Father knows best how to rock ‘n’ roll

Some dads teach the kid how to field like Keith Hernandez.

Other dads teach the kid how to solo like Keith Richards.

Rockin’ Dunwoody dad John Boydston was in his basement rumpus room on a recent Saturday afternoon imparting just such wisdom to sons Jake, 17 (on bass), and Max, 14 (on guitar), as they pounded through a few tunes preparing for their Saturday appearance at the super-cool indie music festival, South by Southwest.

Lesson No. 1: Don’t blow out your eardrums.

“I know you know this, Max, but when you turn it up, the rest of us have to get louder too,” said Boydston, 50, who, despite the pink Stratocaster, was looking dadly, in white beard and trucker cap. Max shrugged his shoulders, dialed his Les Paul back a notch, and the band (with friend Jonathan Paz on drums) launched into “I Don’t Wanna Go to School.” (Ramones-influenced chorus: “Ba ba ba ba, ba ba ba ba/I don’t wanna go to school.”)

As they rehearsed other tunes from Boydston’s Daddy A Go Go repertoire, including “Daddy’s Diaper Blues” and “I Can Swing By Myself,” the teenagers seemed thoroughly comfortable with lyrics such as “I can tie my own shoes/I really got it down/I can do it by myself/My Mommy showed me how.”

They know who their audience is, said Jake, and it’s not teenagers. It’s the toddlers and grammar-schoolers whose parents prefer rock ‘n’ roll to Raffi.

Boydston, a former producer at CNN, became a stay-at-home dad in 1993 and began catering to the kids-music niche in 1998, when he made his first Daddy A Go Go disc, “Cool Songs for Cool Kids,” in his basement studio. Back then his kids fit that demo, and they were his target audience.

He got some airplay on XM Satellite Radio, and he was invited to play the kid’s stage at Lollapalooza in 2005. Amazon.com named that year’s “Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate” among the Top 10 kids CDs.

Selling his CDs on the Internet —- several thousand a pop —- was working out well, but playing live was a problem, since Boydston overdubbed most of the parts (with help from drummer Walt Brewer, who was the other half of DAGG for a few years).

Then Boydston discovered he could make his own house band with what he had around the house: offspring. “Rather than assemble a bunch of dads my age,” he said, “I thought, how cool would it be if we could do this?”

Pretty cool. When the Boydstons performed on the family stage at South by Southwest in 2007, their first big gig as a family band, they trod the same boards that Atlanta rockers Mastodon would stomp later that evening. That night Dad and the boys went to see Iggy Pop rock a small barbecue joint. “The night before that we went to see Pete Townshend play an acoustic set,” he said, with reverence in his voice.

Max, a freshman at the Weber School, and Jake, a junior at Pace Academy, are getting a great music education, quality time with dad, and they’re wearing ear protection. That reassures mom, Cory Boydston, who dad sometimes lists as “executive producer” since she foots the bill. She worked with two of Atlanta’s largest developers for years, and is now with Starwood Land Ventures, a residential real estate investment firm.

As a dad, Boydston knows whereof he sings, with the lyric: “I’m sitting here wondering with a clothespin on my nose/I’ve changed so many diapers, I might as well change my clothes.”

That’s a shout-out to “Matchbox” by Carl Perkins, by the way. Along with kid-friendly themes, the records are full of tongue-in-cheek references to the Beatles, the Ramones, AC/DC and others.

Father and sons (and friend) don’t tour, but they have a few other engagements planned, including a private party in Brookhaven and a show at the Davis Academy in May.

Mostly they are looking forward to exploiting that “Artist” wristband at South by Southwest, which lets them get into any show they want to see. Their performance Saturday ends at 3 p.m., and Dad insists that they go directly to see Echo and Bunnymen at 5 p.m. for a little ’80s rock history lesson. After that the kids get to choose.

ATLANTA BANDS AT SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST

Boydston sells his CDs, including his latest, “Come On, Get Happy,” from his Web site, www.daddyagogo.com. Daddy A Go Go’s hardly the only Atlanta band making the scene in Austin, Texas. Gringo Star and the Coathangers were to perform Wednesday. The Woggles (not to be confused with Aussie multiplatinum kiddie band the Wiggles) are scheduled to play Friday; also playing Friday and Saturday are the Black Lips. Indigo Girls are to play Saturday.