I’m on the set of the children’s television program The Biscuit Brothers, Austin’s homespun half-hour favorite among the kindergarten camp of TV watchers. I’m at Harmony Homestead, the show’s magical ranch house outside the city. I hear “Singing Creek,” and I’m heading down to the musical toolshed in a few. The lovable Tiny Scarecrow, perhaps the Lone Star State’s most famous clumsy and funny puppet, sits on a chair nearby—and he’s about as lifeless as a sack of cotton.

Three Guys and a Puppet
Biscuit-backstage isn’t nearly as extraordinary as the TV version. I’m seeing it all, plain and simple. Dusty and Buford Biscuit; their enchanted, pop-savvy song-ranch; and the goofy hand puppet who cracks up even the Biscuits during tapings: The whole deal is just three guys, a puppet, and a camera. But…

“I can count on one hand the number of kids who’ve seen a flimsy, without-life Tiny Scarecrow,” Damon Brown says to me. He’s the show’s director, as well as the puppeteer and voice of Tiny.

It’s just us four out here—me, Jerome Schoolar (“Dusty Biscuit”), Allen Robertson (“Buford Biscuit”), and Damon—taping episodes for the sketch show that uses musical education as a vehicle for life lessons. The morning’s episode puts porchside the show’s three stars—two country song-savants and the afraid-of-birds, hay-sneezy Tiny. In this segment, the Biscuits focus the lesson on the musical canon with a three-part “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Tiny, of course, makes things interesting.

“Kids, now follow this harmony,” Dusty instructs. “Tiny, you come in after me.” What follows is the silly train wreck the show is known for, the brothers being playfully patient with Tiny, and the orange-faced puppet struggling to grasp the concept, making cracks to make parents at home hoot.

Musical Merit
Because The Biscuit Brothers is a) relegated to the children’s category, b) so singsong in sound, and c) filmed on a Hill Country ranch and not on some Hollywood back lot, the inclination is to under-credit its smarts and musical chops. But take a listen (their music is available on CD, iTunes, or DVD), and notice that, for instance, “Oh! Susanna” and “She’ll Be Comin’ ’Round the Mountain” might channel a Beatles tune and Bach. Go further in: There’s Big Band, jazz, Cajun, country and western, and classical. Hear the tuba, trombone, dobro, mandolin, and ukulele. The Biscuits’ music walks the fine line of catchy and creative. It’s simple enough for a 3-year-old to follow but with twists an LP-collector appreciates. Many elementary school music teachers even use it as a curriculum supplement.

If nothing else, Jerome, Allen, and Damon have a blast writing, recording, and performing the tunes. “Our workflow is very much like a trio of jazz musicians riffing off each other,” Allen says in his home studio, where instruments are scattered about like toys. “We have notes all over the house.”