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May 4, 2024 Happy Birthday, and best wishes for many, many more happy birthdays ahead, to E Street Band member Soozie Tyrell. Beginning with Lucky Town in 1992, Soozie has contributed vocals and/or instrumentation to each of Bruce Springsteen's officially released studio recordings, from Lucky Town through his latest release, Only The Strong Survive. Her violin/fiddle-playing has been an essential part of much of Springsteen's music for more than two decades, both in the studio and on the stage, beginning with her special appearances on The Ghost of Tom Joad Tour and the Reunion Tour, and of course expanding greatly once she officially joined the E Street Band, beginning with The Rising Tour. Soozie's recorded and performed extensively over the years with not just Bruce Springsteen, but other major artists like David Johansen (aka "Buster Poindexter") and Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes. She hasn't been quite as productive, however, when it comes to solo recordings under her own name, with just one officially released full-length album, 2003's White Lines, under her belt. Nevertheless, while Soozie's solo work may be low in quantity, it more than makes up for it in quality. Case in point: her contribution a decade ago to the 2014 various-artists compilation Songs From A Stolen Spring. This was a unique project, pairing American and English musicians with Arab artists, in the wake of the 2011 uprisings known as "the Arab Spring." As producer Erik Hillestad wrote, "What in the West has been named the 'Arab Spring' brought so much hope when it started in Tunis in January 2011. But in all the countries involved, those revolutions have been stolen by forces of various kinds, from salafist militants to military coups. Still, people refuse to give up... Just as people at similar moments of struggle have done before them, Arab artists also created new songs, shared by the masses in the squares of Tunis, Cairo, Beirut, Damascus, Jerusalem and in many other cities. This album presents a few of their songs paired with some from the time of the American struggles." Soozie's contribution was a beautiful, moving version of Percy Mayfield's song "Danger Zone," which Ray Charles recorded as the B-side for his 1961 number-one hit single "Hit The Road Jack," also written by Mayfield. On the Songs From A Stolen Spring album, Soozie's "Danger Zone" segues directly into "Break Your Fears" by the late Palestinian singer-songwriter Rim Banna. YouTube links for each individual track are below, but it's best to hear them segued seamlessly, as they are on the album: Of course, great music like this remains all too essential and relevant to our current realities. If you're seeking some voices of reason and hope, when it often feels like you're searchin' for light in the darkness of insanity, you certainly couldn't find much better. Songs From A Stolen Spring remains available to purchase in both physical (CD) and digital form at the Valley Entertainment website, as does Soozie Tyrell's 2003 solo-album White Lines. Click here for purchasing options. Thank you, "Sister Soozie," for "Danger Zone" and all of your other beautiful musical gifts to us over the years. And here's to much more great music to come. Happy Birthday!

May 2, 2024 EDITOR'S NOTE: We at Letters To You are very excited and honored to feature essays on some of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's recent concerts by both co-authors of Mary Climbs In: The Journeys of Bruce Springsteen's Women Fans, an important book on which we've previously reported here. Last week, we featured an essay by Donna Luff, and this week Donna's Mary Climbs In collaborator Lorraine Mangione weighs in on her experience of seeing the recent shows in both Albany and Syracuse, NY. As was the case with Donna's essay, Lorraine's essay below is also accompanied by Dan Reiner's beautiful concert photography. Two Springsteen shows in a week... supersonic emotional expansion/transformation for Bruce, me, or both? Frozen, absolutely frozen with anxiety, fear, sense of danger, not knowing, for the first several songs in Albany. My friends and the crowd around me were all swaying, pumping, singing, rejoicing, yet I couldn’t move. "Candy’s Room," such an intense way to start, yet I barely heard it. Was he okay? "What is going on with Bruce? Will this really work out? Are we really here? Is he really there? How much of a bullet had he dodged this past year? Is he okay? Is he okay? Is he okay?" All of this streamed through my mind and body as I stood there, close enough so that he was a real person, glancing at the video screens when I needed more assurance and detail. “Letter To You” felt like he played it just for me, as it so resonated, every line. It was my life, particularly the last few years. And he eked out every possible thought, feeling, and connection as he delved deeply into all that song entails... the connection we all have, or feel we have, with him and