Ar Entertainment Power Popster "What I Like About Jew" creator Sean Altman seeks a career post-Rockapella. ERIN PODOLSKY Special to the Jewish News t wasn't long ago that every 7-year-old this side of Sesame Street was singing the theme song from Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?, and you'd be hard-pressed to find one who couldn't identify the distinctive-looking tall guy with the cornrow mullet who led the vocal stylings of the TV show's house band. The band's name is Rockapella, and former mem- ber (and former braid-wearer) Sean Altman is work- ing hard to make a name for himself: his own. Currently, Altman is traveling the country doing "house concerts," a recent music phenomenon in which artists go from city to city performing in peo- ple's living rooms; he'll be doing two such shows, one in Ann Arbor on June 14 and one in West Bloomfield on June 15. While the idea might be a bit foreign for those of us used to shows with fancy lights and sound sys- tems, Altman says it's a great way to showcase a smaller talent who can't fill the big arenas. "The idea of trying to-be a pop star seemed like a completely elusive dream," he says of the early days of his career, before PBS made him (and his hair) something of a celebrity. "That there was a middle ground, that you could be a work- ing, money-making musician and not be a huge star — it didn't even occur to me that people did that. My only role model for that was people who played in wed- ding bands." Born in California and raised in the Bronx, Altman calls himself a "child of the late '60s." He grew up a member of a Conservative synagogue but didn't have much to do with the reli- gious aspects of Judaism after turning 13. "I remember the rabbi said in his sermon at my bar mitzvah that he was confident I was not going to become a 'bar mitzvah Jew.' And as he was saying this, I was thinking, 'Yep, that's me,"" recalls Altman. "But ironically, I'm very active in several musical Jewish-related things, so I seem to have come full circle. I've never been particularly religious, but I've always felt very connected with my Jewish roots." And he isn't averse to some of the more social parts of being Jewish today: he met his fiancee on JDate, a Jewish online dating service. The Singing Busboy It all started musically for Altman in the first grade, when he says he first realized he could carry a tune. Erin Podolsky is a Huntington Woods-based freelance writer 6/7 2002 78 After a stint "trying to become a really good athlete," the tenor rediscovered his love for music between his sophomore and junior years in high school. "I was working as a busboy at a resort in the Catskill Mountains. Up there. that summer I saw a barbershop quartet comprised of college students, and I was just completely smitten with vocal harmony." Altman returned to the city and formed an a cappel- la trio with high school classmates David Yazbek (who went on to compose the score for Broadway's The Full Mon, as well as co-write the Carmen Sandiego tune with Altman) and future Rockapella-mate David Stix. He hasn't stopped singing since. As an undergraduate at Brown University, Altman sang in countless bands and a cappella groups, allow- ing music to jettison his parent-pleasing goal of becoming a lawyer. "I think at the time music didn't seem like a viable option like 'I'm going to be a career musician' — because I wasn't an instrumentalist and I wasn't even writing songs. I was just a singer, which seemed like it was always going to be just a really nice hobby. . "So I was preparing to be a lawyer. Or at least in my head I figured, OK, I guess I'll be a lawyer,"' he says. Altman formed Rockapella several years after gradua- tion, with three other Brown buddies. "We never had any aspi- rations to make any Altman - money," he says, but after released his a few years of singing on second solo New York City street cor- album, ners to collect enough `alt.mania," change for the lunch spe- last month. cial at a nearby Chinese restaurant, the members of Rockapella found themselves auditioning for — and winning — the role of sound effects machine-cum-house band on PBS's Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? The show ran from 1991-1996, beaming Altman into millions of households on- a daily basis and gaining Rockapella enough fame to cut a few albums and go out on tour. What I Like Since leaving Rockapella in 1997, Altman has been keeping busy with a full load of projects. His second solo album, alt. mania, was released last month, and has already sold more than 500 copies — despite being distributed almost exclusively on his website: www.seanaltman.corn And for the past several years, he has produced sporadic installments of the "What I Like About Jew" concert series with writing partner Rob Tannenbaum, an entertainment journalist. A semi-annual event that packs New York's Knitting Sean Altman: "For me, [being Jewish is] like being part of a very small club that has this strange food and rich history." Factory on Christmas Eve and pops up at other loca- tions throughout the year, the show originally grew out of their need for a venue to perform their satirical holiday tune, "Hanukkah With Monica." "We created the event just so we could get up there and sing that song, and we invited some other Jewish singer-songwriters to sing with us. From there it blossomed into what it is now," Altman says. He and Tannenbaum are working on a What I Like About Jew musical, which Altman hopes will be complete sometime next year. "I do "What I Like About Jew" entirely for fun, and if we occasionally make some money, that's great. But it's my fun comedy side-project. I find it ironic and really nice because I've never been spiritu- ally connected with the religion, but it's always been a big part of me. - "I look forward to the traditions of the religion, to the seders and to meeting my dad at the Second Avenue Deli." Altman trails off. "For me, it's like being part of a very small club that has this strange food and rich history." And while that small club might include a lot of great musicians, Altman says his talent is strictly his own. "I have a really good recording of my grandfather singing `Maoz Tzur.' I've played it a couple of times in concert just to show people that I earned all of my talent. On the recording he sounds so horrible — it sounds like the worst, most off-key singing. "I play it to prove that none of my skill was genet- ic. I had to work really hard to . get where I am." ❑ Sean Altman will perform house concerts 7 p.m. Friday, June 14, in Ann Arbor and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 15, in West Bloomfield. Tickets are $10 for each show. For information on the Ann Arbor show, e-mail seana2show@yahoo.corn. For the West Bloomfield show, e-mail kanderson2000@aol.com .