Celeb Q&A: Laurie Berkner

A. I try to sing about things I remember liking when I was a kid. I loved marching to music when I was young (especially "Do Re Mi" from The Sound of Music) so I made that part of "We Are the Dinosaurs." And I liked the way the words in "Victor Vito" felt in my mouth when I sang them, so I made that more of a silly wordplay song.

A. Yes, that's just starting to happen. For example, there's a song called "Balance Beam" on the new album that I wrote because my daughter, Lucy, who's 4, walks on curbs and the edges of flower beds over and over again. She often says, "Mommy, sing your beam song. It's easier for me when you sing it."

A. Well, I'm not running around the house wearing my guitar all the time! I don't think we play music together any more than we do anything else together, like cook or play games or just hang out.

A. Don't worry about anything too much because it will all change faster than you can imagine.

A. Making music for a living and getting hugs from so many kids.

A. I almost never have time to listen to my iPod. But I did recently download "Hey Ya!" by OutKast, "Wind It Up" by Gwen Stefani, and all of ABBA's greatest hits.

A. Lucy has been getting up around 5 or 5:30 a.m. for some months now, and it's definitely taking a toll. Before 6 a.m. just still seems like night to me! I wish I could convince her of that somehow.

A. I was walking past a parking garage, and I saw Matt Servitto from The Sopranos waiting for his car. I felt so excited to recognize him because the last episode had recently aired, I missed watching the show, and it felt like I had stepped back into that world for a moment. I was about to say something to him, but he turned away from me, not wanting to be bothered, I thought. So I just passed by him and felt a bit bummed not to have made the connection. Then as I turned the corner and walked up the next block, a car pulled up at the light right next to me and the driver leaned over and rolled down the window. It was Matt, and he yelled, "My kids love your music!" then he smiled, waved, and drove on. It was so fun to find out that there was a part of me in his life the same way that there was a part of him in mine.

A. An organic farmer!

Originally published in the August 2008 issue of Parents magazine.