his work. "The Promised Land..." yes, some hope, the theme that winds through all his concerts, yet seemingly more necessary, and so more recognized, now. Yet that doesn’t take away how hard life can be, whether in "Atlantic City" when you go ahead and make a deal that you might not really want to make, or when one is "Trapped," no hope, no exit ramp. My friend next to me had that as her signature song that she hoped for, and shrieked in utter joy, yet frozen, still frozen, I stood there while the audience screamed of being trapped. How can one reach the promised land when one is trapped? Bruce gets it - the coming together of impossibilities - and pushes on. Finally, finally, finally, "Spirit in the Night," the preacher exhorting us all to feel the spirit, call and response, and I could feel it. My shoulders stopped hunching. I could sway (or is it wave) a bit, unlock something, join in the great church of Springsteen, gather together with others, feel the grace, and then the tears came. Years ago my own Jackie and Marvin died unexpectedly, way too early, a few of them, especially Gene, Cathy, and Lisa, all Springsteen fans, and "Nightshift," my favorite from Only the Strong Survive, again, felt like he was singing it just for me, although I am sure so many folks in that arena have unresolved and tragic losses, and we all lost Marvin and Jackie, way too early, and now a friend has just lost a little grandson. Tragedies abound. Thank you, Bruce, for honoring them and reminding us. Philosopher, minister, priest, spiritual guide, it was all there as he moved into "Racing in the Street" with the elongated ending, going up the scale slowly but surely, painstakingly, as we held together, holding out the hope for the woman to find new dreams, to get off her Daddy’s porch. Yes, we all need to keep living, even when one’s oldest friends are dying. “Grief is the price we pay for loving” wove together his tribute to his friend. Advice on how to live wove through all this, even given all the losses. So bring on the "Wrecking Ball" where, yes, all the dead are here, but so is the intensity of living and life, connections and dreams, honoring and surviving, feeling the anger. His move to what felt like romantic relationships with "Because the Night" and larger societal issues and commentary, with "Badlands" and "The Rising," could have offered a respite from the loss and hope interchange, but I couldn’t really take in some of the songs. I was on a different plane. "The Rising," though, feels both personal and societal to me, and, no longer frozen, still very much alive, I was back with my NYC friend with whom I went to one of The Rising Tour's concerts. Tears fell, and I loved that my husband was right there. The empowerment and hope seep in there too, but I wasn’t feeling them. I wasn’t in Mary’s garden. Clarence came to me, along with a few lost friends, with "Bobby Jean," and, of course, with loving Jake and what felt like a much bigger role in the band for him. Then I was a bit annoyed when Springsteen went into "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," not understanding how he could even do that without Clarence, but, of course, he did not let me down. He did it with Clarence, with his noting that “this is the most important part” when the Big Man joined the band, with the absolutely gorgeous pictures, with running through the crowds, and with Jake right there with him. Thank you, again, Bruce, for showing us how to do this with our loved ones who are gone, for memorializing, for doing what was said years ago: “Italians tend to keep their dead with them,”* which also fits with Springsteen’s words in his eulogy for Clarence. *[Giordano, J., McGoldrick, M., & Klages, J. G. (2005). Italian families. In M. McGoldrick, J. Giordano, & N. Garcia-Preto (Eds.), Ethnicity and family therapy (3rd ed.). The Guilford Press.)] Now we all can think about this, at whatever age, given Bruce’s age and his wisdom to know how to live, and to know that it won’t last forever. Yes, we will see each other in our dreams. Thanks for coming back and sharing that with us in Albany, Bruce. An incredible night…. And then something happened, to me or to him or to both of us, in the couple of days between shows, such that Syracuse was a whole different experience, even with some overlap in the music. I was no longer frozen with fear and anxiety, although a bit crept back when he and the band were later in taking the stage than they were in Albany. Uh-oh, is something happening back there, in the bowels of this gigantic mega-stadium that can hold a football field indoors? But no, there they soon were, Bruce brimming with excitement and energy, even as he came out to greet us with - in comparison to "Candy's Room" - the somewhat less energetic opening song, "Lonesome Day." But "Lonesome Day," which still rocks, is also a song that so effectively sets the frame for the despair/hope juxtaposition that winds through so much of his work and his current presence. In cramped bleacher seats a