Dan Zanes and his band will play at The Zeiterion Theater in New Bedford this Sunday, November 21st. The music Dan has been focusing on for the last thirteen years or so is, by his own description, "handmade music". He has revisited songs of Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie and many others and put his own particular spin on them.The birth of his daughter, who is now 16 years old, lead him to this "parallel universe". After she was born, as he was wondering what would be the very first song he would play for her, it never occurred to him that it could be one that HE sang to her. Shortly after that, he started to make family music.
There's one thing that runs through all of his music making, from his time with Boston's The Del Fuegos in the '80s, his solo records of the '90s and his family music of the past decade and it's the element of participation. The Del Fuegos never felt like they had played a gig, unless people danced. In 2010, as he celebrates ten years of his Festival Five Records, the idea behind Dan's records and his shows is not only to inspire people to dance and to participate in HIS music but also to encourage them to make their own.
Listen to my interview with Dan Zanes here
Get on Dan's train:
