With the October 7th release of House Party, Dan Zanes will have issued almost as many albums (three) of acoustic-tinged family music as he did of raucous roots rock with his late, beloved band the Del Fuegos. And while Zanes has nothing ill to say about his former job as a rock musician, it's clear that he couldn't be more comfortable than he is at his Brooklyn home, rehearsing songs in his kitchen, recording them in his basement and collaborating with whomever happens to drop by.

After issuing one Fuegos-ish recording in 1995 (Cool Down Time), Zanes hit upon what he gleefully describes as "my calling," grabbing his mandolin, meeting up with a handful of like-minded parents who picked and dusted off folk songs from a variety of cultural sources (like the Japanese coal mining tune "Tankoh-Bushi" contributed by bassist Yoshi Waki). Issuing albums through his own Festival Five Records, Zanes has been able to create his own timeline, releasing three records between 2001 and 2002: Rocket Ship Beach, Family Dance and Night Time (more info is available at festivalfive.com). When he talks about House Party, he describes the long layoff of one year, a pittance by industry standards. "I feel like I'm pretty far removed from all of that," he says.

House Party actually takes a brief break from the Festival Five formula, as Zanes went outside the Brooklyn haven to record the country music classic "The Wabash Cannonball" with the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir out in the Dead's Bay Area Warehouse studio. "I was kind of immersed in Dead culture," he says, laughing. "They invited me to go back for a benefit, which I couldn't do, but it felt like I kinda passed the audition."

Zanes also enlisted Blondie's Debbie Harry to sing on "Waltzing Matilda." "I've asked her to be on every CD that I've done," he says, "and she's always said no. I just wouldn't take no for an answer." And Angelique Kidjo guests on a cover of the Harry Belafonte standard, "Jamaica Farewell," that he suggested. Kidjo brought along guitarist Dominic Kanza, who, Zanes found out while recording, had played the song with Belafonte during a legendary, late-Fifties Carnegie Hall performance.

With the world as his songbook, Zanes doesn't find himself frozen by song possibilities, but rather eager to find the right ones, wax them and release them quickly after inspiration strikes. And the collective nature of his family records -- Philip Glass also guests on House Party, along with recurring regulars like Rankin' Don (a.k.a. Father Goose) -- extends beyond Zanes' circle. "It all feels really natural, which is why I think this is what I'm meant to be doing," he says. "What I'm really interested in is songs that make people want to go out and do their own playing and singing. That's really my goal, to make this communal music-making seem like a good idea that you should go home and try yourself -- not that it should put me out of a job. But if somebody hears it and decides that they want to play tuba or banjo or anything like that -- then I would really feel like I was doing a good job of it."

Dan Zanes tour dates:

8/17: Newport, RI, Newport Folk Festival
9/6: New York, Battery Park
10/4: Chicago, Buntrock Hall
10/18: Detroit, Max M. Fischer Music Center
10/19: Austin, Paramount Theater
11/8: Seattle, Moore Theater
11/9: Portland, OR, Aladdin Theater
11/15: New York, Symphony Space
11/23: Somerville, MA, Somerville Theater
11/29-30: Berkeley, CA, Zellerbach Theater
12/2: Santa Cruz, CA, The Rio
12/6-7: Los Angeles, Schoenberg Hall

ANDREW DANSBY
(August 8, 2003)