straight shot all the way back from the stage and not conducive to standing or moving, "No Surrender" totally subsumed and screamed through my entire body, as I shouted and pumped out every word while it spoke to the decades-long fighting spirit. (I felt bad for the newly met fan on one side of me.) It was as if we were both back in school, busting out in our own ways, over fifty years ago, and somehow that had sustained us. Moving directly into "Two Hearts," with Little Steven right there as their hearts and voices embraced in a frenzy, set the stage for the night for me. Hope, empowerment, love, and relationships will get you through... the bursting camaraderie with everyone in the audience, and even with the women in our fans research who were there in spirit. I wasn't consumed by the loss and grief, as I felt in Albany, and it seemed that Bruce wasn't, either. Yes, the loss was still there in the setlist, the "Ghosts," the vows to remember, the honoring of his old and beloved friend, as the loss still was there for me. But Bruce was in a different mode around this set of life experiences. He was the teacher, mentor, and spiritual guide that the women in our research and book, Mary Climbs In: The Journeys of Bruce Springsteen’s Women Fans, described with such fervor and attachment. Maybe because he did not do “Letter To You,” the perspective shifted, perhaps less intimately personal? Maybe… Or, perhaps he danced into the other side of loss, what some grief researchers call “oscillating”, such that one does not always have to be consumed by the loss, and he was giving us the strength to be there, too. "The Promised Land" brought me to my feet, despite only one other person in my whole section standing, but she was right behind me, so that gave me "permission" to stand, too. He was moving into his preacher stance and having way too much fun with the audience up front for me to stay seated. The giant video images in Syracuse flooded the arena and it was impossible to not see them, something I had to get used to and accept, as part of me just wants to see the real Bruce, as tiny and far away as he might be, but the videos gave us a front seat view into some endearing and amazing interactions with fans of all ages lucky enough to be so close, and lucky enough to play harmonica with Bruce. "Atlantic City" was perhaps the best I have ever heard, the most intense and compelling, the seeing and feeling it in so much of life and death, in our world writ large and small, almost ubiquitous. Then he got to the emotional heart of the show… Which is when he really talked to us, straight from the heart, connecting with us, helping us, teaching us, knowing we all need each other to get to where we needed to go, to live with the losses, with our own mortality, with the friends and family who are leaving us. It was the conversation he has been quoted as saying he has with his fans. He walked us into "My City of Ruins," and the world shattered, as it did over twenty years ago, but he held it, and held us, as he did over twenty years ago. Part of how he did this was by really talking with us, by being there, directly, in what psychologists call “the here and now.” And the horns carried us through. "Nightshift," what a gift to bring that back to us, to bring Marvin and Jackie back to us or, with the younger fans - and there were many - to introduce them. The horns and chorus singers took center stage with those on the nightshift, deepening it. His friend George was there, with the 45’s and the guitar and the KofC halls, as Bruce spoke of being the "Last Man Standing." His invocation of the years 1965, 1966, and 1967 with that first band as such monumental years in the history of our country—yes, let’s not forget that. Honoring those who came before us. I also felt his mother there, although I don’t think he named her, but she was there, with the early guitar. And his words of wisdom, again, to be put up on a banner: "Grief is just the price for loving well." Then came the party, which brought us through, almost, until the very end, and my section, most of the arena, finally started standing up, moving, rocking, arms pumping. I was all in, totally overtaken, in a way I was unable to do in Albany, given the preoccupations. "Badlands..." I really felt it, shouted it, that it ain’t no sin. "Thunder Road," the all too famous line about which so many women in our fans research and book had so much to say, still singing it joyfully. "Wrecking Ball," feeling the anger that we need in our world these days to keep moving forward. How many times did he ask, “Are we having fun?” Somehow in there he included "The Rising," and, it got to me. My friend Lisa was there in New York City on that fateful day, and in Springsteen concerts with me so many times over the years. She's no longer with us physically, her birthday any day now, but as Bruce typically does, I came back... back to the hope, to the rising, to Mary in her garden. Hard to say what was an encore, as the band never ever seemed to want