Big Bang For Little Steven

Steven Van Zandt, also known as Little Steven of the E Street Band, is still making music, even as he revels in his role on the hit HBO series The Sopranos.

As a matter of fact, his most recent musical release is Born Again Savage, the last of a five-record arc that started in the '80s. After focusing on themes of the individual, the family, the state and the economy, Savage takes on religion.

Van Zandt spoke to The Early Show's Mark McEwen about his busy career.

"I learned virtually everything I know from rock records and from interviews with rock people," he recalls. "They were in their late teens or 20s at the time, be it the Beatles or the Stones or the Who or Bob Dylan. And yet they were extremely sophisticated in what they were talking about and very helpful to me as a kid who didn't fit in and didn't know what to do with my life."

But once he made music his life, he never looked back, and he's delighted that he has The Sopranos gig now, too.

"It was such a thrill to find something new to do at this stage of the game," he says. "I can't tell you how significant it is in my life. It's one of the three or four most significant things that's ever happened to me."

Producer David Chase cast Van Zandt in The Sopranos as Silvio Dante after seeing him induct the Rascals into the Rock Hall of Fame.

For his acting debut, Van Zandt took his job very seriously and brushed up on his mob history.

"I went back and re-read all the books and re-watched all the movies and then wrote a biography of this guy: What does he think like? How does he speak? How does he move? What makes him mad?"

He also talked about what Dante does for a living.

"Originally, we talked about him being the manager of a Copacabana type of club," he recalls. "Of course, the budget wouldn't allow, so we ended up with a strip club. And everyone's very thankful for it. The male members of our audience keep thanking me about that."

For most people, lightning doesn't even strike once in their careers. But for Van Zandt, it's struck twice -- with The Sopranos and, of course, with the E Street Band.

"I think we have the most unique, extraordinary relationship with an audience that's ever been," he says. "In this era, when our attention spans are becoming shorter and shorter, and everybody has a time problem... I love the fact that for three hours every night, we can stop time."

Before plunging into the world of acting, the Boston native spent the past 25 years in the music business as a record producer, songwriter and as a musician: as Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, with Springsteen and the E Street Band and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, which he founded in 1974.

He spearheaded the anti-apartheid "Sun City" project, and established the Solidarity Foundation in 1985 to support the sovereignty of indigenous peopes. He has been honored twice by the United Nations for his human rights achievements, and received the International Documentary Association Award for his film The Making of Sun City.

Go to the official Web site for The Sopranos at HBO.com and check out a great fan site at Sopranoland.com.