AE: Another thing that struck me about the disc is that the music sounds like it would be a good fit for The L Word.
LD: (Laughs) Yeah!

AE: Have you had any of your music played on that show?
LD: No, I have no idea. There is someone at Telarc who will deal with that. I’m hoping we will find a home for some of that, absolutely.

AE: When I interviewed you four years ago, at the time of the release of Playin' It Cool, I asked about what you had in mind for your next CD, and you said that you wanted “to do what we did with Broadway, to do the same with classic rock and roll.”
LD: And that’s what I’ve done.

AE: However, in what I think is an even more inspired move, you set your sights on punk and modern rock, by revising songs by No Doubt, The Pretenders, Patti Smith and Los Lobos, to name a few. Can you say something about that?
LD: Yeah, to me those are classic rock tunes, because that’s my rock era. I didn’t grow up in the sixties with that kind of rock, so that’s why I wanted to do those tunes. I wanted to do tunes that people knew and reinvent them in such a way that I know people that are half way through the Pretenders song on there and then finally realize it’s a Pretenders song. They’re listening to it going, “It sounds so familiar. Oh my God, that’s the Pretenders.” It’s fantastic, really great. People will know the music and in some ways sing along. The “Just a Girl” one, I know every gay man hears that and just goes nuts. That’s the quintessential gay favorite. “Call Me” seems to be the one that really swings; it was getting airplay in Europe. Also Neil Young’s “Philadelphia,” gets a lot of airplay, so we’ll see what happens in America with that.

AE: I’m glad that you mentioned that, because I tear up ever time I listen to your reading of “Philadelphia.” People always focused on Springsteen's Oscar-winning “Streets Of Philadelphia,” which is a good song, but I always preferred the Young tune. Can you tell me why you chose to cover it?
LD: Please, Springsteen’s doesn’t even remotely...with all due respect to people who like him, he is nowhere near the musician that Neil Young is. That’s a real song, that’s a true gorgeous song and it was a pleasure to do that song and to have Stephon Harris playing vibes on it is such a gift, he is such a brilliant musician. When I do that live now I do it with just a bass and piano and the bass is arcing, it plays with the bow, it’s really lovely, it comes across beautifully live, I’m really happy with it.

AE: Soundgarden had one pretty song in their repertoire…
LD: (Laughs)

AE: and “Black Hole Sun” was it. You took it and made it even prettier. What was it about that song that appealed to you?
LD: I just think its the anthem of that era of rock, that’s why we chose it. You can’t do college rock tunes without doing “Black Hole Sun.” Of its day, it was the anthem I think.