Steven Vanzandt

Steven Van Zandt’s first rock n roll memory goes back to childhood hearing The Coaster’s “Yakety Yak“ on the jukebox echoing throughout summer day camp.  He recalls being exposed to Elvis while his grandmother danced around the living room doing housework.  He never really associated the records with the artists, until he saw the Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. “It all began with the Beatles. It literally was like they dropped in from another planet,” he says. For Steven, the most important thing that happened was realizing Mick Jagger was the first person he had ever seen in show business that didn’t smile. “By Mick Jagger not smiling, to me that communicated something entirely different. It was like this is a lifestyle. That really was it for me, between the Beatles and The Stones.”

Steven Vanzandt talks about his “Rock and Roll Foundation”

Steven discusses adding a different dimension to the Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul tour in 2018. The Teacher Appreciation Tour is a combination of The Rock and Roll Forever Foundation and the band. This is their way of celebrating the teaching profession and expressing solidarity. At each stop of the tour, the foundation will host a free TeachRock Professional Development Workshop. The best part is the teachers are all coming to the show for free.

Steven Vanzandt talks about Rock Scene Magazine

Steven Van Zandt recalls his early exposure to music with radio, TV, and magazines.   “Once rock & roll was recognized as an art form it started to receive serious attention and get serious criticism and serious journalism came with it,” Steven says. Magazines like Crawdaddy, Rolling Stone, Creem and Rock Scene were extremely important to him.  “We couldn’t wait for that next issue.  We read every single word of it.”