www.bostonphoenix.com

cellars by starlight column
by Brett Milano

Back when he fronted the Del Fuegos, Dan Zanes played to packed clubs and shared national stages with Los Lobos and Tom Petty. Now he's hitting elementary schools with his acoustic guitar, playing morning shows for first- and second-graders. Some musicians wouldn't consider that a very desirable career move. But as far as Zanes is concerned, the kids are all right.

"I was just playing `Rock Island Line' for some kids at 10 a.m.," he notes over coffee at Cambridge's 1369 Coffeehouse. "The whole experience feels like 1981 for me -- just loading up my van with pieces of my PA and an accordion. My gear is the same, the clothes are maybe a little nicer. I've always tried to learn as many cool cover songs as possible -- that's still happening. The audiences are five- and six-year-olds, and for them it's a dance party, so the shows are controlled chaos. And it's such a change from the rock world, where all you think about is me, me, and more of me."

Zanes' disenchantment with pop life has been well documented. Although the Del Fuegos were a well-liked band to the end, they succumbed to some of the in-fighting that went with the territory. When the last line-up folded, six years ago, Zanes moved to suburban New York, and made a confessional solo album (Cool Down Time) that got good reviews but didn't sell. It wasn't until he started trying to find a hip, fun children's record to play for his daughter, Anna, that he found his new occupation, making those that kind of record himself.

His first effort, Rocket Ship Beach, was released this month on his own Festival Five label. And it ranks with recent entries by Los Lobos (Papa's Dream) and NRBQ (You're Nice People You Are) on the short list of kids' albums that won't make adults cringe. The music has a friendly, folksy tinge, with Zanes doing acoustic versions of long-time faves like "Erie Canal" and "Over the Rainbow." The disc opens with a rockabilly version of "Polly Wolly Doodle" (with Sheryl Crow on harmonies) that sounds just like the Fuegos, with Zanes's voice as raspy and Tom Waits-ish as ever.

"I wanted to do something like [Jonathan Richman's] Rock'n'Roll with the Modern Lovers -- that to me is a perfect children's record. I know that kids like to rock, and they like to dance -- if I thought it all had to be songs about brushing your teeth, I'd go back to pop music. I think music is most powerful as a shared experience, so why can't there be kids' music that grown-ups can like? In my neighborhood, people can't find any music they'd like to play for their kids, so they just wind up putting on the Beatles and the kids lose out."

It didn't hurt that Zanes had made some famous friends in his rock-and-roll years. He met Sheryl Crow through Fuegos' producer Mitchell Froom -- it was Zanes who introduced her to the converted warehouse that became Globe Studios, where she made her last album, The Globe Sessions. Also guesting on the current album are Suzanne Vega, former Boston songwriter Barbara Brousal, and Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke, who wrote a jolly, English-style kids' song. "I can't picture him on the road with Bad Company working on that tune, but I know he's had it in his head for a while."

Getting to run his own label (which is now getting distributed through Rounder) is another plus from the rock days. "I'm using recycled paper and soy-based inks, and there's nobody around to tell me I can't do that. I made five records for other companies, and the question is, what do you hold in your hands at the end of the day? I mean, Slash [the Fuegos' label] doesn't even send out any statements. I figure that if I go down in flames, I'll still do it the way it should be done, and the good news is, it's not that unrealistic."

Another Del Fuegos gig or two isn't out of the question, since the original line-up played a benefit show (for a soup kitchen that Zanes's mother runs) at the Middle East last year and may make that a semi-annual tradition. But that's as close to his old life as Zanes plans to get. "This is not a temporary vacation from pop music -- it's a total departure, and I'm not going back. I feel I'm more useful in this world than I ever was in pop -- what I didn't like there was the whole idea of a wall between yourself and the audience, and I was as guilty as anybody of perpetuating that." Still, at least some of the old habits die hard. "I was doing a show for the kids and dancing around, and a friend of my wife said, `Dan is such a performer, he ought to be in a rock band.' And she had to tell her that I already was."