Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul will be playing four area shows in September and October
Saturday, September 23, Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, 149 Westchester Ave., $35-$90, 8:00
Monday, September 25, Gramercy Theatre, 127 East 23rd St., Manhattan, $39-$499, 8:00
Wednesday, September 27, St. George Theatre, 35 Hyatt St., Staten Island, $39-$499, 8:00
Wednesday, October 4, the Paramount, Huntington, $59.50-$499, 8:00
littlesteven.com
While Bruce Springsteen has been touring with his autobiography and preparing to make his Broadway debut in October, longtime compadre Steve Van Zandt is hitting the road in support of the first Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul record in nearly thirty years, Soulfire. The Boston-born actor, anti-apartheid activist, radio host (“Underground Garage”), producer, music historian, and songwriter, also known as Miami Steve, released four Disciples discs between 1982 and 1989 (Men without Women, Voice of America, Freedom — No Compromise, Revolution), followed by the 1999 solo album Born Again Savage, before turning to television, playing Silvio Dante on The Sopranos and then Frank Tagliano on the Norway-set Lilyhammer. But he’s a musician first and foremost. “I’ve always been very thematic with my work, very conceptual,” he announced in a statement about Soulfire. “I need a big picture. I can’t just do a collection of songs; that doesn’t work for me. In this case, the concept became me. Who am I? I’m kind of my own genre at this point. So I tried to pick material that, when you added it all up, really represented me. So there are a couple of covers, a couple of new songs, and some of what I feel are the best songs I’ve written and cowritten over the years. This record is me doing me.” The twelve-song record includes the title track, longtime favorites “Love on the Wrong Side of Town” and “I Don’t Want to Go Home,” “Blues Is My Business,” “Saint Valentine’s Day,” and “Down and Out in New York City.” Among the Disciples of Soul are Marc Ribler on guitar, Lowell “Banana” Levinger on piano and mandolin, Jak Daley on bass, Charley Drayton on drums, Andy Burton on organ, strings, and accordion, Eddie Manion, Stan Harrison, Clark Gayton, Ravi Best, and Ron Tooley on horns, Everett Bradley on percussion and backing vocals, and Erika Jerry and YahZarah on backing vocals. The band will be at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester on September 23 (Bruce’s birthday), the Gramercy in Manhattan on September 25, the St. George on Staten Island on September 27, and the Paramount in Huntington on October 4.