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Artist / Heroes,
Dan Zanes Adds the Soundblox Tri-Mod Phaser to His Pedalboard
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Posted by: Jeffrey McAlack | Posted in: Artist / Heroes,
We ran into Dan Zanes—the Grammy winning children’s musician and former singer/guitarist of legendary Boston rockers, The Del Fuegos—at this summer’s Life is Good Festival. It’s always great to meet a fellow Bostonian who’s achieved big success in music (Actually, Dan currently resides in Brooklyn, but we’ll forgive him and assume there is still a “B” on his ball cap and not an “NY”). We took the chance to show Dan our Soundblox Tri-Mod Phaser and Flanger. He was quite taken with the Phaser and had some nice words to say about it: “Once I started playing guitar through the Source Audio Phaser, I couldn't stop. The sun was setting low in the sky before I had a chance to skim the surface of its deep well of sounds.” Speaking of the Life is Good Festival, below is a video of Dan backstage at the show giving the Tri-Mod Phaser and Flanger a test ride.
Back in the 80s and 90s the influence of the Del Fuegos on the Boston rock scene was pretty heavy. I bought a copy of The Fuegos’, Boston Mass upon the suggestion of my bass player at the time. This was a few years after the release of the record but enthusiasm for back-to-basics rock n’ roll was still strong, especially in Boston, a town known for its rich history of garage rock. The Del Fuegos were definitely a leader in the unpolished guitar rock revival of the 80s—bands like the Del Fuegos, The Replacements, and Soul Asylum delivered high energy, bar band style rock with a streetwise urgency that’s often in short supply with popular music. It was not sticky sweet teenage pandering, but it also wasn’t high-minded political diatribe—Dan and the Fuegos delivered honest tunes about the peaks and valleys of adult life. In an era where synthesizers ruled, these stripped down rockers rediscovered the power of the electric guitar. Inspired by classic players like Chet Atkins, Keith Richards, and Chuck Berry, The Del Fuegos delivered a tremendous and passionate amalgam of blues and post punk.
Upon the release of the Fuegos’ first record, Rolling Stone Magazine called them the “the best new band of the year”. But as often happens the band ran its course and parted ways before the end of the decade. Here, however, is where the story gets really interesting. After the birth of his daughter, Mr. Zanes found himself making music with some other parents he met at his local playground in Brooklyn. Dan eventually recorded some of the resulting music in his home studio and was encouraged by the positive local response. So as Woody Guthrie had done more than a half a century before with the songs he wrote for his children, Dan set off to create music that both kids AND their parents can enjoy. In the year 2000, with the help of a long list of guest musicians including Cheryl Crow, Suzanne Vega, G.E. Smith and Bad Company drummer, Simon Kirke, Dan released Rocket Ship Beach. The record instantly gained a following for its all ages appeal. Since then, Zanes has released a total of eight children’s records with help from the likes of Lou Redd, John Doe, Roseanne Cash, Loudon Wainwright III, and Aimee Mann. Finally, in 2007 Dan reached a high water mark when he received a Grammy Award for his album, Catch That Train!.
Check out this video for the song “All Around the Kitchen” from Dan’s record, Family Dance.
We're proud to add Dan to our list of artists using Source Audio pedals and look forward to hearing what he does the Tri-Mod Phaser. Find out more about Dan and his music at his website, www.danzanes.com. And have a look at our demo for the Soundblox Tri-Mod Phaser.
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