March 9, 2026 By this time next month, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour is expected to be in full swing, with three shows under its belt already. Therefore, last Friday's archival Nugs live-recording release is probably the last "First Friday" release we'll see in the series for at least a couple of months. It's fitting, then, that just as was the case with the last monthly release in the series before last year's European version o

photo by Stewart Cook - used with permission March 5, 2026 Tomorrow at least three living U.S. presidents, along with many other leaders, politicians, and dignitaries from around the world, will be in Chicago at the final public memorial service for veteran Civil Rights Movement-based leader, activist, and international negotiator Jesse Jackson, before his private funeral and burial services on Saturday. David Masciotra , the author of Working on a Dream: The Progressive Pol

photo by Rob DeMartin (Gelsenkirchen, Germany - June 27, 2025) - used w/ permission February 27, 2026 Happy 46th birthday to the one and only Jake Clemons . While we usually see and hear much of Jake playing his late uncle's saxophone whenever he performs in the E Street Band, the photo above - from last spring/summer's Land of Hope & Dreams European tour - reminds us that the sax isn't the only instrument he's been known to play at Springsteen/ESB shows. And of course in Ja

photo by Pam Springsteen February 25, 2026 Let the altered-setlist speculation begin... Yesterday it was announced officially on Bruce Springsteen's social media that Tom Morello "will be performing on stage with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band on selected songs for every date of the Land Of Hope & Dreams American Tour. "Grammy-winning, Harvard-educated, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted artist, songwriter, and activist Tom Morello is living proof of the transformat

February 17, 2026 Yes, Virginia, today the rumors have been confirmed officially. As per Bruce Springsteen's official announcement : Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band will launch their Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour across the country this spring, kicking off at Minneapolis’ Target Center on March 31. The 20-date run will feature 19 arena shows, and a final night outdoors on May 27 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. [Via a video-message posted on his social media

February 14, 2026 This week's announcement of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music's 2026 American Music Honorees marks some new directions for the annual ceremony, raising some questions - and at least a few eyebrows - in the process. All honorees will be recognized at the Center's fourth annual American Music Honors event, taking place once again in Pollak Theatre, on the campus of Monmouth University, on Saturday, April 18. In alphabetical order, and as per the

photo by Carl Schultz - used with permission February 7, 2026 For a limited time, you can click here to download free of charge "No Kings, No Hate, No Fear," written by Nils and Amy Lofgren. "I'm so glad it came out as it did... I hope it means something to people, and gives them something to focus on... something simple to chant while they're marching... or at least listen to and be inspired." - Nils Lofgren, appearing on Mary Trump Media for the live premiere of "No Kings,

February 7, 2026 After skipping January 2026 for reasons that were neither announced nor explained, the nugs.net "First Friday" Live Archives series returned yesterday with another great show from the 1995-1997 solo-acoustic tour supporting The Ghost of Tom Joad . It's Capitol Theatre, Sydney, AUS, 2/12/1997 . This was the only show on that tour, or on any other Springsteen tour, in which Bruce performed both his own song "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and Woody Guthrie's song "Tom

February 4, 2026 For David Sancious , being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a former E Street Band keyboardist has been just a part - albeit a very significant part - of his highly respected, varied, and groundbreaking musical career that has spanned more than fifty years now. Collaboration has been a key throughline in Sancious' work as a multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, producer/arranger, and highly recognized and respected jazz-fusion pioneer, whose post-E

February 1, 2026 Eleven days before the release of "Streets of Minneapolis," Bruce Springsteen stood onstage during his first public appearance of the new year, at Light of Day 's Winterfest 2026. He already had played a song with Willie Nile and his band earlier in the evening, and was now in the midst of playing a fourteen-songs set with his longtime friend/collaborator Joe Grushecky and his great band the Houserockers. Before performing the next song, however, Springsteen

January 29, 2026 Directed by Thom Zimny Edited by Thom Zimny and Samuel Shapiro Production Footage: Pam Springsteen and Thom Zimny

