Van Zandt

December 16, 1999
Web posted at: 3:21 p.m. EST (2021 GMT)

From Mark Scheerer
CNN Entertainment News Correspondent

NEW YORK (CNN) -- When Steven Van Zandt plays a New Jersey mobster on "The Sopranos," he puts on a big pompadour wig. When he plays guitar in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, he sports his trademark bandana. While it may be difficult to wear two "hats," Van Zandt says he doesn't mind. If you ask him, he'll tell you he's got "the two best jobs in America."

"I wouldn't have wanted to pick between them," he says.

So Van Zandt does it all, and that means some tricky scheduling. The critically acclaimed HBO series was shooting its second season this fall, just as the Springsteen-E Street Band Reunion Tour was underway. Van Zandt, who is known as Little Steven when he plays with the Boss, is a founding member of the band.

The tour, as you may have heard, was wildly successful, opening in July in Springsteen's home state of New Jersey with 15 sold-out shows. It was the first time that Springsteen, Van Zandt and the rest of the crew have played together in 11 years, and according to industry analyst Pollstar, the tour wound up being the top-grossing touring act of the year.

Still, between the shooting and the touring, Van Zandt managed to do the song "Inside of Me" for the newly released "Sopranos" soundtrack, as well as complete his fifth solo album, "Born Again Savage."

"It's just stuff I loved growing up with," says the 25-year music veteran, "and it took me a long time actually to believe I could do it. I never really made a rock record before -- a straight-ahead rock record like this."

It's available in stores as well as through his two Web sites: Little Steven Online and Renegade Nation.

Van Zandt says he embraces the digital future of music. "It's a way of making music without being in the music business actually, which is what I prefer. I never felt a part of the music business."

	AUDIO
Listen to a clip from Van Zandt's Born Again Savage [65k MPEG-3] or [90k WAV] (Courtesy Renegade Nation)

He certainly was a part of music's anti-apartheid efforts in South Africa, producing the all-star 1993 record "Sun City," which protested racial inequality.

"I'm very proud of that," and lucky, Van Zandt says. "When you get into politics, you very rarely have a clear-cut victory like that."

In addition to the Sun City project, he established the Solidarity Foundation in 1985 to support indigenous peoples' right to self-rule. He has been honored twice by the United Nations for his human rights achievements, and received the International Documentary Association Award for his film "The Making of Sun City."

The musician/actor gets a breather from his TV work next week, as HBO prepares to re-air the entire first season of "The Sopranos" again, in a weeklong near-marathon beginning December 26.

But as the show's second season starts in January -- with Van Zandt returning as Silvio Dante, manager of the strip club The Bada Bing -- the Springsteen tour is expected to begin again also, making for more creative scheduling for Little Steven.