This weekend the Manitou Art Theatre in Colorado Springs kicks off “Ice Cream Theatre,” its kid- friendly summer concert series, with a show featuring Ben Rudnick.

Rudnick’s fun take on children’s music combines a love of the Grateful Dead with kid-appropriate themes.

Rudnick, however, rejects the “children’s music” label.

“We don’t think of it as ‘kids’ music,’ ” he says. “It’s not all so incredibly straightforward, imparting some lesson or some incredibly silly thing about boogers. Because I don’t really want to sing about boogers.”

Instead, jazzy jams spiked with elements of bluegrass, folk and roots music set off Rudnick’s sound. Songs have titles like “A Frog Named Sam,” “Chet’s Fabulous Diner” and “The Challenger Baseball Song.” As Rudnick points out, many of the songs aren’t specifically aimed at kids, but the content is nonetheless appropriate for young listeners.

“It seems to me the best idea is to make music I want to hear,” says Rudnick, a guitarist, who started writing songs with kids in mind after preparing to play music for his own daughter Emily’s fourth-birthday party.

“I didn’t want to do children’s songs at the time, like Raffi — I just didn’t want to sit down and learn them,” Rudnick recalls.

So he sat down and wrote some songs of his own. Then he gathered a group of like-minded musical pals and released the first Ben Rudnick and Friends album, “Emily Songs,” in 2000. Since then, his group has released six more albums, continuing to mix up musical genres and good-vibe lyrics.

“It doesn’t have to be a formula,” Rudnick says of their songwriting process. “We just sit down and go, ‘What kind of song do we want to do, in what style?’ Psychedelia, bluegrass, jazz — it’s unbelievable what we can get away with.”

For tonight’s show at the Manitou Art Theatre, Rudnick is just bringing one Friend, mandolin player and singer John Zevos. Rudnick says their live shows are typically spirited affairs.

“We try and get the crowd engaged so they’re dancing and singing,” Rudnick says. “The music has a good beat, it’s danceable — basically, it’s just fun.”

Music at the MAT

Ben Rudnick and Friends bring their family-friendly, Grateful Dead-inspired music to the Manitou Art Theatre tonight. The concert is part of the first installment of the theater’s “Ice Cream Theatre” series for kids, running Fridays and Saturdays through Aug. 6. Performers will include magician Doc Murdock July 16-17 and storyteller Birgitta De Pree July 23-24. 7 p.m. tonight. The Manitou Art Theatre, 1367 Pecan St., Colorado Springs; 719-465-6321. Tickets are $10, available at the box office or in advance at themat.org.

-Kathleen St. John

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