For years, Frank Allison fronted an acclaimed local band called The Odd Sox. Now he’s leading the new group, Koo Koo Boots.

“It’s the next step after the Odd Sox,” he explained, laughing about his fondness for footwear-centric names.

Ann Arborites may remember Allison from the days when he and the Odd Sox were a top draw on the local pop-rock scene—from around the mid-1980s to the mid-90s. He stopped performing in 1997, when a condition called spasmodic dysphonia stopped him from singing. Since then, he’s been on the road to recovery, has recorded a couple of solo CDs, and he and his wife/musical partner Karie Dorsten have been performing acoustic shows as a twosome. They will play at Ann Arbor’s Old Town Tavern Sunday evening.

“Things are going good,” Allison, who lives in Clinton, summed up as he and Dorsten stopped at Kerrytown’s Kosmo Deli recently.

“The voice is more of a talking problem, not so much a singing problem,” Allison added.

Besides Allison, Koo Koo Boots includes Afro-Cuban All Stars percussionist Pepe Espinosa, Odd Sox drummer Rob Hejna and bassist Dorsten. Playing with Espinosa, who is currently based in the area, has injected a funky groove into Allison’s new tunes. “It’s sort of a world sound,” said Dorsten. “He’s got this sort of Brazilian beat.” “It’s this ‘chugga-chugga’ rhythm,” Allison added. “I asked (Espinosa) ‘what do you hear?’ He said “I hear percussion everywhere!’ Allison laughs, "I told him go to town."

“We wanted some dance music; that’s what was so great about the Odd Sox—the dance music,” said Dorsten. Koo Koo Boots has been several years in the making. “First I tried putting together the Odd Sox again. The guys wanted to do it, but nobody had the time. We’d get together and rehearse and then it would be so long until the next time we’d practice, we’d just re-rehearse the same tune. Though fruitless, it was fun to get to play with the Sox again,” Allison said.

“We had been looking for a fourth instrument,” he added. “The three of us would get together (himself, Hejna and Dorsten) and it was all right, but it was still basically the same as my acoustic thing. Finally we ran into Pepe. He’s terrific and adds a whole new dimension.”

No Koo Koo Boots live shows are on tap yet, but Allison has promised to have an album, featuring Espinosa and tentatively titled “Afterworld,” ready by fall.

“There’s something like 40 tunes to sort through,” Allison said. “They’re coming fast.”