Beppie’s eighth album, ‘Puzzle Pieces,’ is out now. The record gathers the Edmonton musician’s latest run of singles, including the counting anthem “Nine” and the hip hop flavoured “P-O-T-A-T-O Crew,” and marks another chapter for one of Canadian children’s music’s busiest and most decorated voices.
Born Stephanie Nhan in Regina and based in Edmonton since 2006, Beppie has released seven albums since 2017, earned two JUNO nominations, joined the Recording Academy and signed with Platoon for distribution through Apple Music. She has picked up four Western Canadian Music Award nominations along the way, winning Children’s Artist of the Year in 2023, the same year she received the Edmonton Arts Trust Fund Award and was named a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. Over the past six years she has drawn more than $100,000 in funding from organisations including the Canada Council for the Arts, the Edmonton Arts Council, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, SOCAN and FACTOR, support that has gone directly into her touring and music development. With 25 years of experience teaching music, she performs more than 70 shows a year at schools, festivals and events, and her catalogue has been streamed over two million times worldwide.
“Nine” grew out of Beppie’s dual life as a mother of three and a music educator. Counting songs for kids are everywhere, so she set out to make one that stood apart. “The mission was clear, it had to be funky, and it had to be fun,” she says. Working with producer Justin McDonough, the pair built the track around a funky riff and let it grow from there. “We started with a funky little riff and then everything just started flowing,” she explains. “The drums, the strings, the flute! Once we got going, we didn’t stop until we got to, you guessed it, nine!”
Nine came together almost by accident, born
“Nine” came together almost by accident, born from two bonus days booked at the end of a studio session originally meant only for vocal and drum tracking. “I’m so glad we did,” Beppie says. “‘Nine’ is my favourite song out of the 13 tracks included on my new album. I love singing it live with kids and seeing how quickly they catch on to the rhythms and the words.” The song’s title has already sparked plenty of questions about why it stops short of 10. “It’s always good to keep your listeners wanting more,” she says. “Even if they are preschoolers.”
“P-O-T-A-T-O Crew” started in the garden. While digging up potatoes with her son Elliot, then 11, Beppie found herself imagining the tunnels and pathways left behind by the roots, and the pair invented an entire mythology on the spot, complete with a king potato and an epic underground battle. Weeks later, on a writing retreat with longtime producer and co-writer Justin McDonough, she brought the idea back to life. “When you write music for kids and with kids, you can pretty much write about anything you want,” she says. “It’s crazy to think that this is actually my job.”
The song took shape as a roll call of potato dishes, each voiced by a different performer. Beppie recruited fellow children’s musician Fyütch, who suggested his own daughter, Aura V, take on the character of Mash. Beppie rounded out the crew by bringing in her own children, with Fry voiced by Elliot and Spud voiced by her daughter Amelia, while Beppie herself takes on Chip. Aura V went on to become the youngest Grammy winning artist in history the following February, a coincidence Beppie says the whole team was thrilled about. Built as a 90s style hip hop anthem, “P-O-T-A-T-O Crew” has become one of the most energetic moments in Beppie’s live show.
Tour Dates
Feb. 15, 2027 Red Deer, AB @ Red Deer Museum
March 20 to 30, 2027 Vancouver, Victoria, Burnaby and Richmond, BC @ Spring Tour (Dates and Details TBA)
April 4, 2027 Leduc, AB @ MacLab Theatre
