Interview: Dicky Barrett On Parenting And Touring

By Michael Cerio

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- For most, a summer vacation is a chance to relax, but for Dicky Barrett it is an opportunity to get the band together and hit the road.

Since 2004, Dicky Barrett has been the announcer for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and as the show takes a hiatus, Barrett has returned to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones for a string of shows.

"I love my friends, I love this band, and the money. It's the money really." Barrett jokes. "I can't imagine life without these guys. I can't imagine a year passing and I don't see them. I can't imagine not creating with them."

You can see it before their show at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, as Barrett and the Bosstones work through some of the songs they'll play later that night. They laugh as old friends will do and exude passion and pleasure even through rehearsal. It is how you would hope a band behaves when you're not looking.

Off the stage, making his way past the trailer of suits for that night, Barrett boards the bus and talks about the calming effect that having a three and a half year old daughter has on a fiery man from Boston.

"That changes the game quite a bit, in amazing ways that I can't even begin to tell you right now without sounding very corny."

As a three-year-old, she's not quite ready for the punk and ska brand of rock championed by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones for over three decades. Barrett seems content to let her make those choices on her own.

"I'm not going to pump The Clash into her head right now. I don't think she should have loud music banged into her head yet. I hope to god she likes the right stuff, and I certainly want her to like the stuff that I like, but who knows. I'm not going to force feed her anything. I'm not going to be the kind of guy that's like, what are you listening to? Even though I'm sure in my head I'm gonna be like, what are you listening to?"

After Philadelphia, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones will make their way up the coast, culminating with a hometown show at Fenway Park in Boston. Then it's back to Barrett's day job with Jimmy Kimmel, but with the hopes of new music on the way.

"Yes, we plan on it. We're always planning on it, and we're always writing and creating together. Me and Joe write songs all the time."

Check out the full interview above with Dicky Barrett to hear more.