Dan Zanes

Dan Zanes enjoyed a good run with the Boston band the Del Fuegos but had no idea what broader, more enthusiastic audiences awaited him when he began making “family music” with friends such as Sheryl Crow and Suzanne Vega. The Dan Zanes and Friends albums and concerts got fans young and old dancing and singing along—and earned him a Grammy Award. Now he and his wife, Claudia Zanes, have a new album, Pieces of Home (out Aug. 30), as the couple continues expanding its reach through sensory-friendly performances and events for various communities. Zanes talks about the Del Fuegos’ rise and fall, how his younger brother Warren joined, why they did that beer commercial and how, once he discovered family music, there was no turning back. Claudia Zanes also comes on to tell her part of the story—in perfect harmony, of course. (Photo by Schaun Champion.)