It was a “wonderful” weekend for Cuyahoga Falls artist Jeff Klemm, also known as Mr. Jeff on YouTube. On Jan. 31, he received the World Entertainment Award for Best Children’s Album. On Sunday night, he attended the Grammys as a newly inducted member of the Recording Academy.
“This whole Grammy weekend has been incredible,” Klemm told me in a Sunday morning interview. “I’m really happy to be able to do it with my brother Drew because he's a music producer and songwriter out here in LA. So, it’s really cool that two boys from Ohio get to go to the Grammys this year.”
Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro acknowledged his accomplishments before the win in a Summit County Nextdoor post.
“Thanks to Klemm, the Akron music scene will be represented at the Grammys, so make sure to tune in," she wrote. "Additionally, he has been nominated twice for this year's World Entertainment Award.”
He won, and it was his 2024 debut album “Wonderful Wonderful Wonderful!!!” that was responsible for his victory. It is an album he called a “family endeavor.”
“We recorded the whole album in our home studio, which we built, and I mixed and mastered it and played all the, all the instruments,” said Klemm. “My son Silas sings on it and my daughter Juniper sings on it as well, and my wife did all the artwork.”
Klemm called his win a “big win for the whole family.”
“It says Mr. Jeff, but it’s, it’s not me. It’s, it’s our family making this stuff.”
Klemm, a former pre-K and preschool teacher with a Child Development Associate Credential, credits his songs as having been workshopped with his class and children. His background in theater, multi-instrument music, and audio engineering made his music what it is today.
According to his biography, the World Entertainment Award is not the only award his debut album has won. He was also the 2024 Mom’s Choice Award Gold Recipient, and he won the 2024 Creative Child CD of the Year award, the 2024 Best Music Video at the Daddying Film Festival, the 2025 National Parenting Product Award and the 2025 Family Choice Award.
“It just feels ‘wonderful, wonderful, wonderful’ to win,” he told me. “We don’t make children’s music for accolades. It’s really to impact children and families, so really the goal is to expand the reach for kids and families, but the accolades feel pretty good now.”
Songs on the album include “Loud in the Library,” “Drivin’ in My Racecar,” “The Jellyfish Dances Like This,” “Poppin’ Bubbles,” the titular song “Wonderful Wonderful Wonderfull!!!” and many others.
“Our aspirations are to expand our reach to kids and families and really just make the world a better place,” Klemm said.
I asked him what advice he would give to his fans and young musicians who look up to him.
“It does take hard work,” he said. “You know, if it’s a dream, you really have to work on it. It takes hard work, you have to figure out the work and just do it, and do it, and do it.”
Klemm returns to Northeast Ohio this week and will perform at House Three Thirty on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m
You can listen to his songs on his YouTube channel, Mr. Jeff.
