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The Pokey Pup: CDs, DVDs, Books & More for Cool Kids (and their parents)
If music is the soundtrack to your life, why not share it with your kids?
The Pokey Pup is like having a friendly independent record store in your own home. The brainchild of Bryan Townsend, a music industry veteran, educator and owner of Underdog Records in Atlanta, The Pokey Pup offers CDs in a variety of genres, hand picked for quality. Townsend is the father of a four-year old son who started exploring the world of children’s media when his son was born. He found that there was a wealth of great music and entertainment for kids, and with a little digging, developed an impressive catalog of nearly 1,000 CDs, DVDs and books.
So, what's the story?
The Pokey Pup is a father-owned company located in Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded by Bryan Townsend in 2005 while him and his wife were awaiting the arrival of their first child. It made him think about the things that he loved (music, movies, books, cartoons, etc.) and the things that he wanted to share with his own child. Bryan has worked in the music industry in some form (including promotions for MCA/Geffen Records, marketing for Interscope Records, music licensing, owning a record store since 1997) for most of his working life, he decided to challenge this expertise in a new direction, providing great music and other media for kids and parents. We would love to hear your comments and suggestions to help make The Pokey Pup a better place, so feel free to e-mail Bryan.
The Pokey Pup is the little brother of Underdog Records, a once "brick and mortar" independent record store, now online music store that began in a southern college town in 1997. Underdog Records features quality new and used music in a variety of genres, focusing on hard-to-find, out-of-print CD titles.
What's with the name?
My other record store is called Underdog Records. When I started thinking of a name for a children's record store I wanted to continue the "dog" theme and naturally something with "Pup" in the title was the logical connection. The "pokey" part came from a more sad thing. Our family dog, Copper, was an Australian Shepherd who was suffering badly from epilepsy. Since he was herding dog he was constantly at our feet and walking in front of us. His epilepsy was taking a toll on his stability so he would walk in front of you very slowly and often stopping right in front of you. It was a struggle to walk from one room to the other in our house because he was constantly at our feet. Because of this my wife and I would constantly be telling him to move it along and we would start referring to him as "Pokey". "Move it along pokey" was heard throughout the day in our house and after saying that phrase constantly, we started then starting referring to him "pokey pup" and that's where everything connected for me to call the store that. It's a connection to my other record store and a tribute to my dog, who sadly died last year before the store was launched. So, to answer the big question...The Pokey Pup store is not named after a book.
What people are saying about The Pokey Pup:
“I like the Pokey Pup because it's got the feel of a great independent record store. Bryan doesn't pretend to have everything, and I don't think he'd want to have everything. He has, instead, the good stuff, well-organized and well-described. People shopping there will know what they're buying and will know that it's high-quality. Plus, he's a nice guy. If the Pokey Pup really is an indie record store, he's the John Cusack character from High Fidelity, not the hipper-than-thou Jack Black.”
– Bill Childs, Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child blogger, radio show host and Parenting magazine columnist
“A unique online store for cool kid music and hip stuff.”
- Yosi Levin, IndieKidsRock blog
"With the Pokey Pup, Bryan has created a trusted treasure trove of fabulous children's media. Visiting the online store is like entering a cozy, warm reading and listening room, where you know the things you and your children touch will bring learning, growth and fun.”
- Charity Kahn, Charity and the JAMband
“Pokey Pup is so friendly and has such a GREAT selection of music. I love having all the newest independent artists and old standards all in one place. We're so lucky to have an online music store that's always on the lookout for what families want most!”
- Deb in SF (Customer)
“I love to refer readers to the Pokey Pup because I know the selection is so fantastic. They highlight the best of the new and lesser-known kids' artists and make it easy for parents to find music to match their family's tastes.”
- Amy Davis, The Lovely Mrs. Davis blog
“Love this site and the selection! Everything from music to books to movies for kids and also books with cds. I have loved all of the items that I have purchased. Thanks and keep up the great work! Help get the word out that as parents - we have rights to enjoy the music too!”
- Pokey Pup Customer
Need some more info? Visit our Freqently Asked Questions (FAQ) Page here.
What are your kids listening to?
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