January 28, 2026 "I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday, and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors. and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free, Bruce Springsteen" [UPDATE] - Here are the official recording credits for "Streets of Minneapolis:" Produced by: Bruce Springsteen with Ron Aniello Executive Produced by:

January 23, 2026 Today marks what would've been the 76th birthday of E Street Band keyboardist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer "Phantom" Dan Federici , taken from us far too young in 2008, due to melanoma complications. ( Click here to support The Danny Fund, in association with Melanoma Research Alliance. ) Bruce Springsteen has called Federici "the most instinctive and natural musician I ever met," a great "ear player" who made indelible contributions to so many recordings

Vini drums while Toney Hall strums, in their Florida-based group The Hula Hula Boys, via Vini's Facebook page January 22, 2026 Happy birthday, and best wishes for many more happy birthdays ahead, to E Street Band alumnus and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez , who's turned 77 today. Back in the day, Vini earned that "Mad Dog" nickname the hard way. But these days, Vini's a much more mellow fellow, still making music - now via The Hula Hula Boys duo with Toney Hal

photo by Mark Krajnak for Letters To You January 21, 2026 With all the current distractions of life in New Jersey, USA circa 2026 - from inclement weather, to omnipresent electronic-device-addiction, to the dramatic and at times horrifying events transpiring around the country – it seemed like it was going to be pretty hard to focus in on what was going on onstage at the various venues of Light of Day WinterFest 2026, "the Main Event" of which, "Bob [Benjamin]'s Birthday Ba

photo by Mark Krajnak  - used with permission January 18, 2026 Last night Bruce Springsteen was yet again an unannounced "surprise" addition to Light of Day 's annual WinterFest "Bob's Birthday Bash" Main Event. We're still prepping our full report from Lisa Iannucci, along with plenty more great photos from Mark Krajnak , but of course the most timely and relevant news from the evening is Bruce's introduction to "The Promised Land," which he performed with Joe Grushecky and

January 16, 2026 Well, Light of Day WinterFest 2026 is now upon us, and the Transparent Clinch Gallery has come up with a great way for everyone to help support Light of Day this weekend, even if you can't make it to the Jersey Shore in person for all of the fun and fundraising. In the process, you'll score a super-cool Springsteen collectible in the form of a beautiful Danny Clinch-signed archival print of his photo featuring Joe Grushecky and Bruce Springsteen in action d

January 16, 2026 As of this week, the organization formerly known as The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music has shortened its name officially to The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music . From the announcement issued on Wednesday, January 13: "...While the name has been streamlined, the Center’s core commitments remain unchanged: preserving and sharing the legacy of Bruce Springsteen, supporting scholarly research, and engaging diverse audiences

January 11, 2026 This year marks what would have been the 84th birthday of our beloved Clarence "Big Man" Clemons , born on this date back in 1942. (Happy Clarence Clemons Day 2026, New Jersey!) And just over two-and-a-half months from now, 2026 also will mark the 25th anniversary of the first officially released recordings of two of Bruce Springsteen's greatest songs: "American Skin (41 Shots)" and "Land of Hope and Dreams," both included on the album Bruce Springsteen & th

image courtesy of Save Tillie January 5, 2026 In this, his final month in office, outgoing New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy - a self-proclaimed Springsteen fan - has a relatively easy-peasy, no-brainer chance to save what's left of Asbury Park's demolished-in-2004 Palace Amusements building ("the Palace" in the "Beyond the Palace..." lyric of "Born to Run,") including its iconic Tillie mural, pictured below. By all means, this should be one of Murphy's new-year resolutions. im

December 31, 2025 Happy New Year to one and all, Dear Readers! In 2025, we Springsteen fans certainly ended up with quite a lot to experience, enjoy (at least most of the time,) and discuss. Once again, continuing what quickly has become a year-end tradition, Letters To You has joined forces with our friend Jesse Jackson at the Set Lusting Bruce podcast to discuss the "Springsteen 2025 Year in Review." Clocking in at almost three hours - and that's AFTER the editing! - Jes

