May 2010
Jake's back at Summer Discovery Day Camp this summer at the Peterborough Museum! Registration is open now for kids 7 - 11 for week-long day camps full of music, fun and learning! Register now for July 5 - 9 or August 23 -27. Jake's last camp was sold out, so book early to avoid disappointment.
Press release.

September 2009
What a wonderful summer - BC, then buzzing all around Ontario, and then winding up with the greatest group of kids imaginable at the Summer Discovery Day Camp at the Peterborough Museum. But the fun's not over yet! Jake's playing fall fairs, and the great "Boo at the Zoo" event right on Hallowe'en Day! Come on out and see why everyone loves a Jake show! You can see Jake's schedule here.

May 1, 2008
What are you doing this summer?? Come on out and see Jake as he tours all over Ontario and even to Winnipeg. You can see Jake's schedule here.

April 25, 2008
Jake's newest album ZIGGY ZAGGY ROAD has just won a 2008 Parents' Choice Recommended Award!

"Wrapped in big, rich layers of guitars, horns and strings, Jake Differ's heartfelt songs go sailing, reflect on the deeper meaning of gardens, and celebrate todays," the Parents' Choice review says, commenting that Jake and his "polished fellow musicians and singers are equally adept at upbeat and witty musical detours for some cow-counting, partying on the bayou, and swinging to a hot jump-and-jive big band."
Read the full review here.

This is Jake's third Parents' Choice Award - one for each CD! "Happy All of the Time" was given the Approved Award and "Take A Little Ride With Me" was awarded Gold.

January 15, 2008
See you at SNOFEST! Tug on your snowsuit, and come on down to the Peterborough Centennial Museum for this year's SNOFEST event - Saturday, January 19th. Lots to do and see - and Jake would love to see you there when he performs at 11 am and 1 pm.

January 11, 2008
Hey, Toronto's City Parent loves Jake's new CD ZIGGY ZAGGY ROAD! Reviewer Diane Parent comments on the "superb musicianship", and the "thoughtful poetic lyrics", and says that even though Jake has "matured a lot", "he still has fun in him"!

( No kidding! Have you heard "Cow Counting Association of North America" or "Space" yet?)

Our good friend and beautiful children's musician Jack Grunsky has some nice things to say about Jake's Ziggy Zaggy Road too: "Wow. What a great production and what a rockin' band. I love the energy and fun feel of it. The quiet songs are also quite engaging. Congratulations on a great job."

December 2007
Jake is featured, along with prominent Canadian children's musicians Jack Grunsky and Charlotte Diamond, in the current issue of Songwriters Magazine! Jake talks about his love for writing children's music, saying, ""You're helping people to define what music will be in their life when they're very, very young and play a positive role in it. It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done musically." Read the whole article here.

November 13, 2007
ZIGGY ZAGGY ROAD IS HERE! Click here to order your copy online today!

November 7, 2007
Jake's beautiful song "If I Were a Little Flea" has been chosen from hundreds of submissions for the 2008 California Summer Reading Program podcast BUGS. We'll put more details here as soon as we have them! Many thanks to our friend Jeff Brown of KTOO in Alaska, who has been working with the Collaborative Summer Library Program to develop the music for the podcasts, and included Jake's "I-Thought-I- Saw Zoo" for the 2006 program. Jeff's show "We Like Kids" features Jake's music regularly.

October 15, 2007
JAKE'S brand new album ZIGGY ZAGGY ROAD will be available November 13th! A Jake CD is always a great family experience, at once exhilarating, hilarious and uplifting. Ziggy Zaggy Road features special guests Cadence, Silken Laumann, Pierre Schryer, Chris Krienke, the Peterborough Children's Chorus and many more wonderful musicians. MORE

July 12, 2007
Jake is in London Ontario tomorrow and Saturday - and he'd love to see you!
July 13, 2007, 2 pm: London Children's Museum
July 14, 2007, 11 am: Toy Shoppe of London tent event!
See you there!

