(CelebrityAccess News Service) – Musician, actor, and syndicated radio producer Steven Van Zandt has joined the Sirius Satellite Radio programming staff as creative advisor. Van Zandt will create and program "Underground Garage," an exclusive, fulltime stream for Sirius that will debut later this year. He will also produce and host other Sirius shows and serve as advisor on select other Sirius streams.
Van Zandt is a pivotal figure in the current rock and roll revival. His internationally syndicated, two-hour radio show, Little Steven's Underground Garage, reaches nearly a million commercial radio listeners every week. Rolling Stone summed it up as "Mind blowingly great." The show, credited with spurring a major resurgence in garage rock, is now carried on over 130 stations in the U.S. and Canada, and 43 countries through the Voice of America.
Garage Rock, as Van Zandt describes it, is back-to-basics rock 'n' roll "with a direct connection to the '60s." Some celebrated garage rock artists through the ages include the Yardbirds, Animals, Kinks, Electric Prunes, Easybeats, Ramones, and more recently, The Hives, White Stripes and The Strokes.
"Sirius is about passion and respect for the music, and I can't think of anyone who has more passion and respect for music than Steven," said Joseph P. Clayton, president and chief executive officer, Sirius. "Steven will contribute a lifetime's worth of sage music experience to the Sirius programmers. And, as an accomplished musician, radio programmer and DJ he'll create an appealing 24/7 rock format that isn't available anywhere else."
"I am honored to be part of the Sirius Satellite family," says Van Zandt. "Choice is what freedom is all about and Sirius broadcasting an additional 100 channels of music and talk on top of what terrestrial radio already offers can only be a good thing. SIRIUS will be making history by our channel being the only traditional rock and roll format in the country playing new music. All other new music channels or stations are hard rock, hip-hop, or pop music based. The potential synergy between my syndicated show on terrestrial radio and the 24-hour Underground Garage format on Sirius will be tremendous. The Rock and Roll Revolution is on!" –Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen
