Last Saturday we went up to a theater at Princeton U. to see Dan Zanes play. He is the former front man from the Del Fuegos, an 80s alternative rock band. He has found a second career in playing so-called social music -- music that whole families can enjoy. The idea is that instead of the kiddos going to see the Wiggles while the parents groan or the parents going and seeing, I don't know, the Barenaked Ladies, the whole family can go and enjoy a music concert together, or as Dan Zanes said during the hour-long event, a dance party.
And we all went to this show together and we all had a great time. They played their songs, and they played a mix of other songs too, from kids songs (i.e. Old McDonald) to old folk songs. At one point Zanes said he was going to play the anti-war song that he'd played last year (I guess he comes there every year) and sang "I'm going to lay down my sword and shield down by the riverside" (sorry I forget the name of the song.)
After the show the band sat out in the lobby and signed autographs. What a bunch of cool guys. We wished Dan Zanes was our cousin or something, so he would feel obligated to come over to our house after the show and hang out with us.
We first saw Dan Zanes on Playhouse Disney, and only very recently. He has four videos that play there. One of the songs is the title song from the album that won him and his band, Dan Zanes and Friends, a Grammy for best children's record. He also had a song and video on Sesame Street called Emmanuel Road that we loved but we had no idea who did the song. But then I found that on his site too, and knew that we had found a new musical group to be in love with. Here's where you can see the video and hear the song Emmanuel Road.
Here and here are the other two videos we loved -- Catch That Train and Malti. And by "we" I mean all of us - me and David and Jack and James. When these are on the television we all stop what we are doing and watch them. And we still love them after already watching them so many times.
The woman who wrote and sings Malti has a solo record career and Dan Zanes is producing her record. He has also recently produced an album for another one of his original bandmates known as Father Goose. This new social music phenomenon has become a new career for him that, if you read his bio, seems to have started when he became a dad. He would go to the park and play music with the other parents while the kids played. And then he formed the band. And now he is producing records. It's not just a band now, it's a movement.
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