December 25, 2025 "...even stoplights blink a bright red and green..." - the legendary Tower Theater - or what's left of it, since its iconic tower had to be removed for safety reasons years ago - on Christmas Eve 2025 - photo by Shawn Poole It's Christmas morning here on the East Coast of the U.S., which is probably the most appropriate time for us to wish all of our readers celebrating around the globe a Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noël, etc. Sea

December 20, 2025 From Bruce Springsteen's official website/social-media statement on the passing of the great "Lord of the Highway," Joe Ely , who died earlier this week on Monday from complications of Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and pneumonia: "Over here, we’re deeply saddened by the loss of Joe Ely, a singular American singer, great musician and great artist. I was lucky enough to count Joe as a true friend and I will miss that voice and his companionship. O

December 7, 2025 All tickets and ticket-packages are now available for the 2026 edition of the Jersey-Shore-based, multi-day Light of Day WinterFest , which will take place next month in mid-January. The "Main Event - 'Bob's Birthday Bash'" (and this year's currently announced Birthday Bash lineup pictured above,) will take place on Saturday, January 17, and all other events will place on the days surrounding it. Click here and here for detailed information on all events, a

December 6, 2025 Yesterday's "First Friday" release from the monthly Nugs/Live Archive series is another great show from The Wrecking Ball Tour: HK Areena, Turku, FIN - May 8, 2013 . It's one of the best examples of how varied and full of surprises the shows on that tour could be, with Bruce Springsteen & the (newly expanded) E Street Band taking on nightly sign-requests and major setlist changes. Most important, they did all of that while maintaining their well-known musica

Alison Oscar of Jon Landau Management and Karen Rosenberg of Empire Events Group display a navy-blue "Spirit of '76" shirt at The Kristen Ann Carr Fund's 2025 "A Night To Remember" event last month December 1, 2025 Happy Cyber Monday, and Happy Last-Day-To-Order-Your- Exclusive-Letters-To-You-Frank-Caruso-"Spirit-of-'76"-Shirts -With-Free-Guaranteed-Delivery-In-Time-For-Christmas/Kwanzaa! With awesome art by Springsteen's Outlaw Pete collaborator Frank Caruso , and a releva

photo by Mark Krajnak  for The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music  - used with permission November 30, 2025 Today we're celebrating the 72nd birthday of E Street Band founding member and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer David Sancious (pictured above at last September's Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music at Monmouth University's Born to Run @50 symposium.) Christmastime has just begun, too, so how 'bout we celebrate Davey's special day by en

publicity photo of Ethan Zane Browne from the Alain / Zane Facebook page November 29, 2025 This week, we at Letters To You were shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic death of Ethan Zane Browne at only 52 years of age . Ethan was the son of Jackson Browne and the late Phyllis Major. During his short life, he did some modeling, some acting, and - as one-half of the duo Alain Zane - he also made some pretty damned good R&B/soul music. In the now-hard-to-find 1980 film No

November 26, 2025 Once again this year, Bruce Springsteen is lending his support to WhyHunger , as he has done so often in the past, and the anti-hunger organization's annual Hungerthon . Springsteen fans who support this year's Hungerthon and WhyHunger, which is now fifty years old, can score some exclusive Springsteen-themed gear. The theme of this year's Bruce-themed benefits is centered around lyrics from "Jack Of All Trades." Fans who donate $60 or more can receive the B

November 26, 2025 It is well known, as it should be, that Jimmy Cliff , whose death at 81 was announced on Monday, has had an enormous and enduring musical impact around the globe. In addition, many Bruce Springsteen fans, myself included, feel an extra debt of gratitude to Cliff for writing and recording the original version of the song "Trapped." Springsteen found a Jimmy Cliff cassette that included Cliff's version of "Trapped" (which, incidentally, was produced by Cat Ste