likes rainbow Ice cream.”
Mikula said he has been interested in music from a young age. “I enjoyed all genres of music and loved looking through my siblings’ vinyl collection. I enjoyed pretending to be in bands, and writing songs in elementary school. My older brother of 13 years had a band and I remember watching them rehearse when I was 5 and them letting me sing a song.”
When he was around 18 or so he would “hang around and listen to friends jamming with another friend on drums. One day I brought my lyrics over and started singing and that started the whole process.”
The Alpaca Gnomes have been together for 10 years. They include acoustic and electric guitars, percussion, drums, bass, fiddle and saxophone. They have two original albums and a third on the way.
“We are a family-friendly band and we also perform some covers with our own style on it,” Mikula said.
Mikula is married to his wife, Nicole, who owns an education-based fitness and movement business called “Bring the Hoopla.” They have three daughters, Magnolia, 9, Delilah, 4, and Ruby, 2.
While Mikula said his musical taste usually runs toward The Grateful Dead, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, Bob Marley, there’s a different vibe in his house these days.
“With three daughters, most of the time I am listening to what they choose and that has been the ‘Encanto’ soundtrack lately,” he said. “Before that it was ‘Hamilton,’ which is my daughter Magnolia’s favorite.”
For more information about The Singing Gnome’s appearance, contact Children Librarian Jennifer Shuart at an-jshuart@biblio.org
For more information about booking Mikula bennymikula@gmail.com
