THE ALPHABET ROCKERS

At the Regent Theatre, April 25, 1:30 p.m.

$10 adults, $8 kids, 2 and under free.

781-646-4849,

www.regenttheatre.com

By Dennis Fisher Globe Correspondent / April 5, 2009

For much of its long and mostly checkered history, children's music has been an oxymoron. Nursery rhymes set to insipid melodies, little ditties about tying your shoes and the brutal assaults of the purple dinosaur and the Band That Must Not Be Named from Australia. So when Kaitlin McGaw decided to start a kids' music group a few years ago, she wasn't sure what it would end up being, but she knew exactly what she didn't want it to be.
Alphabet

McGaw, a Harvard graduate who grew up playing music with friends in Belmont, was not interested in making silly, condescending songs that kids would tune out and parents would dread hearing.

Instead, the Alphabet Rockers' 2007 self-titled CD was a hip-hop album. "That's what I listen to and that's just what came out of me," McGaw explained by phone from San Francisco. "I wanted it to be like music that I liked."

The CD is full of uptempo songs with lyrics that educate without preaching to kids. "The Money Song" helps with math through the lens of currency, and "Spelling Bee Battle" explores the relationship among letters, words, and phrases.

When she moved to California following college, McGaw got back into performing music, and found a kindred spirit in Dawn Richardson, the former drummer of '90s alt-rockers 4 Non Blondes. The pair formed the Alphabet Rockers and their CD has turned into a big hit with teachers, parents' groups, and - most importantly for the band - kids. Using a different lineup of players on each coast, they've been doing stage shows in Boston and San Francisco.

For an April 25 show at The Regent Theatre in Arlington, McGaw will be joined by her Belmont High School friend Maria Minidis, a singer whose daughter was an early test audience. "We played the songs for her and she loved them," McGaw said.

Since the CD release, McGaw, Richardson and their collaborators - who include DJs, beatboxers, and other singers - have spent a lot of time honing their live skills, something that McGaw said has been invaluable.

"We spent about six months just developing our live show and talking about what's the best way to keep it focused on the kids," said McGaw, who works full time for the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which puts on the Grammys. "We wanted to make it a kids' experience, but we have lots of parents getting up and dancing, too."