Dan Zanes came to me through my brother Brendan, who got into Zanes’ music when Cashel – my dear nephew Cashel – now a college graduate – !!! – was a small child. For Dan Zanes’ birthday, I wanted to share the piece my brother Brendan wrote about what Dan Zanes meant to him and Cashel.
Dan Zanes is a playah in children’s music, but he’s lived many lives, all of which he brings to bear on the albums he puts out for kids. I was Googling around this morning and came across this fun NPR piece from 2010 about his album 76 Trombones, a compilation of songs from Broadway musicals, geared – of course – towards kids. Cashel loved Dan Zanes and so did my brother. I spent much of quarantine re-posting my brother’s music posts from his old blog, because I loved the writing and diversity of subject so much. Here’s a more recent NPR piece, from this past September! – about his latest album of original songs written by Zanes and his wife Claudia.
