More than a few pop and rock artists have dipped their toes into making music for children, but pioneering new wave band Devo blazed a new trail by remaking themselves into a literal kids' band with Devo 2.0. Working in tandem with David Agnew, a long-time Devo fan who is also an executive vice president for the Buena Vista Music Group (the music branch of Walt Disney Pictures), Devo founders Gerald V. Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh created Devo 2.0, in which five talented youngsters between the ages of nine and 13 perform faithful (but updated) versions of classic Devo tunes, along with some new material written by Casale and Mothersbaugh for the group. (Casale and Mothersbaugh also rewrote a few of their songs for Devo 2.0, changing some possibly offensive lyrics and shifting genders to reflect the fact the kids' version of the group is coed.)

Chosen by Casale through a series of auditions, Devo 2.0 features Jackie Emerson on keyboards and vocals, Michael Gossard on bass, Nathan Norman on guitar and vocals, Kane Ritchotte on drums, and Nicole Stoehr on lead vocals. While original Devo members Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh, Gerald V. Casale, and Robert Casale handle nearly all the instrumental chores on the debut album, Dev2.0, released in the spring of 2006, the young group will play live on a subsequent concert tour, set to take them to shopping malls, arenas, and schools across the country. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi