Seattlest Interview: Dan Zanes

That reminds me, you say you really mean it, and we see that. And yet the term “hip” and “hipster” keeps getting attached to you in the media. We see hipster as a derogatory term—sort of aloof and, if one dabbles in folk music, it’s ironic or kitschy. But that just strikes us as not you at all. What do you think is going on there?

Well, you know, people bring their own point of view into things, I never said our music is cool or hip. I don’t like the implication that other stuff isn’t. One thing I always liked about family music is the generosity of spirit. Until recently, there weren’t any critics running around. Nobody cared enough to comment on it. And that was fine with me. What works for one family may nor work for another. It is something very old-fashioned personal. My music comes really from my personal interpretations of the old Folkways records I listened to, Leadbelly, Ella Jenkins. It sounded homemade, like people in a room playing together. Those records made me want to play. Some of the material was commenting on life, but it was always fun. It was the recipe for the kind of music I wanted to listen to with my daughter. There was lots of great stuff, but not the sound I had in my head. I wanted music we could both relate to. Not stuff about drinking and old girlfriends.

It’s funny you mention that. The first song our daughter sang, after the ABC’s, was "All for Me Grog". We laughed and laughed, but our mother-in-law said “Did you teach her that?” Some of those songs you have, like King Kong Kitchie, with the sword and pistols and so on….

I always envision us as the band in the corner during the family reunion. Sometimes we lean toward the two-year-olds, and sometimes toward the grandparents. We don’t want to leave anyone behind. It’s all ages. That said, we do consider the kids a lot. On the last album, we thought a lot about whether to include Grey Goose. Maybe it would be too weird for kids. We ended up including it. It is about survival, and it is not that difficult to understand why Leadbelly would be singing that. My friend from Sesame Street thought Grey Goose was too much for kids. Throwing it in the hog pen, trying to kill this goose. In the end, she said we had to have it in. Her child is singing it and it is just too cute.

But even Loch Lomond, from the most recent album with Natalie Merchant isn’t what you think of when you think “kid’s music.”

Children don’t always take things literally. I worry myself sometimes about exposing my daughter to some things. She wants to look at some crappy magazine about celebrities and I worry that it will become part of way she views the world. You know, if you read it, then you’ll be poisoned. But it isn’t the case. Kids can sort it out—there is a rich array of information in front of them. Music is an important way to learn about the world. Even if people are drowning, drinking, and homesick in some of the songs, I’d rather she find out and think about it in a song than in the more hard-edged, disturbing presentation you can find on any television at any time of day—not just at night, any time of day. There is stuff there far more disturbing than anything you’ll hear on my record. As a parent there is this risk I’ll be wound up tightly thinking about what is good and not good. There is nothing random on the albums, though. We thought it through and tested it out. We talked to a lot of people about it. On "All for Me Grog," my mother said, "You have to include it. It’s hilarious."

Dan Zanes & Freinds play two shows at The Moore, at 1pm and 4pm this Saturday.