I had the pleasure of interviewing Anika and her son Kie, what a smooth talker her was, tons of babbling and smiles to be had, absolutely precious joy. He hung in his swing while we chatted about his mom's journey.
While pregnant, with her son an opportunity arose for Anika to release a solo album. This wasn't something Anika was interested in doing, she doesn't really love the complete spot light, I know shocking right? A Broadway star who doesn't want all the attention? Well, for Anika growing up in Cambridge, Mass, one of ten children, five of her siblings adopted, she wasn't used to the attention, this was something she felt comfortable with.
As time went on she thought, well I could put together an album of lullabies, but not your average lullabies. As an auntie to many nieces and nephews that she has sung to sleep the idea was born for her CD "Sing You to Sleep".
Along with her husband, Freddie, who played the trumpet on the album she created a soothing album that even her little guy loves. The CD starts out faster paced and winds down as it progresses, great for parents and jazz lovers too.
Here are a few of the songs on her cd: "Somewhere Out There", which was written by Mann and Weil, Cynthia Weil is whom she portrays in Beautiful, they're extremely close, "Fields of Gold", sang so softly and gently, ending with a very peaceful and beautiful, "Make You Feel My Love." Anika said she puts the CD on for Kie when they're driving and he falls fast asleep, how great is that? Not that she loves listening to herself, but you do what you have to do to get a baby to fall asleep. This is a great cd for baby and parents a like, songs that parents can enjoy and baby's will be soothed by, what a combination!
Her CD was recently picked by Hoda of Hoda and Kathie Lee as her ipod selection of the week and played the
James Taylor song on the TODAY SHOW, she's a huge fan of the show as well, I saw a recent tweet from Hoda, that she's seen Beautiful eight times!
Anika takes cat naps with Kie, has her manny on hand when her husband's working and is living the dream. This has been quite a year for her, marriage, and a baby topped with a wonderful gig of performing each night in a Broadway dream role.
It didn't come easily for Anika, she was about to quit the business when she got the call for Beautiful, from there one of the members of the staff introduced her to her husband Freddie and life just fell into place. It's truly Beautiful and so is her family! She's so thankful for all that she has, she wishes it came a little sooner in life, but never the less, she's one happy momma!
Check out and order Anika Larsen's CD on Amazon and iTunes!
