Guitars, drums and ... DIAPERS?

Sarah Young looked over indie-folk singer Ani DiFranco's tour itinerary recently and noticed something familiar about it: There were a lot of two-night stays in one city, and a lot of venues close to parks and playgrounds.

"I was like, 'Oh, yeah, she's definitely touring with her kid,'" remembered Young, cellist/singer in the hard-touring Minnesota rock band Cloud Cult -- and a mother of two.

Mates of State singer Kori Gardner was also happy to see signs of familiarity after she started a blog about her experiences as a rock 'n' roll mom.

Gardner's tour diary, cheekily named "Band on the Diaper Run," offers witty and often surprisingly sweet accounts of life on the road with her husband/bandmate Jason Hammel (a native of Stewartville, Minn.) and their two daughters, ages 1 1/2 and 4. It's the one band blog where an entry on "trashing a hotel room" doesn't involve any musicians.

"We really felt like we were on an island for a while, especially me as a mom," said Gardner, whose band performs tonight at the Varsity Theater. "The blog made me realize there's a lot of people doing this."

As women have become more integral to rock 'n' roll -- and men more involved in parenting -- more bands have been hitting the road with their babies on board. And we're not talking about their prized Les Pauls.

Mates of State have already toured with two other popular indie-rock groups who bring young children along, the Starlight Mints and Ida. Gardner's blog has turned them on to dozens more, too.

"Since we were both in the band, there was no question: Kids are a part of the deal now," Sparhawk recounted. "The days of sort of stumbling into a gig and asking around if we could stay at someone's house after the show were over."

Cloud Cult made that change a few years ago, too.

Young travels from show to show with her husband, Adrian -- Cloud Cult's manager -- and their two sons, Micah (4) and Sam (almost 2). They travel in a separate van from the other six band members, and suffice it to say they operate on a different timetable and mind-set.

"Nap time is king," Adrian Young said firmly.

Sarah's firmest statement on the rigors of the road: "Breast-pumping at a rock club: Not fun."

A typical day on the road for the Youngs goes like this:

• Breakfast and playtime from 7 a.m. until whenever the rest of the band wakes up.

• Travel time in the van, which is carefully timed to the Almighty Nap Time.

• Soundcheck at the venue, during which time Adrian and/or their traveling nanny usually take the boys to the hotel and let them unwind.

• Dinner and bedtime with the family.

Then there are those less-than-typical days, like the time a few years ago when Micah had a major diaper blowout that got all over Adrian just as the band got to its venue in Santa Fe, N.M. Or the time the Youngs left behind a car-top carrier loaded with baby gear at a roadside rest stop and didn't realize it until they were an hour or two down the road.

"Everything weird that happens to a band on the road seems to happen all the more -- and is all the more weird -- with kids along," Sarah said.

With Mates of State, the most trying days are the ones "when the travel arrangements get all messed up," Gardner said. "Inevitably, a three-hour car ride sometimes winds up being eight hours. And what do you do, especially when you have a show to make? Those are the hardest moments."

Gardner's least-favorite story comes from last year's Austin City Limits Festival in Texas, where their baby June came down with a high fever that afternoon.

"We were on the phone with our doctor 10 seconds before our set time, literally trying to decide if we should play or if we should go to the emergency room," she remembered. (They played, and June's temperature soon went down.)

"The only thing that musicians without kids do on tour that we don't do is sit around in a bar waiting to play," Gardner said. "All we really lose is that waiting time."

Said Adrian Young, "Once you get a routine down and stick with it, it all works out well -- somehow."

The Youngs say it gets easier with each tour, too. They now know where the good grocery stores are in most cities. They know which affordable hotels are close to which clubs. And they're especially up on the good parks. There's a good reason why Cloud Cult often returns to the Mercury Lounge in New York.

"Micah's favorite playground is right up the street," Adrian said.

Between the Ozzies

"We honestly never really run into anything I wouldn't want to expose them to," Sarah Young said. "Even most of the venues these days are all nonsmoking."

Said Sparhawk, "Everyone in this business is usually friendly and easygoing. It's really not a bad environment for kids."

In fact, all these musicians believe their clans are tighter-knit and have more fun together than a lot of families.

"I'm sure I spend more time with my kids than if I was working a 9-to-5 job," Adrian Young said.

Said Gardner, "They have two parents around them all the time. I'd be a worse parent if I didn't have Jason around all the time. And we get to experience so much together."

Sparhawk noted that his kids have already seen more of the world than he did before Low started touring. He recounted climbing the steps of the Temple of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, with Hollis. Not to mention that she got to watch Radiohead from the side of the stage when Low toured with the British rock icons.

Meanwhile, Cloud Cult currently has the Young boys in tow for a tour that ends at the Coachella Music Festival in California next weekend.

Of course, there's one aspect of family life that is clearly not conducive to touring: school.

With their daughter Magnolia due for kindergarten next fall, Gardner grappled with the school issue on her blog. She's a believer in public schools, but a private school might be more likely to allow Magnolia to take her lessons on the road. But to pay for the private school, she fretted, "We're probably going to have to tour a few more weeks out of the year."

(After our interview two weeks ago, Gardner announced on her blog that they settled on a Montessori school -- where Magnolia's mom will probably teach music part time to offset the costs.)

Ultimately, these musicians all credit their children as the ones who make their unusual lifestyle work.

"We never could pull this off if we didn't have laid-back, easygoing kids," Sarah Young said.

Said Sparhawk, "Kids are surprisingly resilient. It's the adults who usually need most of the help and care on the road."