to leave, but the giant party continued unremittingly with, of course, "Born to Run," and "The Detroit Medley," something I hadn’t heard in years and loved every minute of it. He already had introduced the band earlier, so I was thrilled when he introduced them again, as he just seems to have so much love and gratitude for all of them. He brought Clarence back, as he had in Albany, but tonight this felt more joyful and less sad, more honoring and less mourning. The Big Man. And then, of course, the heartfelt ending. He will see us in his dreams, we will see him in our dreams, intimate and close. But it was the “Good golly, Miss Molly!” party that sustained us, that we walked out with, that accompanied us on our long drive home, and that kept us in the upswing of life. Ecstatic, my friends and I left the concert with comments like “Best ever!” “Unbelievable!” “Bruce was ecstatic!” “So much energy!” and "Played like it was his last”. So what brought us to such heights of ecstasy? I would say his presence, his reaching out and really talking to - and listening to - us in his role as an artist and performer and ours as his audience, his commitment to the music, the band, and the fans. And his wisdom, his ability to see so much and work through it. As one woman fan said in our research, “Springsteen needs an audience; the audience needs Springsteen.” We were such a part of it, for so many reasons. Yet for me, I keep wondering what happened between those first and second upstate-NY concerts that week, both amazing events but somehow different. Did I change, did he change, did the universe change, on the journey through life and through music, to frame each concert in its own unique individuality? What I do know, and "re-know"after having just seen both of these shows, is that women fans in our book have spoken of him as feeling like a friend, family member, teacher, mentor, guide, spiritual guide, and therapist. To me, he felt like all of those on each night.

April 28, 2024 This report is posting slightly later than expected, mainly because the day after the event in question, I learned that what I thought was just a persistently clogged left ear was actually a "perforated tympanic membrane" (eardrum.) Nowhere near as serious as it sounds, and no, last Wednesday night's American Music Honors 2024 event wasn't what ruptured my eardrum. (It more than likely was caused by cabin-pressure during one of my flights to or from the first Bruce Springsteen/E Street Band 2024 Tour show in Phoenix last month.) Nevertheless, the diagnosis/treatment has slightly hampered my writing mojo in recent days. In a way, however, this unforeseen delay also helped to crystallize some of my thoughts on this year's event a bit more. So here - for whatever they're still worth - are those thoughts now, and here's hoping that I have at least a few things to offer beyond what's been shared and re-shared on the 'net ad infinitum already. First and foremost, I'm so glad that in this second year of what Bruce Springsteen referred to onstage last Wednesday as "our project," he was able to attend in person. At last year's inaugural event, a last-minute case of COVID-19 prevented him from doing anything more than paying tribute to two of the honorees via hastily-shot videos. Those video tributes were articulate, funny, and insightful, not surprisingly. Seeing Bruce look so strong and healthy onscreen, despite testing positive for COVID-19, also was very reassuring to all of us fans in attendance, of course. But his absence meant that not only was he unable to participate in any of the musical performances that evening; there also had to be last-minute changes in who sang what to cover Bruce's absence. In some cases, this was fortuitous; getting to witness Darlene Love sing "Soul Man" with Sam Moore was a "You-probably-will-never-get-to-see-THIS-again" treat. In other cases, such as watching poor Steve Earle gamely try his best to cover Bruce's parts during the show-closing set... not so much. This year, however... As the immortal Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell sang, "Ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby!" Springsteen being fully present at the American Music Honors for the first time helped greatly to drive home exactly what "our project" is all about. As its Executive Director Bob Santelli reminded us yet again in one of his two relatively brief moments onstage, The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music was named as such very purposefully. Bruce sees himself as part of a community and tradition much larger than himself and his own artistry. Therefore, having him there in person last Wednesday to sing, play, and interact with this year's honorees made it clearer than ever that "our project" isn't just about celebrating and exploring Springsteen's music. It's just as much about understanding the musical legacy that has inspired it and - we hope - will continue to inspire generations of artists to come. What a superb idea to have an annual