Warren Zanes
{{short description|American musician and writer (born 1965)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Warren Zanes
| image = Warren Zanes (49586174627) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Zanes in 2020
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1965}}
| birth_place = Exeter, NH, U.S.
| genre = Rock, pop
| occupation = {{flatlist|
- Music critic
- musician
- writer
- professor
}}
| instrument = Vocals, guitar
| years_active = 1984–present
| label = Slash/Warner Bros. Records
Dualtone Records
| current_member_of = The Del Fuegos
| website = {{URL|www.warren-zanes.com}}
}}
Warren Zanes is an American musician and writer who has been known as guitarist for The Del Fuegos, a solo artist, and the biographer of Tom Petty. A Ph.D. in Visual and Cultural Studies,{{cite news |last1=Munro |first1=Stuart |title=Rekindling the Flame |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53843997/rekindling-the-flame |accessdate=20 June 2020 |work=The Boston Globe |date=17 June 2011}} Zanes is the former vice president of education and public programs for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and executive director of Steven Van Zandt's Rock and Roll Forever Foundation.{{cite news |last1=Basler |first1=George |title=Class traces roots of rock 'n' roll |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53843684/class-traces-roots-of-rock-n-roll/ |accessdate=20 June 2020 |work=Press and Sun-Bulletin |date=30 Dec 2007}} Zanes has taught at several American universities, including Case Western Reserve University, University of Rochester, and New York University, where he has been teaching since 2015.
Music
Zanes joined his brother Dan's band, The Del Fuegos, at age seventeen. The band signed to Slash Records that same year, releasing three albums with Slash/Warner Bros. before the younger Zanes left the band. The Del Fuegos toured with X, ZZ Top, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, INXS, and others during the time Warren was in the band.
Zanes returned to making music as he was writing his Ph.D. dissertation at The University of Rochester, signed by The Dust Brothers to their then-label, Ideal Records. That solo debut, Memory Girls, was eventually released by Nashville's Dualtone, the label that would release his next four solo projects, People That I'm Wrong For, I Want To Move Out in the Daylight, The Biggest Bankrupt City in the World, and The Collected Warren Zanes.
Zanes joined poet Paul Muldoon's Rogue Oliphant in 2019 and has co-written several songs with Muldoon.
Writing and film
Zanes's 2003 book Dusty Springfield's Dusty in Memphis about Dusty Springfield's 1969 album Dusty in Memphis was published by Bloomsbury as the first volume in their 33 1/3 series of books on classic albums. Tom Petty read the book on Dusty in Memphis twice and invited Zanes to dinner; as Petty told NPR's Terry Gross, the book inspired him to write the song "Down South" from his 2006 album Highway Companion. Zanes interviewed Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Jeff Lynne, George Martin, Klaus Voormann and others for Martin Scorsese's 2011 documentary on George Harrison, George Harrison: Living in the Material World.{{cite web|title=Montclair author and educator Warren Zanes creates new musical life for himself|url=http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2011/08/montclair_author_and_educator.html|publisher=Inside Jersey|date=14 August 2011|accessdate=20 October 2017}} Zanes acted as consulting producer for director Morgan Neville's Oscar-winning 20 Feet From Stardom, received a Grammy nomination as a producer of the PBS series Soundbreaking, and served as writer for director Thom Zimny's The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash.
Zanes's New York Times bestselling biography of Petty, Petty: The Biography, was published in 2015.{{cite magazine|title=Tom Petty's Biographer Looks Back on Their 30-Year Friendship|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/tom-petty-biographer-warren-zanes-on-their-long-friendship-w507264|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=5 October 2007|accessdate=20 October 2017}} He has also edited a collection of essays on Jimmie Rodgers, collaborated with Garth Brooks on two volumes of the artist's ongoing series, and written for Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, The Oxford American, and more.
On March 26, 2024, it was confirmed that a film version of the 2023 book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska was in the works and it will star Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen.{{Cite web |last=Fleming |first=Mike Jr. |date=2024-03-26 |title=Scott Stuber Sets First Post-Netflix Film: Bruce Springsteen & 'Nebraska'; Scott Cooper Directing, Jeremy Allen White Circling Along With A24; Ellen Goldsmith-Vein & Eric Robinson Producing: The Dish |url=https://deadline.com/2024/03/bruce-springsteen-jeremy-allen-white-movie-scott-stuber-nebraska-scott-cooper-directing-a24-ellen-goldsmith-vein-1235868961/?mibextid=Zxz2cZ&fbclid=IwAR3WZ5yiJ8yCiBSa_wW6b6L7y5Uljx8e36mwJApPKvz0Nij1whfke4OJRlc_aem_Ac8Cfid7b9fKnfNue1QpkcVtoWwJp02AepzzUDiQo35wFdksFGn8YQHuZA58jGtC3qIF4iZScFbOTAI7uyL0OCFX#recipient_hashed=23ac0e45edd3b68140967b5b016cff78c6c5fe74cdb0d921bc77dfc01ea1b3c0&recipient_salt=c6f3b4a0273df22d6ce505d46c0d428cd052d560cc2e7f0ffe05f02523e692a9|access-date=2024-03-26 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Fu |first=Eddie |date=2024-06-26 |title=Jeremy Allen White Plans to Do His Own Singing in Bruce Springsteen Movie|url=https://consequence.net/2024/06/jeremy-allen-white-bruce-springsteen-movie-singing/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR00qfai9c3CjH5JOEFC3XNJ2jLEX2gVWAPfak79eZJv13ftJmZVuosBYu0_aem_PcosRop1qO7rMmmheAkeXg |website=Consequence.com|language=en-US}}
Bibliography
- Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska (Crown, 2023) {{ISBN|9780593237410}}
- Petty: The Biography (Henry Holt & Company, 2015) {{ISBN|9780805099683}}
- Revolutions in Sound: Warner Bros. Records, the First Fifty Years (Chronicle Books, 2009) {{ISBN|9780811866286}}
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down a Dream (Chronicle Books, 2007) {{ISBN|9780811862011}}
- Dusty Springfield's Dusty in Memphis (Bloomsbury, 2003) {{ISBN|9780826414922}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Twitter|warrenzanes}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zanes, Warren}}
Category:American rock guitarists