At Our Lady of La Salette Schools in Berkley, Candy Band helped celebrate the school's
national award for excellence. --photo courtesy Background Zero

Candy Band:
Detroit area moms rock the socks off traditional children's music

Don't talk about Barney around the Candy Band.
     In fact, don't even mention the name to Paula Messner, the band's founder and lead guitarist.
    "I hate Barney," she readily admits, breaking into a whiny rendition of the character's trademark theme. "But I could take that song and make everyone like it."
     A rock guitarist since the age of 16, the 41-year-old mother of two had to give up the world of band gigs when she became a mother. Soon, she missed playing what she calls "loud rock and roll."
    While employed at the YMCA in Clawson, Messner met other women who were interested in hard rock. To this day, she's not sure why she found them. It doesn't matter, really, because the Candy Band works - so well, in fact, that they've been asked to play in such esteemed venues as the Fisher Theater and with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Tiny Tots series.
     Children's music seems a far cry from Iggy Pop and the Ramones, but the band has transformed popular nursery rhymes and songs by setting them to a more lively, vibrant rock and roll sound.
    According to Messner, they didn't start out this good.
    "The beginning was rough," she said. "We really had to work hard."
    That was two years ago. After they played their first gig - a birthday party for band member Tammy Ristau's son. Their stage was a driveway, a humble beginning, but a very good one. So good, in fact, that Messner said, "Let's go record."
    The other band members - Ristau, Daniela Burckhardt and Anita Kelly - were "just petrified."
    Later, Messner said, they were in shock as they listened to just how good they sounded.
    "Once we put the CD out, it blew up," Messner said. "We don't ever look for jobs, they just come to us."
    While the Candy Band has traveled to Washington, D.C. and will play in New York this year as part of "Mamapalooza," a celebration of "mom bands", they generally stay close to home, because family comes first. All four band members are still stay-at-home moms, who play about 100 events a year.
    Some of those are benefits; the Candy Band has played to raise funds for the YMCA and Children's Hospital, to name a few.
    For all the time they spend together, band members and their families get along very well. The kids often end up coming along to various events and play well together. Messner sees the band staying together well into the future; she'd like to continue playing and recording - the band's 3rd CD, as yet untitled, will be out soon.
    "I don't ever want to go back to the bar scene," Messner said, "Tonight, we're playing at 7 p.m. and by 8:30 I'll be home to tuck my kids into bed."    To learn more about the Candy Band or book them for an event, visit their Web site.