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With his lifelong friend Justin Lansing, the guitarist writes and performs songs about nature and our place in it, for children and the adults raising them. Together, they’ve been nominated for five Grammy Awards, winning one.
“I’m wondering if you’d go wandering with me, through the wilderness and woods to where the winds are blowin’ free…”
So begins “Through the Woods,” the opening track from the Okee Dokee Brothers album of the same name, released in 2014. Already Grammy-winners for Best Children’s Album for their album Can You Canoe?: A Mississippi River Adventure Album, band members Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing wrote Through the Woods while on a 30-day trek along the Appalachian Trail — garnering their second Grammy nod along the way.
In the time since, the Minneapolis-based duo has continued to gain in popularity, with six total albums and over 152,000 monthly streams on Spotify. It’s not just kids tuning in, either — the folksy, acoustic sounds and stories from their extended trips through nature are written to appeal to the whole family.
In 2023, the musicians set out on a different type of adventure with Brambletown. The album follows two critters, Fox and Badger, as they return to their childhood home in the forest and grapple with the changes that have occurred in the town — and each other — since they left.
The album, alongside a stunning 35-minute film available to stream on PBS Kids, has won acclaim from critics and parents for its beautiful soundscape and gentle treatment of a host of difficult topics.
Bluedot contributor Christopher Lysik sat down with Mailander, the duo’s guitarist, to talk about the band’s origins and their mission of connecting families to nature, and how to approach conversations with children about the climate crisis.
CHRISTOPHER LYSIK: When did you two start playing music together? How did you make the decision that you were most interested in playing for children and families?
JOE MAILANDER: We grew up in Colorado together. Our families were friends. We always had holidays together, would take camping trips in the Rocky Mountains. That’s how we started going on adventures and being friends. We were always very playful together.
Creativity was at the heart of that, which laid the groundwork for when we started writing music together and playing folk songs in high school — John Denver, Bob Dylan. We became camp counselors together in the Rocky Mountains, and singing around the campfire with the kids, doing call and response, really started energizing us. That's where the seed was planted for the Okee Dokee Brothers.
The Okee Dokee Brothers really took off as our full-time gig when we decided to do Adventure Albums: 30-day camping trips, where we’d write the album out on the trail.
CL: So that relationship with nature you both seemed to have at an early age, was that from your families?
JM: Our families spend quite a bit of time outdoors. My dad worked in co-op development and environmental sustainability with the farmers on the eastern plains of Colorado. He had been a conventional farmer in the ’80s, then switched over to organic. That was my introduction to environmental sustainability and stewardship, looking at agriculture in a more sustainable way.
All plants are beings. And more than just plants, even rocks and dirt, these inanimate objects around us… all have spirits in them. Kids already see that — that’s why their stuffed animals are alive. They're their friends.
CL: So when you first started playing gigs together, did you feel like the Okee Dokee Brothers had a mission? Or did it develop along the way?
JM: At one point we did have a band with a literal mission statement. We were a nonprofit called Medicinal Strings, and we played free concerts for underserved communities. The Okee Dokee Brothers continued [in that vein]. Our songs and concerts inspire kids and families to get outdoors and get creative. That’s at the heart of what we want folks to do: step outside and notice the little things. Notice the inspiration that comes when we slow down and listen to nature.
That inspiration might cause you to write a little ditty, or get technology involved and make a movie. We love to pick up sticks and figure out all the different things they can be: a golf club, or a sword, or a lightning rod. It gets the inhibitions quieted down so you can express freely. Nature is such a perfect venue for that.
CL: I have to assume that's part of the impetus for your Adventure Albums, right? Getting out and letting nature inspire you?
JM: Partially, it’s getting away from technology and email obligations to unplug. But also, it’s to slow down and listen. We’re big believers that a lot of songs are floating around out there anyway — it’s about tapping into the muse and seeing what it’s offering. Mother Nature is that muse for us. Getting out into nature for 30 days allows us to see the whole picture better than the fragmented thinking that happens day to day, with all this extra technology.
CL: Was that what led you to do the first one? A struggle to find time for that deep dive? Or was it more, “Hey, we got this crazy idea?”
JM: I think we noticed all our previous albums were just… like lots of albums out there. A little sporadic, a collection of random thoughts. Which was fine. But we wanted to do something conceptually based: being out on the Appalachian Trail, or the Continental Divide, or the North Woods in the winter. You think being out there will limit your [ability to express your] creativity, but in limitations, we find lots and lots of inspiration.
The Mississippi River is a perfect example. We dove deep into the cultural history and music of the river, river boats, and all that. The themes and vernacular we were tapping into all come from the Mississippi region. But, at the same time, it was just a crazy idea. We saw some canoers going down the river and thought, “That sounds fun! Let's try that!”
CL: Thirty days on the Mississippi River… I’m sure you guys ran up against some challenges!
JM: There’s always the barges. Backups at the locks and dams — sometimes we'd have to portage over or wait for a couple hours. And the flow of the river isn't always, you know, trucking down there…
We hit a really big storm around Day 28, at night. We were caught in a really giant, almost tornado situation where lots of things got ruined in our camp. But we made it through!
CL: That’s so wild! So was Brambletown a decision to take a break from adventuring?
JM: [We had an album], Songs for Singing, which came out during Covid. That was also a break, in that it was more songs for communities to sing. It didn’t have a specific region or adventure that went with it, other than, “Step out your back door and find community in your backyard.” We thought that it was important to show people that you don’t have to go on a grand adventure to find inspiration in nature.