July 10, 2007
Bebop-a-doobop!! The amazing a capella jazz quartet Cadence just recorded some great harmonies for Jake's "Three Eggs Busy Legs Social Band". It's a crazy swinging tune on the upcoming Ziggy Zaggy Road CD, and Cadence sounds great. We'll put a sample here as soon as we can! (PS - a capella means they sing without instruments) (PPS - Cadence was nominated for a 2006 Juno for Best Vocal Jazz Album!)

June 20, 2007
Over 200 kids at St. Basil's in Owen Sound gave Jake an enthusiastic hey-o this past Friday, and then the next day some of the guys were back to join in the fun at the fantastic Rocking Horse store's birthday party downtown. Owen Sound is a beautiful place, and Jake hopes to get back there soon!

Also - visit Jake's tour page to see some public summer dates - Jake would love to see you there!

January 26, 2007
GETTING READY FOR THE ZIGGY ZAGGY ROAD! Jake is heading to Thunder Bay in early February to record Album #3 "Ziggy Zaggy Road"!! Lots of fun and surprises await when the album is released this year!! We'll give you hints and samples right here...

December 5, 2006
Jake's song "Island Dreams" is included on the Casablanca Kids compilation "Lullabies", which just won a 2006 National Parenting Publications Association (NAPPA) Gold Award. The reviewers comment "This perfect potpourri of sleepy-time tunes is performed by a who's who of award-winning children's artists." Jake's are included on several Casablanca Kids compilations (along with Canadian musical legends Fred Penner, Jack Grunsky and Sharon Lois & Bram) selling in thousands of stores across North America.

November 6, 2006
Jake's "Antarctic Soiree" (from HAPPY ALL OF THE TIME) has been chosen as the theme song for Australian artist Judy Parrott's "Antarctica - A Place in the Wilderness" photo exhibit in Brisbane Australia! The multi-talented Judy is also a singer, and she and some of her friends will be performing an a capella version of the song on the exhibit's opening night - November 8th.

September 6 , 2006
What a summer! Jake played for many wonderful children throughout Ontario this summer, and in fact has now moved back to Ontario! That's right - Jake and his family are now living in Peterborough, Ontario - a beautiful town not far from Toronto. Jake will miss the very special people who live on Pender Island in BC, and you'll hear music inspired by the island's lovely scenery on his NEXT album (releasing Spring 2007).

If you run children's programs in Southern Ontario, Jake is now available to perform for you! Check out the Tour page for more information about Jake's show.

June 7 , 2006
Jake's music has joined a great new program called Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales which provides resources to libraries in 32 states across America. Jake's song "The I-Thought-I-Saw-Zoo" from TAKE A LITTLE RIDE WITH ME joins the fun as part of a downloadable podcast featuring animal songs! Many thanks to our friend Jeff Brown of KTOO in Alaska, who has been working with the Collaborative Summer Library Program to develop the music for the podcasts. Jeff's show "We Like Kids" features Jake's music regularly.

May 25, 2006
Live in the Vancouver area? Come see Jake live at the Ladner May Days on Saturday May 27th at 11 am!!

May 15, 2006
Jake's "Child's Play" will be featured on CBC Radio morning show interviews with Silken Laumann starting Wednesday, May 17th!

May 10, 2006
HAPPY ALL OF THE TIME has just been honoured with a Parents' Choice Award! Both of Jake's CDs have been recognized by Parents' Choice, a group of parents, librarians, educators and children dedicated to seeking out quality entertainment for children.

April 19, 2006
Silken Laumann's wonderful book has just been released, and Jake celebrated with her at a special release party last night at LuluLemon in Victoria. Photos

April 3, 2006
Well, that was a wonderful party! Jake was in Halifax over the weekend, meeting many wonderful musicians, and soaking up the great Maritime atmosphere in Halifax. The Juno Awards were a lot of fun, and although Tafelmusik Orchestra won the Juno Award for Children's Album of the Year, Jake feels like a winner just for being nominated!

Read newspaper articles about Jake!
Victoria Times-Colonist (Tuesday, April 3, 2006)
Victoria News (Wednesday, March 29, 2006)

March 30, 2006
Jake has just finalized two more events in Ontario for this summer! He will now be playing at the "Day Out With Thomas" event in St. Thomas, ON, the Mill Race Festival in Cambridge, ON, and the Red Rock Festival near Thunder Bay, ON. Take a look at the Tour page for more details!