event where some of the greatest living figures in that musical legacy get honored while they're still with us, in which Springsteen gets a chance to perform with them. (And as writer Donna Luff, who also was in attendance on Wednesday, later commented to me, "an unexpected and deep joy for me was seeing him as a member of an audience. Watching him clap, dance, and cheer others on stage touched me.") Not only does it make for a "hot-ticket" type of evening that can generate substantial revenue for the Archives/Center, but the potential television/video revenue for the Archives/Center is there, as well, especially with Springsteen present. With that in mind, and despite what obviously many others already have decided to do, no extensive details and certainly no cellphone-video-links are included with this report. Although unfortunately there already is an absolute plethora of such things made easily available online, in some cases by folks from whom you wouldn't normally expect that kind of thing, here's hoping that eventually all interested fans still will want to see a professionally filmed and edited version of this year's American Music Honors, in a way that helps the Archives/Center to grow in its mission and purpose. Okay, with that noted, what I will share in a "non-spoiler" spirit is the following: In just two years' time, Little Steven's Disciples of Soul have established themselves as one of the greatest "house bands" you could have for an event like this. They perform extremely diverse styles of American music with aplomb, and everybody sounds at least a bit greater when they're backed by the Disciples. It's no wonder that Bruce has "borrowed" some of their members for his current tour. Long may the Disciples reign at the American Music Honors! The night was not flawless by any means. There were a few flubs - in both the musical performances and the testimonials - but probably nothing that can't be fixed with some skillful post-production/editing. There's also a not-so-fine-line between totally justified local pride and downright chauvinism, with a "facts be damned" attitude. For example, having the evening's emcee purposefully claim onstage that New Jersey was at some point "the center of American music" crossed that line that just shouldn't be crossed, at least not in a nation containing New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, New York, Los Angeles, etc. It's unbecoming, unnecessary, and (I hope) unwanted in terms of the Archives/Center's desired public image. Be gracious, Garden State-based folks; you have so many actual accomplishments and attributes to be proud of indeed, so there's no need to have anyone making any further claims that simply aren't true. The spoken tributes to the honorees, on the other hand, were outstanding. I was impressed especially by Jon Landau's speech about Jackson Browne. I've never previously read or heard anything by Landau that went into such detail about how purposefully and aggressively he pursued transitioning from music criticism to record production. And both his and Browne's accounts of The Pretender's recording sessions were riveting. Bruce's speech about John Mellencamp was equally revelatory. Again, as with Landau, I heard from Springsteen insights I'd never heard or read before, in this case openly comparing his own songwriting style to Mellencamp's. As so often happens with such speeches by Springsteen, one gets the gift of new insights into another artist's greatness and influence. That recognition and articulation of another artist's greatness occurred between and among the honorees themselves, as well. For example Dion's comments on Mavis Staples' enduring greatness - made via a funny joke involving himself, the other 2024 honorees, Springsteen, and Stevie Van Zandt - also articulated what surely everyone in the audience felt about Staples after we all were lucky enough to hear her sing live. For many of us Springsteen fans, we've benefited not just from his own music, but from getting to hear him share so much about the many other great artists who've inspired and influenced his work, and in turn becoming fans of those artists' music, too. Through the years, he's done this through various interviews, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction speeches, onstage raps, his 2012 SXSW keynote speech, and the like. In many ways, it's a continuation and expansion of how bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones helped to turn on generations of listeners to artists like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, The Marvelettes, Irma Thomas, and Muddy Waters. And now, if all goes well, Bruce will continue doing this each April somewhere in the swamps of West Long Branch, New Jersey for many more years to come. I'm looking forward to such a development, and I also hope that eventually everyone who can benefit from seeing each of these special nights of American music in their entirety will be able to do so, in person and/or via professional video/audio.

