Van Zandt jump-starts long-idled solo career
It used to be that people didn’t know Steven Van Zandt was a musician in his own right. The guitarist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Little Steven was rock’s most familiar sidekick, with a low-profile solo career.
Van Zandt released a series of heavily political albums in the ’80s and helped spearhead the still-iconic Artists United Against Apartheid campaign. In the late ’90s, Van Zandt left an idling solo career to concentrate on acting. He co-starred on “The Sopranos” and on the Netflix series “Lilyhammer,” and he toured and recorded with Springsteen whenever he made the call.
Last year, Van Zandt, 66, realized how much he missed his solo career and began assembling his first album in 18 years, “Soulfire,” which features new versions of old songs, covers and tracks he’d written for other artists. In touring behind it, he reintroduced himself to fans who only knew him as an actor, grew up on “Sun City” or only came hoping Springsteen would show up.
The following are excerpts from our conversation. is the beginning of a new era, and I’m going to stick with it this time. I’m going to still go out with Bruce if he feels like it, but that might be every other summer. With a little bit of luck, I’ll be doing a TV show in the winter, but this time I’ll be doing everything simultaneously. “I’m gonna rededicate myself — not only reintroduce myself, but actually introduce myself.”
I feel like this political atmosphere right now, I don’t have to explain anything to anybody. It’s so obvious every single day, as opposed to the ’80s, when everyone thought Ronald Reagan was God and I didn’t, and I felt obligated to shed some light on a whole lot of subjects I felt we were on the wrong side (of ). Now it’s just the opposite. I feel like we need relief from the politics.