Making Vinyl 2018

"Little" Steven Van Zandt's Keynote Discussion At Making Vinyl 2018

Michael Fremer  |  Nov 7, 2018

At last month's "Making Vinyl" conference in Detroit Keynote speaker Steven Van Zandt chose not to present a formal address. Instead, he sat down with music journalist Gary Graff to talk about his relationship with vinyl records and especially his TeachRock (teachrock.org) organization that provides to schools free of charge music educational resources.

Van Zandt of course wears many career hats as an actor ("The Sopranos", "Lillyhammer"), a musician (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul), a radio broadcaster ("Underground Garage" channel plus a second one on Sirius/XM), a record label owner (Cool Wicked Records) and an educator.

No wonder he didn't have time to write a speech!

Technical issues prevented recording his talk in HD and the chip ran out of memory before the discussion ended, but it's still worth watching "as-is". More videos from "Making Vinyl" will be posted as time permits. The top image is of the banner alerting attendees to the music room set up by Paragon Audio, Ann Arbor Michigan. After noting that last year's "Making Vinyl" event did not feature any music or a way to play records, I asked my friend Larry Marcus if he'd be willing to do this and he generously obliged, thus giving many "vinyl enthusiast" attendees their first opportunity to hear high quality vinyl playback a fine audio system.

Acoustic Sounds'/Analogue Productions' Chad Kassem brought with him a UHQR test pressing of his upcoming stereo reissue of Jimi Hendrix's Axis: Bold As Love. The expression on the face of Record Store Day founder Michael Kurtz as he sat on the floor listening for the first time to an album he's heard probably a hundred times was priceless—unlike the Clearaudio/McIntosh/ Sonus Faber system, which costs tens of thousands of dollars.

COMMENTS
tlat.com's picture
Submitted by tlat.com on Wed, 2018-11-07 14:56

Michael, Thanks for posting this super interview. I could listen to "Little" Steven talk about records all day. His comments and insights are so heart felt, it's comfort food, like the music itself, for the soul. Thanksand keep Rocking.

misterc59's picture
Submitted by misterc59 on Wed, 2018-11-07 15:21

Thanks very much for this video, a lot of very good points made and also took me back to my younger days with Steven providing the backdrop. It's been said many times, but, I do like the tactile sensation of physical media. I'm a rock'n'roller by heart even though I do listen to all genre of music. When I was younger (a lot), I always wondered if I'd still be listening to my stereo at an age that passed years ago, and I'm happy to say YES. Good on Steven for his initiative and trying to help the younger generation(s) understand and hopefully get into the "older" music. Keep the videos coming, MUCH APPRECIATED!

Cheers,
Terry

Lazer's picture
Submitted by Lazer on Wed, 2018-11-07 16:22

I’d like to hear the rest of this if it is available anywhere else. Thanks Michael for recording what you could!

Jack Gilvey's picture
Submitted by Jack Gilvey on Thu, 2018-11-08 05:22

Years ago (The Sopranos was still in its run as I recall) I chanced upon backstage passes to a Bon Jovi show at Giants Stadium. Steven was there so my wife and I approached him to say hi. He greeted us like we were old friends, like he was genuinely flattered. Of course, even if all an act, I appreciated that it took more effort than blowing us off!

alucas's picture
Submitted by alucas on Sat, 2018-11-10 17:11

and the tip on his Lilyhammer tv series, just got through binge watching all 3 seasons of it. he is very entertaining!

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