Folk Pop from Kayla Storlid

Kayla Storlid makes music driven by the idea that children deserve songs that take their imaginations seriously. As the founder of We Were Little, Kayla creates joyful, story-driven music that looks at childhood from both sides of the family experience, capturing the wild ideas, enormous questions and small adventures that can seem ordinary to children while becoming treasured memories for parents.

Her music is subtly nostalgic and while from different musical eras, Kayla brings the warmth, groove and soul often associated with adult music into songs built around play, storytelling and family life. It’s music that gives children something to enjoy while offering grown-ups a chance to remember what it felt like to see the world with fewer boundaries and considerably more imagination.

That sense of connection sits at the very centre of her wider mission; her songs encourage children to believe that their inner worlds matter and perhaps just as importantly, to have the confidence to bring those ideas into the world. By not talking down to young listeners, she invites them into imaginative stories where their questions, emotions and creativity are treated as something worth exploring. Her output is already reaching audiences beyond her immediate surroundings, with Kayla’s music receiving international recognition and airplay on ABC Kids Listen in Australia, one of the country’s leading children’s music broadcasters.

Now, her single titled “Mamma, I Need a Moo Moo Cow” brings that philosophy into a particularly playful sphere. The song takes one of childhood’s most relatable requests, the seemingly innocent question of whether it might be possible to have a pet and turns it into a catchy, humorous conversation between a child with a very specific dream and parents attempting to explain why reality might have other plans. Its origins are almost as charming as the story itself, with Kayla coming up with the idea while driving to the vet with her dog and while passing a farm, she rolled down the window and mooed at the cows, apparently just to discover whether they might moo back.

They did and as she drove away, the main verse and melody arrived simultaneously, giving her the initial creative spark for what would become the track. From that spontaneous moment came a song built around the sort of conversation that will be familiar to families everywhere. A child desperately wants a cow but the parents, meanwhile, have a rather longer list of practical considerations. Set up by the soft plucks of acoustic guitar and taps of percussion, Kayla’s bright vocals enter above the pulse of bass to spin upbeat melodic leads above, crafting a catchy folk outing that’s charming, playful and instantly memorable.

It’s a superb showcase of her knack for creating delightful musical moments that children and parents can enjoy together. Her work recognises that children are developing their sense of themselves through the stories they hear and the worlds they imagine and by giving those worlds space can help them understand that their thoughts and creativity have value. “Mamma, I Need a Moo Moo Cow” captures that spirit with plenty of laughter while celebrating the wonderfully unreasonable optimism of being little.

Listen to Mamma I Need a Moo Moo Cow below

More from Music

---

Editor Picks

---