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Brady Rymer performs at a fundraiser for Peconic Community School in June. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)

It’s a sign of the times that local family music artist Brady Rymer learned of his recent Grammy nomination not from his publicist or by reading it in the newspaper, but from a blogger on Twitter.

“I knew they were going to announce the nominees so I was prepared with my phone. Then I saw a Tweet from a kids blogger, “Kids Can Groove”,” Rymer said on Tuesday. “Somehow they knew before I did.”

Regardless of how the band heard the news, Rymer said he and the members of the Little Band that Could were just thrilled that their seventh studio album, titled “Just Say Hi,” had been nominated for Best Children’s Album.

The band was previously nominated for the award in 2009.

In December 2013, Rymer and his band raised $20,000 through a Kickstarter campaign to record their latest album, which features the group’s trademark singalong songs including the title track. He said crowdfunding the project nudged the band to take it to a higher level.

“That really added such a communal warm great element to it,” said Rymer of Southold. “It made us dig a little deeper and strive to make it even greater.”

The inspiration for the musical stylings is a mix, Rymer said, and is part Motown, part Mardi Gras parade and part Bruce Springsteen.

“It’s all music with a really positive, uplifting spirit,” he said.

Rymer said he drew on his own life experiences, like his parents playing Elvis tunes in the car when he was a kid, for some of the lyrics.

“For this one, that’s how it came about. Maybe that’s because my kids are older and I can’t write about getting your driver’s license or having a sweet 16 party,” said Rymer, whose son Gus is 18 and daughter Daisy is 16. “I touched on autobiographical things and childhood memories.”

The kids and Rymer’s wife Bridget will be in the audience for the 57th Grammy Awards on Feb. 8, 2015 at the Staples Center in Lose Angeles, Ca.

“I promised them I will take them,” he said. “It’s just a really fun weekend.”

Brady Rymer will perform a show at Southold High School on Dec. 20 at 4 p.m. Organizers ask that attendees bring non-perishable food and winter clothing to donate to Maureen’s Haven. The event is sponsored by the children’s departments of six local libraries. There is no cost to attend.

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