If Denver band DeVotchKa (ya know, the band behind the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack) hasn't graced your little heart yet, you better have a good excuse. As for you knowing DeVotchKa's accordionist/violinist Tom Hagerman just released a solo album? I'll let that one slide. But you can thank me later when you fall in love with this new music.

The album, The Breakfast Playground, is named after that random, plastic playground in Denver's Cherry Creek Mall - where the little ones raise havoc and stomp on plastic eggs and chase each other around fake bacon and waffles.

"I think a lot of solo/side project records can have an air of vanity or arrogance," says Hagerman. "There are just no pretentious connotations with a title like that -- everybody loves breakfast, and everybody loves playgrounds."

Hagerman, who also performs with the Denver Gentlemen, had no original intention of starting a solo side project.

"A lot of the recordings were just experiments that were intended to be used for DeVotchKa, Denver Gentlemen, or something else," he says. "I probably started recording it in 2003, but like I said - haphazardly."

With five other members he's met through the Denver/Boulder music community, Hagerman and his Orquesta Obrera - consisting of Doug Anderson on bass and accordion, Keynes Chen on violin, David Nereson on piano, cello and melodica, Elin Palmer on violin, glockenspiel and mandolin and MacKenzie Roberts on viola - will perform at 7 p.m. Jan. 26 at Old Main on the CU campus.

The diverse instrumentation is quite similar to that of DeVotchKa - and fans can expect to recognize "Twice Told Tale," "Home Again" and "Charlotte Mittnacht" - songs from DeVotchKa's 2004 album, How It Ends.

The Breakfast Playground tells an incredible story without words. It's quite fitting for a film with rich visual appeal that perhaps tells the story of a worldly traveler.

Speaking of such things, Hagerman just returned from Spain with DeVotchKa.

"Spain is great - the people are friendly and they eat a ton of ham," he says. "The winding streets of Barcelona are amazing. Those small streets just have centuries of history that you can't find here in sprawling American cities."

While Hagerman has many great projects going, his main priorities still reside with DeVotchKa - especially with their new album coming out in March.

Even though he jokes that he might "spontaneously combust on stage" due to everything he's currently juggling, he loves every minute of it. You can tell.

Now time for a quick Q&A with the hilarious Hagerman:

BH: Speaking of all things breakfast, where's your favorite place to eat in Denver?

TH: The Mercury Café. I've got a lot of respect for Marilyn at the Mercury.

BH: Boulder?

TH: Dot's Diner. Is that place still around?

BH: So DeVotchKa's playing the Fox Theatre again on Valentine's Day? How many years will that be now? Can we expect aerial dancers again?

TH: Five of six years? It's been a while. I'm about 90% sure there will be aerialists. It usually depends on if it's safe to rig up the ropes.

BH: Do you have a hot date for V-Day? What are your thoughts on the holiday?

TH: The first response that comes to my mind is "your mom." However I'll bury the fourth-grader inside me deep down. I used to think it was a pretty grim day, but since I met the sweetest girl on the planet and spawned with her, it's been all right -- there are much worse things than chocolates and roses. You know, like death.

BH: Any particularly fond or horrid memories regarding Valentine's?

TH: I've got a pretty funny one. I had a double breakfast date with a friend of mine for Valentine's about 11 years ago or so. We ended up having pancakes and a bunch of Southern Comfort all before noon. I ended up having to work in the computer lab at the college of music on that day on the CU campus where I wound up passed out on the teacher's desk, only to be awakened by the dean and about 20 prospective freshmen with their hopeful parents in tow on a routine tour of the facilities. I'm sure they marched their kids to the computer science department immediately after that.

BH: How excited are you for the Red Rocks show in August?

TH: Here is my first response: Red Rocks? You just gave me explosive diarrhea! We played there last summer on the middle of a big bill with Ryan Adams as the headliner. It was a little surreal. It felt like we were playing to a giant movie screen or something. I'm a little afraid of it being such a giant venue. I think we'll be okay if we can get U2 to open for us or something.

Check out Tom Hagerman's myspace page.

And don't miss him playing in Boulder!

What: Tom Hagerman and Orquesta Obrera

Where: Old Main, CU campus, Boulder

When: 7 p.m. doors open, 8 p.m. show

Cost: $9.50 (Available day of show or at the Fox Theatre box office: 303-443-3399)

More info: Call 303-492-8619