April 26, 2024 Rolling Stone Germany is getting a bit of a jump on celebrating Born in the U.S.A.'s fortieth anniversary, with Bruce Springsteen's all-time-best-selling album having been released officially on June 4, 1984. As you can see above, the May 2024 issue's cover story is entitled "Der lang Weg zu 'Born In The U.S.A.'" ("The Long Way to 'Born In The U.S.A.'") The issue also comes packaged with a world-exclusive 7" vinyl picture-sleeve reissue of the album's first single, "Dancing In The Dark" b/w the album-outtake "Pink Cadillac," which of course also will soon turn the big 4-0, having been released officially on May 9, 1984, becoming Springsteen's all-time-best-selling single. This vinyl reissue is available only with the May 2024 issue of Rolling Stone Germany. You can click here to order a copy. Or... you could win one from us! Thanks to our friends at Rolling Stone Germany, we have three copies to raffle off randomly to three separate, lucky winners. (Once you've won one of the copies, you're automatically out of the running to win one of the other two copies.) You can enter this special raffle in two ways. First, you automatically will be entered one time for each dollar you place in our "tip jar" between now and 11:59 p.m. ET next Friday, May 3, 2024. Donate $10 and get 10 chances to win, donate $25 and get 25 chances to win, etc. Please click here to "tip" us, and thank you very much for your support. You also can receive one (and only one) free raffle entry by correctly answering this trivia question: According to Springsteen biographer and music-writer Dave Marsh, after Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band played their first Germany concert on April 7, 1981, the late, great concert promoter Fritz Rau approached Springsteen backstage and asked him with a smile, "What have you done to my Germans?" What was Springsteen's reply? Email your trivia-question answer to editor@letterstoyou.net All persons who send an email message with the correct answer will receive one (and only one) free raffle entry per person/account. After the raffle-entry period closes next Friday, three lucky winners will be randomly selected from the pool of all raffle entrants. Each lucky winner will receive one copy of Rolling Stone Germany's May 2024 issue with the world-exclusive 7" vinyl picture-sleeve reissue of "Dancing In The Dark" b/w the album-outtake "Pink Cadillac," as pictured above. Should any entrant's name happen to be selected randomly more than once, another and different name will be selected randomly in their stead, in order to ensure that there will be a total of three separate winners, each of them winning one copy of the raffle prize. Good luck to all entrants, and thanks again to our friends at Rolling Stone Germany!

April 21, 2024 EDITOR'S NOTE: We are pleased and honored to feature this moving essay by Donna Luff on last week's Albany, NY show. Donna is the co-author of Mary Climbs In: The Journeys of Bruce Springsteen's Women Fans, an important book on which we've previously reported here. Her essay below is accompanied by Dan Reiner's beautiful concert photography. “We've known each other ever since we were sixteen.” In Albany, NY last Monday night, those words from “Bobby Jean” felt personal. It was "third time’s the charm" for the Albany show. The original date was scheduled for March 2023. Then the illness-related postponement came too late for me to change plans, so my oldest friend - who had driven down from her home in Toronto - and I spent two days in a snowy and mostly closed Albany, making the best of it. The rescheduled September 2023 show also ended up getting postponed due to Bruce's peptic ulcer disease, so our nerves ran high as we made our trek back to Albany on April 15th. We walked into the MVP Arena elated, only to discover that our Ticketmaster codes wouldn’t scan. After long, nerve-racking minutes in the box-office, we emerged with old-fashioned paper tickets and slowly reducing heartbeats. (PSA: We were not alone in the box-office; anyone attending other rescheduled shows should check your tickets early!) The high emotions presaged the show that followed. Bruce looked visibly better than when I saw him last at Gillette Stadium in August 2023, just before his peptic ulcer disease was revealed, and the crowd was overjoyed to finally see him and the E Street Band. As Bruce put it in his parting words, we were “fucking fantastic.” The setlist was looser than the 2023 shows. The opening double-header of “Candy’s Room” into “Adam Raised a Cain,” both tour debuts, suggested a treat was on the way. Though there were no rarities, and only one further debut (“Downbound Train,”) the set drew from many of his major albums across the decades, while remaining centered in Letter to You and the thematic, emotional anchor of “Last Man Standing.” Highlights for me included a haunting “Racing in the Street” and joyous, soulful “Spirit In The Night.” And any show that features “Atlantic City,” here a blistering, rocking rendition, is alright with me. Clearly feeding off the energy in the arena, Bruce laughed a lot, both with his bandmates and the crowd, pointing, waving, and mouthing messages to familiar faces (I’m sure I saw him say “text me, text me” to someone he recognized.) Gone was the stylized chest-baring of prior shows on this tour, which I was glad about; back was Bruce roaming the pit perimeter, shaking outstretched hands, and singing “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” from the floor riser, which delighted me even more. The show felt like a reflective and life-affirming reunion among friends. At least that’s how it was for me. Before the show, my friend and I had reminisced about our first show together - almost 43 years ago, in June 1981, in Birmingham UK - marveling at the length of our fandom. She asked me again about that first time I heard “Hungry Heart” on the radio, in the backseat of my father’s car when I was sixteen, a story she knows well. But she wanted details we haven’t talked about for a long time, which led to more reminiscing about our childhood on another continent. In Albany, as Bruce launched into “Hungry Heart,” I teared up. This does not usually happen. It is not that kind of song, and I have seen him perform it countless times since 1981. That night, however, I was awestruck anew about the impact that song had on me, how it had changed my life. I thought of all the roads that followed from my first hearing that three-minute record, the latest of which was writing a book about the journeys of women fans to understand how, why, and how far we have traveled with Springsteen’s music as our companion. As I joined the rest of the audience in singing the opening verse of “Hungry Heart” to Bruce, I was touched by the profound mysteries of life: that, decades from our first show when we were sixteen, my childhood best friend and I were standing together in Albany, both of us now living in the Americas, thousands of miles from where we grew up. She and I were still there with our “friend” Bruce. The moment felt spiritual. Or like magic in the night. And coming soon... an essay from Donna's Mary Climbs In... co-author Lorraine Mangione, who also attended last week's Albany and Syracuse, NY shows, accompanied by more of Dan Reiner's photography. UPDATE (May 2, 2024:) Click here to read Lorraine's essay.

