Sugar Free Allstars catering to kids with concert DVD release, Oklahoma library tour

This local two-man band is taking the kid’s music scene by storm. This weekend, they’ll play alongside "They Might Be Giants” at Jiggle Jam in Kansas City, Mo. Early in June, their first kids concert DVD, "Getting’ Funky With the Sugar Free Allstars,” will release. And this summer, they’ll embark on a 56-show library tour.

"When we play kids’ shows, they’re usually 40 to 45 minutes long. ... They kick the door in, and they’re ready to rock,” said Chris Wiser, the band’s founder and front man. He plays organ and sax, and sings lead vocals. Rob Martin, aka Dr. Rock, plays drums and sings backup.

The main difference between playing children’s gigs and grown-up gigs? "The audience members’ average height,” Wiser said.

Sugar Free Allstars hasn’t always been a kids band. They started out in 2003 as a three-man band playing original tunes such as "He’s Okay (The Spider Song)” at local clubs and music festivals. When fans started telling them that their kids loved the music, an idea sparked that the younger-than-10 set could be an untapped market for their music.

"I wouldn’t say it was a fluke. It wasn’t something that we set out and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to be a really successful kids music band.’ It was like, let’s put out an album and write songs the way we do, just change the subject matter,” Wiser said.

So they wrote and recorded "Dos Ninos” in 2007, the same year they released their third "grown-up” album, "Return of Dos Machos.

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