As for Brambletown, coming out of Covid and with all that’s going on in the world, it’s hard to take a 30-day adventure. Plus, we were both starting families! So we decided to adventure into the inner landscape of the imagination instead.
There are inner landscapes in all of us. In those places, deep inside, we have characters and different parts of our personalities and psyches. That’s where the idea came for these Critters in the woods. Like any good story or myth, these characters can apply to different things you’re dealing with — inner conflicts, choices you’re making. And, of course, on the interpersonal level, you can see parallels to the Critters and how they’re going through a time of separation, then trying to find community again.
CL: What I think is really exciting, looking at Brambletown in relation to the rest of your body of work: It feels like an evolution, rather than a break. You feel the weight of the four Adventure Albums, and of Songs for Singing — all of those influences and experiences come together in a really awesome way. It’s a nature album, but it’s more than that.
JM: Wow, thanks for saying that. It did feel like a culmination of a lot of things we learned over the years— not just songwriting, but how to communicate those types of ideas, and the personal ups and downs we’ve had.
We ended up processing a lot through those characters. You can hear things about our relationship, Justin and I. The Critters, because they’re kind of a “kiddie” device, allowed us to go into more adult themes, in a way. Suddenly, it didn’t seem too scary or threatening to talk about divorce or addiction or climate change, which are heavy topics. When it’s the Critters going through those types of things, it’s more digestible for young audiences.
CL: That’s something that really struck me about this album, too. Was exploring those topics something you and Justin felt you needed to do for yourselves as artists? Or was it about communicating with kids?
JM: I think both. Definitely as artists, the most authentic expression came while talking about the harder things we’ve gone through. [But we also wanted to show] the family music genre can handle that. If people want nursery songs, there’s plenty of them out there — might as well try to see what else can be done in the family music world.
To talk to kids about balance is a good way to start. It isn’t a hopeless situation, but we have taken a lot. We need to balance out the scales — because if we keep taking, things get out of whack.
Things like divorce and addiction shouldn’t be taboo conversations. Addiction is going to be a part of everybody’s life — not just drugs and alcohol, but processed food and the internet and social media. It’s good to start talking about those things at a young age with our parents so they don’t seem so scary, and so we aren’t afraid to voice our authentic needs when something doesn't feel right. And it shows kids we respect that they can handle these conversations.
CL: That has me thinking about the climate aspect of it all. You have songs on different albums, but very explicitly in Brambletown, dealing with the environmental situation we’re in. How should we be having these conversations with kids?
JM: [There are two songs], “The Mycelium Underground News,” leading into “Trouble in Paradise.” That’s where we’re trying to say, “Hey, listen to the plants and beings around us!” They’re giving us warnings of how things are changing, reminding us of the contract we have with the earth, which is reciprocity. We have definitely taken, taken, taken, and the debt has come due.
So… to talk to kids about balance is a good way to start. It isn’t a hopeless situation, but we have taken a lot. We need to balance out the scales — because if we keep taking, things get out of whack. I think kids can understand that: If you take, take, take from a friend but never give back, how’s that relationship going to be?
All plants are beings. And more than just plants, even rocks and dirt, these inanimate objects around us… all have spirits in them. Kids already see that — that’s why their stuffed animals are alive. They’re their friends.
CL: You’re so right.
JM: The second-to-last song of the album is “The Life That’s in You.” Respect begins when we see the life in all things: “The life that’s in you is the life that’s in me.” Then we finish the album with “Little Dipper and Big Dipper,” bringing the interconnection to a more cosmic level. Hopefully kids start making those connections — and avoid developing the extractive mindset we’ve been handed down through our economic system and colonialism.
CL: You guys have been doing this for over a decade now. You’ve seen the planet changing, and now you have kids, too. Thinking back to the Okee Dokee Brothers having a mission statement… has it changed over time?
JM: I don’t know if we’d write this out like this, but maybe our mission these days is to remind people about the life in all things surrounding us? To bring respect and reciprocity to our relationships with the environment? And, to remind ourselves at the same time, not to get stuck in being brokenhearted. Yes, that’s part of the process of grief. But also, you need to find freedom and fun and laughter. Celebratory moments that bring life-giving energy to our families and ourselves, which resonate with love.
That’s ultimately the element that’s needed out there, we think. Music reminds us to fall in love with this present moment, and share that joy with others.
CL: That’s really beautiful. I have one last, bigger-picture question for you. Thinking about your work, and the work of so many others: What is the job of artists in this moment?
JM: Ooh, that’s…that’s a good question. Well, one take is we're the translator for what the earth is saying. The words are bubbling up from the mud and need to be communicated to the masses. It’s the “Mycelium Underground News”— these little warnings and messages, and hopefully, we get to be the conduit. Share hope, and resilience, and community. And also…a little bit of hard truth: of warning signs, of collapse and whatnot.
These are hard things for people to write songs about, and dance to at a club. But I think artists have to be thinking about that fine balance between getting too down on ourselves with the truth, and communicating in a way that still gives us hope and a sense of agency.
Yes, the world’s burning. This is the truth. There’s definitely room for grieving songs. But, if that’s the case — that’s not a hopeless song. That’s just part of the process. So… I just think it’s trying to be as real as possible. And communicate the truth.
The Okee Dokee Brothers’ music is available for streaming on platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Youtube. For more information on the band, including upcoming shows, visit their website.
