Imagination Movers

The **Imagination Movers** are an American children's band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2003. The line-up includes drummer Rich Collins, keyboardist and mandolin player Scott Durbin, bassist Dave Poche, and guitarist Scott "Smitty" Smith. Members of the group were longtime friends and neighbors. They started with the four members seeing a need to encourage creativity in children, provide positive male role models, and create music and content that "spoke to them, not down to them." Scott Durbin as the progenitor, worked in combination with his other Movers to create a live-action TV show that was a cross between *Mister Rogers' Neighborhood* and *Captain Kangaroo*, the foursome worked every night after bedtime, from 9 PM to midnight, to write songs and develop TV show plot lines.

## Career

Created by four friends in New Orleans, the Imagination Movers began as a television/music concept that was pitched to local PBS affiliates. WLAE-TV was the first to take an interest in the group and later introduced them to Beth Courtney, the President & Chief Executive Officer at Louisiana Public Broadcasting. Soon after, LPB began airing one-minute videos produced by the Imagination Movers themselves.

The Movers built a sizable regional following by setting educational songs for kids to melodies and rhythms that adults appreciate as well. They sold more than 100,000 copies of their self-produced CDs and DVDs. Their three indie CDs: "Good Ideas," "Calling All Movers," and "Eight Feet" along with their grassroots DVD "Stir It Up" have, combined, won fourteen national awards, from such groups as the National Association of Parenting Publications (NAPPA) and Parents' Choice.

In 1994, they appeared in a TV special called "The O'Jays and Friends: Live in Concert"

In early 2005, Disney took notice and initiated negotiations to add the Movers to the company's roster. These were interrupted in August when the flood protection designed and built by the Army Corps of Engineers to protect New Orleans failed. The resulting floodwater claimed the band's office, as well as the homes and jobs of Collins, Durbin, and Poche – but the deal was signed in the spring of 2006.

In 2008, Walt Disney Records introduced the Imagination Movers' music to the nation with the release of the Movers' first nationally released CD, "Juice Box Heroes."

In September 2008, a 22-minute show featuring the group began airing on the Disney Channel's preschool programming block known as Playhouse Disney, and eventually airing on Playhouse Disney's replacement, Disney Junior. The Movers starred and were also co-executive producers of the show.

The Movers wrote and performed all of the songs heard on their show. Moreover, the Imagination Movers have received critical kudos for their live concert performances.

In October 2009, the Imagination Movers started the "Live from the Idea Warehouse Concert Tour 2009". Traveling from mid-October to mid-December 2009 their live performances include many of their favorite songs and dancing, as well as video appearances of Warehouse Mouse.

Beginning in early-February 2011 and wrapping up in late May 2011, the Imagination Movers presented their "In a Big Warehouse Concert Tour," playing more than 100 shows in 50+ cities across North America.

From March to October 2012, the Imagination Movers toured North America on their post-Disney "Rock-O-Matic" tour. The show maintained several elements of the original TV concept, such as an on-stage "idea emergency" and several sets from their older catalog. The tour promoted the Imagination Movers' new album/DVD release, "Rock-O-Matic," which featured all new music from the band. The album Rock-O-Matic itself is produced independently of Disney and has a notably more mature, contemporary rock-and-roll sound, though still very appropriate for children.

In the summer of 2013, Imagination Movers released their fourth album on Disney records, entitled "Back in Blue." The album consists of 26 songs, covering most of the songs written for season three of the TV series as well as any other unreleased material penned by the Movers for the television show.

Fall 2013, the Imagination Movers teamed with Blue Cross Blue Shield Association to present the Think Big Tour, an educational 60-minute concert traveling throughout the state of Louisiana.

May 2014 - Disney Junior Canada presented the Imagination Movers Live in Concert tour with special guest Warehouse Mouse. The tour covered seventeen Canadian cities, starting September 13 in Victoria, BC and ending in Glace Bay, NS on October 2, with a majority of the dates selling out. The tour featured the Movers performing songs from their hit Disney Junior series and their chart-topping album “Back In Blue,” which debuted as the No. 1 Children's Album on iTunes in Canada.

During the fall of 2014, 9 Story Entertainment announced that it has entered into a development deal with the award-winning musical act Imagination Movers. 9 Story teamed with the band on a concept called Super Movers, a fresh new animated/hybrid program geared towards 4-7-year-olds, bursting with comedy, adventure, and music. The main message of the show is that “Everybody has the power to become a superhero!”

In 2015, the Imagination Movers released their ninth album, a CD/DVD, entitled "Licensed to Move." The project was crowd funded through PledgeMusic.

In 2016, the Movers released the single "Super Movers," an upbeat, ska-inspired audio treat spreading the belief that everyone has the power to become a superhero. The song hit number 1 on the Children's Charts on both iTunes and Amazon in the US and Canada.

In 2017, the Imagination Movers crowdfunded their tenth album through Indiegogo, entitled "10-4." The album was released on December 14, 2018.

During 2020, the Movers released numerous unreleased songs via their Bandcamp page.

In the summer of 2021, the Movers released their first new product, a single called "Happy" and the Happy to Be Here EP, through children's music label 8 Pound Gorilla Records. Two music videos were part of the release as well "Happy" and "Robot Breaks Down" which can be viewed on the Movers YouTube channel.

In 2022, the song "Watermelon Meow Meow" became a viral hit, averaging over 1 million monthly streams on Spotify alone. In appreciation, the Imagination Movers quirky earworm was finally given form in a consciousness-expanding music video.

## Joining the WGL Gang

In late March 2023, the Imagination Movers were gained attention by Whitney Larson after listening to their song "Jump Up!" while watching YoGabbaGabbaFan49 UTTP Misbehaves at Symphony of the Seas (2021) on YouTube. Larson used to watch Imagination Movers back in 2008 or 2009 on Playhouse Disney (before it was Disney Junior), but she didn't remember anything from the show and thought that Scott Durbin was a girl. Sometime in April 2023, she started re-watching the show on Disney+. The band became official members of May 1, 2023.