When Bruce Springsteen didn’t want him in his band, Steven Van Zandt became a construction worker. Then part of the “E Street Band”, then a political activist and successful “Sopranos” actor. A conversation.
Without him, a Bruce Springsteen concert can only be half as good as it gets with him – with his guitar, his energetic second voice, his gruff stage presence. Steven Van Zandt, 70, a native of Massachusetts, has been a sidekick, musician and producer with Springsteens since 1975 (intermittently) E Street Band and at the same time realized various projects as a soloist and politically inspired activist. In 1997 a surprising acting career was added: In the six seasons of the style-defining series “The Sopranos” he played the sleazy Mafioso Silvio Dante. He even got the lead role in the “Lilyhammer” series.