The last place you'd think you'd track down Jason Rabinowitz would be in an infant-day-care center in the middle of New York. But on a recent Wednesday afternoon, that's where
The Bloodsugars frontman was standing, ready to entertain a classroom of newborns, toddlers, and their adult companions. "It's like this live, 45-minute
Sesame Street. You basically just rock out with a puppet show, and you sing them a story," says Rabinowitz. "We cover anything from the Go-Go's to Toto. It's fun and funny for the moms and nannies as well." Tonight, the four-year-old quartet kicks off an eight-city tour on Cleveland's West Side to promote its latest CD,
BQEP, which is named after the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. "It's a real New York thing. It's like the pipeline of my life, and the only highway that gets you to Brooklyn, the Bronx, down to Staten Island and New Jersey," says Rabinowitz. "I have my gripes with it. But on the whole, it gets you where you need to go."He also gives props to the band's new indie label, Engine Room, for making the tour happen. "They're pretty progressive about the future of the industry. It's different than a normal label. And they don't have a ton of money. That's awesome, because they're very savvy, but not cheap," says Rabinowitz. "They've been opening tons of doors for us." The Bloodsugars take the mic at 9 tonight at Now That's Class, 11213 Detroit Avenue. Admission is free. Call 216-221-8576 or visit
www.myspace.com/nowthatsclass.
Sun., July 6, 9 p.m., 2008
