Unplugged And Totally Uncut: Dino Danelli The Rascals Once Upon A Dream

There's an amazing number of musicians listening to their inner calling, "Help get the roots of Rock into the veins of tomorrows presentation." Little Steven Van Zandt isn't on a kick. He's part of the movement. Having the passion to perform may look like a seed at birth but someone or a list of already in tune players have the necessary something special to crack the shell. Once free...there's gonna come a time when music softly screams, "Your turn..." The Rascals/Young Rascals were the band that popped that Van Zandt cherry. I sure didn't get into radio to produce commercials. Being live on that two speaker stage has often been accused on my artist eye view of what Simmons and Stanley ripped from their souls and threw out that 1977 night in Billings, Montana. The problem is...I was spinning 45's and plugging in 8-track tapes when having Alphabet's for breakfast came with an Archies song attached to the back.\ Everything you do is attached to music. It's roots. It's vibration on paved soil. Who broke you free from innocence? I'm Unplugged and Totally Uncut with Dino from The Rascals. Following a sold-out Broadway engagement, The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream, a new concert event written by guitarist Steven Van Zandt, with music and lyrics by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati, will embark on a North American tour beginning May 24. Presented by producers Steven Van Zandt and Maureen Van Zandt, Marc Brickman, Larry Magid and BASE Entertainment, the tour will kick off May 24-27 at Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL. Directed by Van Zandt and Marc Brickman, the show has stage, video and lighting design by Brickman. Previews began April 15, prior to an official opening April 16, for a run through May 5 at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre. The Rascals, formerly known as The Young Rascals, were at first "a hard-hitting band reminiscent of the early Animals," drawing from "the same well that fed the then-burgeoning garage rock scene," according to their biographical notes. "They would go on to lead the way for Blue Eyed Soul to Folk Rock to Protest to Civil Rights, blending white Pop melodies with black soul and R&B muscle. Though they never brandished their politics like some bands, the Rascals truly lived theirs, fighting discrimination by demanding that a black act appear on the bill at each of its concerts. The post-twist New York, New Jersey, and Long Island club scenes bred the band, an outfit whose sound grew more sophisticated as time went on, but stayed rooted in the blue-eyed soul that was its first reason for being. Their music would span the entire decade from the early Go-Go dance parties right through the psychedelic era — and beyond." "When The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream sold out at the Capitol Theatre, and performances had to be added this past December, we saw very clearly that there is an enduring love for the music of The Rascals," Van Zandt, who also serves as the show's music producer, said in an earlier statement. "The Rascals created music that inspired a generation — and that feeling has lived on through their original fans and the legions of new fans that have discovered their music over the years." Check out the interview