Talkhouse Podcast

Dan Zanes with Bill Sherman


Listen Later

Dan Zanes has long been one of the biggest names in the still-exploding genre of so-called "kindie-rock" — music made especially for kids. As the leader of the Grammy-winning Dan Zanes and Friends, he’s made over a dozen hugely popular and acclaimed albums and played concerts for adoring audiences all over the world.

And Bill Sherman has not only won a Tony, a Grammy and an Emmmy, he's the music director of the iconic children's show Sesame Street. As a songwriter and orchestrator, he's responsible for the music you hear on the show, and works with the many musicians who drop in and sing: stars like Janelle Monae, Ed Sheeran and Will-I-Am, and many others. But perhaps more impressively, Sherman is one of the driving forces behind such magnum opuses as "Glory of Cookies," "Grover Can Do It All" and "Guacamole: the Musical."

In the mid to late ‘80s, Zanes led the scrappy and beloved New England roots-rock band the Del Fuegos. Here, Zanes talks about how he went from playing in a rock band that, as Spinal Tap keyboardist Viv Savage once put it, had a good time all the time to making wholesome music for kids, and how it helped him rediscover what he loved about making music in the first place.

Sherman discusses how Sesame Street music is made — with a lot of care, for starters — and what it's like to work with the many stars who drop by the show… and lots of other stuff you've probably wondered about music at Sesame Street.

So these guys certainly had a lot of interesting things to say about making music for children, but they also had a lot of interesting things to say about making any kind of music. Like, why — and how — do you make music in the first place?

A note to parents: while the music these guys make is rated G, some of the language here is definitely PG.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Talkhouse PodcastBy Talkhouse

  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4

4.4

141 ratings


More shows like Talkhouse Podcast

View all
WTF with Marc Maron Podcast by Marc Maron

WTF with Marc Maron Podcast

28,946 Listeners

Song Exploder by Hrishikesh Hirway

Song Exploder

5,978 Listeners

Sound Opinions by Sound Opinions

Sound Opinions

1,978 Listeners

The Best Show with Tom Scharpling by Forever Dog

The Best Show with Tom Scharpling

2,491 Listeners

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn by NPR

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

2,628 Listeners

Sodajerker On Songwriting by Sodajerker

Sodajerker On Songwriting

389 Listeners

Transmissions by Aquarium Drunkard

Transmissions

250 Listeners

Emil Amos' Drifter's Sympathy by Talkhouse

Emil Amos' Drifter's Sympathy

388 Listeners

Office Hours Live with Tim Heidecker by Forever Dog

Office Hours Live with Tim Heidecker

1,509 Listeners

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso by Higher Ground

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

1,491 Listeners

Turned Out A Punk by Turned Out A Punk

Turned Out A Punk

1,024 Listeners

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond by Pushkin Industries

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

4,114 Listeners

The A24 Podcast by A24

The A24 Podcast

1,083 Listeners

This Is TASTE by Aliza Abarbanel & Matt Rodbard

This Is TASTE

304 Listeners

Rolling Stone All Access by Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone All Access

1,005 Listeners

Life of the Record by Life of the Record / Talkhouse

Life of the Record

220 Listeners

The Politics of Everything by The New Republic & Talkhouse

The Politics of Everything

229 Listeners

How Long Gone by Chris Black & Jason Stewart / Talkhouse

How Long Gone

954 Listeners

McIntosh "for the love of music…” by McIntosh

McIntosh "for the love of music…”

5 Listeners

Jokermen by Jokermen

Jokermen

374 Listeners

What Had Happened Was by Stony Island Audio & Talkhouse

What Had Happened Was

1,517 Listeners

365 days with mxmtoon by mxmtoon

365 days with mxmtoon

367 Listeners

Sing for Science by Talkhouse

Sing for Science

157 Listeners

That's How I Remember It by Craig Finn & Talkhouse

That's How I Remember It

143 Listeners

SHEROES by Carmel Holt & Talkhouse

SHEROES

45 Listeners

Bandsplain by The Ringer

Bandsplain

499 Listeners

The Road To Joni by SHEROES/Talkhouse

The Road To Joni

53 Listeners

Playing With Fire by Kimbra

Playing With Fire

14 Listeners

SubwayTakes Uncut with Kareem Rahma by SubwayTakes / Talkhouse

SubwayTakes Uncut with Kareem Rahma

52 Listeners

Summer Album/Winter Album by Jody Avirgan & Craig Finn

Summer Album/Winter Album

66 Listeners

Revelations with Jack Dunphy by Jack Dunphy & Talkhouse

Revelations with Jack Dunphy

19 Listeners

Music Person by Dylan Tupper Rupert & Talkhouse

Music Person

35 Listeners

States of Independence by Talkhouse / Cup & Nuzzle

States of Independence

3 Listeners