Stevie Van Zandt Shares His Father’s Influence On His Career

The famous saying, ‘like father like son,’ has proved itself to be right in numerous cases, from Wolf Van Halen’s determination to continue Eddie’s legacy to Scott Weiland’s son Noah following his father’s step into music. So, Stevie Van Zandt seems to be one of the rockers influenced by their old man, as he recently discussed his dad’s musical career on Twitter.

You might know how much the guitarist loves interacting with his fans on social media platforms, especially on Twitter. When a fan sent him an old video of the acapella-based band the Jubalaries from 1946, asking if the rocker knew about this band and their possible influence on the upcoming generations and music, Van Zandt disclosed that he was all too familiar with the concept.

The rocker’s dad embarked on the long tradition of Barbershop Quartets as he took on the bass duty and played the instrument’s parts. So, it was by no luck or coincidence that Stevie became a fellow musician as he grew up around his father’s musical career, witnessing how inspiring it was to perform.

“Straight from the tradition of Barbershop Quartets where there’s [a] lot of the something-Aires,” wrote Van Zandt as he saw the video and discussed how much of a common practice it was back in the day. “My father was one. A bass man. The commercial crossover was captured by the Ink Spots and the Mills Brothers, who were on the bill when I played Vegas in the ’70s. [The] roots of DooWop.”

So, it’s evident that Van Zandt’s old man influenced his son’s decision to take an artistic and musical path later in his life. The musician possibly grew up witnessing the very roots of the rock scene from early on, so it would be safe to say that Stevie didn’t become a musician but was born as one.