The gospel according to Steven Van Zandt

Steven Van Zandt – aka Little Steven – still remembers the moment rock'n'roll became his religion.

"I had an epiphany," he says from his Manhattan home. "I was listening to Pretty Little Angel Eyes by Curtis Lee, this is around '61, I was 10 years old. And suddenly I had a feeling of ecstasy come over me. I don't know why. I'd listened to it 100 times; I actually would wear out singles. But I just had this feeling of complete one-ness with the world, and that was the beginning."

It’s only rock ‘n’ roll … Steven Van Zandt and the Disciples of Soul.Credit:Jef Ross

Best known as Bruce Springsteen's trusted confidante and guitarist in the E Street Band – or, if television is your thing, as Tony Soprano's consigliere Silvio Dante in The Sopranos – Van Zandt will appear in Australia in April playing another role: solo artist.

Having released five solo albums across the 1980s and '90s, in 2017 he took the opportunity to revisit that phase of his career after Springsteen put the E Street Band on ice to pursue a solo residency on Broadway.

The album Soulfire, from 2017, saw Van Zandt lead his 15-piece backing band, The Disciples Of Soul, on a rock-and-soul-soaked romp through covers and songs he'd written for other artists. Though a new album, Summer of Sorcery, is due in May, the Australian tour will ostensibly be in support of Soulfire, with appearances at Bluesfest and headlining dates in Melbourne and Sydney.

"It's been a wonderful rebirth for me artistically, and I'm very happy I took the time to spend some time with my life's work," he says.

Van Zandt recently told Rolling Stone that Summer of Sorcery has a fictionalised loose concept about "experiencing the first summer of consciousness, first time in love, first experiences in life".

It will mark a departure from the real-life personal and political themes that have traditionally dominated his solo material.

"In the '80s, all the ugly, weird, evil political situations were done behind the scenes," Van Zandt says. "You had to search for the truth … so I thought it was necessary to expose those things. Today, they don't even try and hide what they're doing. Any administration that brags about kidnapping children to work as a deterrent for immigration, what can you say about that? I don't have anything to add to that.

"I decided my usefulness right now is to try and bring people together. Let's give people a two-hour break from politics and just dwell on that common ground in music."

Away from the stage, the 68-year-old has added myriad disciplines to his CV.

He's a radio DJ, whose weekly rock'n'roll show, Little Steven's Underground Garage, is syndicated in 100 countries. He's worked as an activist for decades, most famously forming Artists United Against Apartheid in 1985. In 2012 he returned to the small screen, writing, producing and starring in comedy-crime-drama Lilyhammer.

One of Van Zandt's greatest passions is his Rock And Roll Forever Foundation, through which he's launched an initiative called TeachRock. A free, standards-aligned online curriculum, it seeks to chart the history of popular music and connect it "to classroom work across the disciplines".

"We have 150 lessons online, and they're all licensed," he says.

As part of the initiative, Van Zandt allocates a number of free tickets to each solo show to teachers who register with TeachRock, a gesture he'll honour in Australia. They're also invited to soundcheck, after which they're given a free workshop in using the curriculum.

"We're hoping the teachers come out," he says. "We feel they're the most underappreciated, underfunded, underpaid part of our working class and we want to thank them."

Van Zandt predicts Springsteen will reconvene the E Street Band in 2020. Ask the guitarist if he's borrowed a few tricks from the Boss for fronting The Disciples Of Soul, and he emits a wicked chuckle.

"I learned very early on it's dangerous to learn things from him, because he gets away with things nobody else can get away with. He's really quite unique and you have to think two or three times whether you can do similar things."

He will, however, welcome a return to E Street duties.

"It's like going to Disneyland. Especially for me, after fronting this band for two years, that's f—ing work, man! I've actually had to work for a living!"<!–[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]–>
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