2026 JUNO Nominee Chris McKhool Releases New Single “Animal Samba” From Forthcoming Album, Global Dance Party!
Chris McKhool, one of Canada’s most beloved musicians for children and families, is inviting young listeners to clap, prowl, soar, and splash with his new single “Animal Samba,” out now and the first taste of his forthcoming album, Global Dance Party!, arriving November 6. Coming off a JUNO nomination for his 2025 release Little Leaf, McKhool continues a three-decade mission of creating joyful, inclusive music that gets kids moving while sparking genuine curiosity about the natural world.
“Animal Samba” wastes no time putting bodies in motion, opening with a call to hand percussion and flamenco style palmas before launching into a musical safari through the animal kingdom. Listeners are asked to stalk and pounce like a cat, spring into the sky alongside ravens, and dive like a great blue whale, with McKhool singing lines like “our whiskers are our radars, we have super silent paws” and “I can live to be two hundred and I learn to sing from birth, and grow larger than the dinos, the biggest animal on Earth.” The song’s blend of samba inspired rhythm and playful, movement driven storytelling reflects McKhool’s gift for turning a singalong into a lesson in wonder.
The track brings together a deep bench of collaborators, with Kevin Laliberté on guitars, keyboards, and programming, Saskia Tomkins on cello, Drew Birston on bass, horns from Doug Banwell, Kevin Turcotte, William Carn, and percussion work from Marito Marques rounding out the arrangement. The song was produced by McKhool, Laliberté, and Grammy winning engineer John “Beetle” Bailey, and mixed in Dolby Atmos, giving the recording an immersive, room filling quality suited to both classroom and home listening.
McKhool’s credentials speak to a career built on both artistry and impact. A Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient, two-time JUNO nominee, and multiple Canadian Folk Music Award winner, he has performed for more than a million children across North America and has appeared on Mr. Dressup, YTV’s Treehouse, and CBC. Little Leaf, his most recent full length album, earned him a 2026 JUNO nomination for Children’s Album of the Year, following an earlier nomination for FiddleFire!, and the momentum from that recognition helped fuel a 50-show Canadian tour and a doubling of his YouTube subscriber base.
Global Dance Party! continues to unfold in the months ahead, with “Party in the Street” following as the second single on September 11 and “On Halloween” arriving October 9 ahead of a full album release on November 6. McKhool will bring the new material to families across Ontario and beyond throughout the fall, with stops that include a Halloween-themed CD release celebration in Toronto on October 30.
Known to many as Canada’s greatest eco-troubadour for young people, McKhool has spent three decades using world instruments and heartfelt songwriting to bring cultures and generations together on stage. With “Animal Samba,” he offers families an early glimpse of an album built for dancing, learning, and discovering just how alive the natural world can feel through music.
Hi, Chris! Good to see you again! Care to introduce yourself to the readers for those not familiar with your music?
I’m now celebrating my 30th Anniversary of performing for young audiences! I really love playing for kids and their parents, they are so much fun! People often talk about how children are the “audiences of tomorrow”, but I really find that children are fantastic audiences at their age. And just like adults, they need great art with meaningful messages, to help them to make sense of their lives, and their feelings about the world around them! I sing songs celebrating music from around the globe, and also about taking care of our precious planet Earth.
“Animal Samba” has kids stalking like a cat, springing like a raven, and diving like a blue whale. Out of every animal in the song, which one do you personally have the most fun acting out on stage?
That was such a fun track to record – we had jazz heavyweights Kevin Turcotte on trumpet, William Carn on trombone, and Doug Banwell on saxophone all in the room together, and I said “OK everyone make animal noises!” And all three of them said they didn’t know how, they had never done it before, and I said “Just try it! Do whatever you can!“. And it turned out so amazing, they all really sounded like wild animals.
One of my personal favourite animal sounds to play live on stage is a whale. I think I probably spent way too much time in my youth listen to whale songs on cassette, and trying to figure out how to play them on violin! As for the actions, that’s for the kids in the audience to do, and I really love seeing them move their bodies and how much fun they have being animals!
You’ve spent three decades writing music for kids using instruments from all over the world. What’s one instrument on “Animal Samba” that you think most Canadian kids have never seen up close before, and what does it actually sound like?
The trombone is a pretty spectacular instrument! I find it really fascinating how William can find the pitch by moving the slide in and out on it. And it is a great sound in Animal Samba for making an elephant! Also when we play live in concert, kids get to see the Swedish nyckelharpa, which is a fascinating and beautiful instrument Saskia Tompkins plays. It looks and sounds like it came right out of Middle Earth. It has 16 strings on it which vibrate in sympathy with the notes that she is fingering, giving it an otherworldly sound.
You’ve performed for over a million kids across North America at this point. Is there a moment from a show, a kid’s reaction, a mid-song interruption, something, that still makes you laugh when you think back on it?
Haha honestly every show cracks me up, because there is always a wonderful dance between the rhythm of our band on stage and our fantastic young audience volunteers! Having kids play along makes every show different and a little bit unpredictable. Truly it is my favourite aspect of the concert performance for young people, seeing their smiling faces while they play along.
You’re closing out this fall with a Halloween-themed CD release party in Toronto. Any hints on what a McKhool Halloween show actually looks like, and should parents be worried about how sugared-up their kids will be afterward?
Kids bouncing off the walls is on par for Halloween. There’s no way around it. For the October 30 Halloween show we’re inviting children and parents to dress up for this concert, which is also a CD release party for my new album “Global Dance Party!”
Our job will be to help the kids burn off some of that Halloween energy with nonstop dancing, clapping, and singing along with the music! We will have a contest for the best costume, the most creative costume, and maybe other categories we have not thought up yet! I will be joined by my pals in Sultans of String, including Kevin Laliberté on guitar, Drew Birston on bass, and Saskia on nyckelharpa – so get ready to buckle in and have a great time!
We also have some other spectacular shows this fall in Ontario including at the Markham Children’s Festival, Burlington Performing Arts Centre, and two adaptive concerts with Xenia Concerts in Mississauga and North York. For our West coast friends you can find us in Canmore AB! Details at https://fiddlefire.com/
Upcoming Shows:
Sep. 12, 2026, Markham-Milliken Children’s Festival, Markham ON
Sep. 19, 2026, Meridian Arts Centre, North York ON
Sep. 26, 2026, Burlington Performing Arts Centre, Burlington ON
Oct. 30, 2026, Kingston Road Village Arts Centre (Halloween Bash), Toronto ON
Nov. 29, 2026, artsPlace Canmore, Canmore AB
Dec. 13, 2026, Mississauga Living Arts Centre, Mississauga ON