March 23, 2006
Whew, what a great day!! JAKE was in Victoria BC today, chatting to so many wonderful people. Here's where he was...
Q100.3 - Jake talked to Shelby about how much better it is to make music for children, compared to making music for adults.
CH-TV - Jake tried out a new guitar at Long & McQuade, and sang "Happy All of the Time" with noon news weatherman Gordie Tupper.
A-Channel - Jake and Adam Sawatsky bet a quarter on if "Otis" invented the A-Channel elevator, and Jake serenaded Adam on the roof.
CBC "All Points West" - Jake played Jo-Ann Roberts a few bars of his new song "Child's Play", the theme song for Silken Laumann's book, coming out April 18th.
Jake also talked to the Victoria News and the Victoria Times-Colonist - look for stories coming soon!
Photos

March 17, 2006
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to JAKE's son Hiatt, who turns nine today!! The first children's song Jake ever wrote was "Starry Skies" (the last song on TAKE A LITTLE RIDE WITH ME) as a lullaby for baby Hiatt :)

It's been a busy week! On Tuesday, Jake played "Underpants in Hawaii" on Shaw Cable's "Urban Rush" program while Hiatt and Kathleen danced along. Then yesterday Jake had a great conversation with Molly Carron on "It Takes A Village" on CFRO Radio

Also we got the great news yesterday that Scholar's Choice will be selling Jake's new CD!! Scholar's Choice is a fantastic chain of stores from the Maritimes to Alberta. Click here to find the Scholar's Choice near you!

March 10, 2006
Even though Jake lives in BC, he likes to record his music in Thunder Bay, Ontario - there are so many great musicians there, and his brother Jim (who plays drums on the records) lives there too! The Thunder Bay Chronicle wrote a story about Jake, and you can read it here.

March 1 , 2006
Jake heads off to Thunder Bay today to record a brand new song! It's all about how great it is to just PLAY!!! That's the theme of a new book called "Child's Play" written by Olympic rower Silken Laumann, and when Silken heads across the country next month to promote the book, she'll be playing Jake's new song wherever she goes. Stay tuned for dates and details!

February 23 , 2006
HELLO HALIFAX! The Juno Awards are in Halifax this year, and Jake plans to head to the "other ocean" for the event. While he's there, he's going to drop into one of his favourite children's stores, Woozles, and play a few tunes. Stay tuned for the exact time...

February 22 , 2006
From Juno to JUNEAU!! KTOO Radio in Juneau, Alaska is taking a little ride with Jake... Jeff Brown, who runs the wonderful children's radio show "We Like Kids", played "Hey-O" this week. Also, our friend Paul at LoopyMoose Radio has just added another great Jake tune "Mr. Wobbles" to the play-list of his internet radio show.

February 16 , 2006
JUNO NOMINATION FOR JAKE!! Wow, what exciting news! HAPPY ALL OF THE TIME has just been nominated for a 2006 Juno Award for Children's Album of the Year! You can see all the nominees here - it's amazing to see the greatly talented people who are making quality music for children in this country. Canadian children's music really is some of the best in the world! Read the full press release here.

January 31, 2006
Jake CDs are now available across Canada!! What a great day... There's a great company called FIRE THE IMAGINATION, that sells the best kids' entertainment into toy & book stores across Canada. Kyle and Stephanie, who started the company, are just fantastic people, and are absolutely dedicated to helping parents find great stuff for their kids. Anyway, they've added Jake CDs to their catalogue, so now you should be able to find Jake CDs at your favourite local store. If you don't see them there - ask the store owner... or call FIRE THE IMAGINATION 1-888-780-0864 to find out where they're available in your area! Check out the FIRE THE IMAGINATION website.

November 14, 2005
Our friends at cdbaby.com have got HAPPY ALL OF THE TIME all ready to purchase! Click here to listen to samples, and buy online. Hurry - Christmas is nearly here!

November 10, 2005
HAPPY ALL OF THE TIME IS HERE!!
Click here to find out how you can advance order your copy now!

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