Trouble in the heartland: the Letters To You interview w/ WON'T BACK DOWN author Erin Osmon

May 26, 2026

Music journalist, critic, and author Erin Osmon's recently published book Won't Back Down: Heartland Rock and the Fight for America, couldn't have come along at a better time, especially with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - who indeed were and in significant ways still are major figures in the heartland-rock genre - wrapping up their historic Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour, a musical "fight for America" if ever there was one. Osmon's book focuses on the 1980s, heartland rock's most commercially successful decade, in which Springsteen released what Osmon considers "the defining heartland rock album of the '80s:" Born in the U.S.A., of course.

Letters To You's editor/publisher Shawn Poole recently spoke with Osmon about her book. Their conversation is now available on our website's YouTube and SoundCloud platforms. The direct YouTube and SoundCloud links also are embedded below:

Osmon and Poole explored the various themes, topics, and insights to be found in Won't Back Down, with a special focus on Bruce Springsteen's important role in heartland rock, of course, as well as the genre's unique approaches to the political realities of its heyday and beyond. "By most metrics," Osmon tells Poole, "Bruce Springsteen is the king of this thing. Bob Seger was very open about the fact that he was inspired by Springsteen... I think without Bruce, maybe [heartland rock] would have existed, but not on the scale that it did." Osmon also astutely observes that in the case of the two major male heartland rockers who are still active - Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp - both have become even more politically progressive and outspoken as they've aged, while also maintaining an all-are-welcome, big-tent approach to their work.

"You might not agree with everything that Erin has to say here," Poole tells listeners, "and that's cool, too... The book's gonna make you think; the book's gonna challenge some of what you thought previously about heartland rock and Bruce's role in it. And that in and of itself makes it a very valuable addition, I think, to any Springsteen fan's reading list... any music fan's reading list... [Erin has] done a really good job here of bringing up some issues that I think need to be discussed right now, and a history that shouldn't be forgotten."

Click here to order your copy of Won't Back Down: Heartland Rock and the Fight for America.