Dan Zanes: Song Gusto Hour

The best kind of kids’ music doesn’t sound like kids’ music at all. It just sounds like music: authentic, unadulterated, and full of joy. This is where Grammy winner Dan Zanes excels. Zanes is a celebrated songwriter, songfinder, and entertainer. Inspired by the Lead Belly records he listened to as a child, Zanes mixes old and new songs from a variety of traditions into an artful homespun sound he compares to “a pile of driftwood and bent nails.” Every Dan Zanes show is a party in which families and friends sing with gusto (and dance!) together. Heralded as “the family-music genre’s most outspoken and eloquent advocate” (Time), his music has been featured on Sesame Street, Playhouse Disney, Nickelodeon, HBO Family, and Sprout.