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Dan Zanes was the front man for The Del Fuegos in Boston for the better part of the 1980s. After four albums, numerous tours, and much acclaim, the band went their separate ways in 1990, with Zanes resurfacing later in the decade with a new approach: performing traditional and original music for all ages.

With four more CDs in as many years ("Rocket Ship Beach," "Family Dance," "Night Time!," and "House Party") released on his own Festival Five Records, Zanes is among a handful of tasteful, back-to-basics musicians who are making it safe for young children to listen to music again—and enjoyable for their parents, too.

Zanes' label has also just released "Sea Music," an album of traditional maritime music that satisfies his passion for songs of the sea, and "Widdecombe Fair," a hard-to-find recording from 1993 by David Jones and Bill Shute that initially inspired Zanes to start making music for the whole family.

I spoke with Zanes in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn to discuss:

* his path from The Del Fuegos to his latest incarnation as Dan Zanes and Friends
* how gospel and Jamaican music influenced his journey—and informed his ideas about communal music making
* why it's so exciting to introduce musical instruments to the very young when the band performs live
* how his CDs have included collaborations with performers as diverse as Sandra Bernhard, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, John Doe, Phillip Glass, Deborah Harry, Angelique Kidjo, Simon Kirke, Aimee Mann, Lou Reed, Suzanne Vega, Loudon Wainwright III, Bob Weir, and Dar Williams

Catch Dan Zanes and Friends on tour in February and March in Hartford, New York City, Princeton, Harrisburg (PA), Cleveland, Albany, and Lebanon (NH).

Photo: Anna Williams

Joe Pernice of Pernice Brothers

Since 1996, Joe Pernice has performed and recorded under a variety of band names, including Scud Mountain Boys, Pernice Brothers, Big Tobacco, and Chappaquiddick Skyline.

This year's Pernice Brothers' release, "Yours, Mine & Ours," is a collection of some of his strongest songs to date—and is headed for a spot on a number of music critics' best-of lists for the year. Pernice also published a book of poems in 2001 entitled "Two Blind Pigeons" and recently wrote his first novel, "Meat is Murder," for Continuum Books' 33 1/3 book series on music. The fictional book is about lives of several teens in the Boston suburbs and how the 1985 classic album from The Smiths made an impact. Pernice reads an excerpt from the book during our interview.

I met with Pernice at the offices of Ashmont Records, the independent label that he co-owns with his manager, Joyce Linehan, in Dorchester, Massachusetts to discuss:

* how the band recorded "Yours, Mine & Ours" in a Vermont country house belonging to a New York surgeon
* where Pernice gets his best lyrical inspirations and ideas
* what benefits there are to owning and running your own record label
* what upcoming projects Pernice is working on, including his first musical and the next Chappaquiddick Skyline album.

Photo: Hannah Thompson

Dan Zanes on Festival Five Records and available at CD Baby.

Pernice Brothers on Ashmont Records. More information about Meat is Murder and the 33 1/3 music series is available at Continuum Books.

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