Mister G – About

A leading figure in the children’s music world, Mister G (Ben Gundersheimer) is a former indie rocker who was awarded the first songwriting scholarship in the history of Berklee College of Music. He toured internationally prior to earning a Masters of Education and becoming a full-time family musician and teaching artist.

His award-winning 2012 release, Chocolalala, is a collection of original, bilingual (Spanish/English) songs. Inspired by his concert tours throughout Latin America, the album spans a wide range of musical styles from bossa nova to ska, funk to folk.

Mister G’s 2011 bilingual CD, BUGS, is a genre-hopping exploration of the natural world. The video for “Vamos a la Playa” was featured on national television during Hispanic Heritage Month. Mister G burst on to the family music scene in 2010 with his debut children’s album, Pizza for Breakfast, which includes radio favorites “Sneaky Chihuahua” and “Pony with a Problem.”

Mister G has performed public concerts and educational workshops for children throughout the US, Europe and Latin America.

Mister G’s story begins when he was just about the same age as his devoted fans. Growing up as the son of noted children’s book author and illustrator Karen Gundersheimer, Mister G learned to value great writing for kids at a young age. After begging his parents to let him switch from recorder to guitar lessons, he started writing his first songs at nine years old. By the time he graduated from Amherst College, Ben had already been performing his original songs professionally for years.

As an adult-oriented singer/songwriter, he performed and toured internationally, headlining legendary venues such as the Bitter End, the Iron Horse Music Hall, Somerville Theater, the Mercury Lounge and Club Passim. He’s shared the stage with Phish and Martin Sexton, and his music has been featured on dozens of network television shows around the world.

In the late 90s, Ben created an educational side project, “The Roots Music Collective,” with his bandmates. So began a peculiar double life of playing at rock clubs until 2:00 AM and performing in elementary schools at 9:00 later that same morning. The experience hooked him: time and again he was blown away by the energy, curiosity and creativity of the young audiences.

Ultimately, Ben decided to combine his background as a musician and songwriter with his passion for teaching children. For his Master’s thesis, Ben created a unique curriculum to incorporate songwriting into the classroom as a learning tool. Inspired by his students (who originally dubbed him ‘Mister G’), he began writing the songs that would comprise his debut family album.

Ben’s three CDs showcase his skills as a producer, engineer and multi-instrumentalist. The albums were recorded in New York City and at his studio in the woods of Western Massachusetts, with a stellar cast of musicians.

Accompanied by the voices of his former students, the CD features Mister G singing all original songs and playing acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, and mandolin. Drawing on his eclectic tastes as a songwriter, the tracks on the albums span an unusually wide range of styles, from rock and country to bluegrass and ska.

In addition to his high-energy concerts, Mister G has developed a series of school workshops (“Who Writes Songs? You Do!”; “Mister Goes Green”;“Vamos a la Playa”) designed to unleash the imaginative potential of children.