April 21, 2024 Our friend Jay Lustig at NJArts.net has been doing a commendable job in continuing to compile and curate all of the fun little promo videos that Bruce Springsteen has been posting on his social-media for each upcoming 2024 tour-date. Ever since the 2024 tour began last month in Phoeniz, AZ, Springsteen has issued a brief, personalized promo video for each individual show, usually a few days before the show will take place. Sometimes appearing alone and sometimes accompanied by members of the E Street Band, Bruce usually delivers some funny lines or a bit tailored to the local market, and then humorously promises (or even good-naturedly threatens) to "rock...into the ground" (or a variation thereof) all who plan to attend that upcoming show. Jay has been compiling and curating the videos on a dedicated page at his NJArts.net website, updating the page as each new video is issued, and, as he writes, "will continue to do so, for as long as Springsteen keeps making them." It's great to have one centralized location where every promo video can be found easily and quickly. The two most recent videos, filmed to promote last Thursday's Syracuse, NY show and tonight's Columbus, OH show (the final stop for the 2024 tour's first U.S. leg before starting the 2024 European leg in early May,) are the first to be officially credited to Springsteen's sister (and professional photographer) Pam Springsteen. Whoever filmed any of the previous videos is currently uncredited, but they all have the feel of something loose, personal, and fun that you'd cook up with your sister and maybe some of your friends. Click here to read Jay Lustig's "Greetings from wherever he is: Springsteen’s video postcards from road" at NJArts.net. And it'll be interesting to see whether these promo videos continue to be issued for the tour's upcoming European leg. If they do, don't be surprised if you decide to bookmark Jay's page for a few extra smiles and laughs on a regular basis.

April 17, 2024 Stevie Van Zandt took to his social-media today to announce officially that the documentary film Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple will have its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, June 8. As per what Van Zandt and the Tribeca Film Festival shared online, the film, clocking in at just under two-and-a-half hours, will follow his life and work "as a musician, activist and actor from the clubs of Asbury Park, NJ, to stadiums around the world, to the Bada Bing Club, and beyond. Featuring Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Eddie Vedder, Bono, Maureen Van Zandt, Darlene Love, and many more." Of course Stevie also tweeted, "I hope it has a happy ending!" Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple was directed by Bill Teck, and produced by David Fisher (who also handled the film's cinematography) and Robert Cotto. It is being distributed in the U.S. by HBO Documentary Films, making it very likely that HBO/Max subscribers can expect access to the film at some point in the near future. Stay tuned for more details on Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple as they become available.

April 14, 2024 While The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University (BSACAM)'s biggest event scheduled for this month remains, of course, The 2024 American Music Honors, the Archives also is offering two free author conversation/lecture events in April, one online and one in-person at Monmouth University. Here are details on both events, including information on how to register and/or get your ticket to attend in person, free of charge: First up, online this coming Thursday, April 18 beginning at 7pm ET, is the continuation of the Archives' monthly Conversations with our Curator series. This month, BSACAM Curator Melissa Ziobro will be in conversation online with Jim Cullen, author of the books Bridge and Tunnel Boys: Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and the Metropolitan Sound of the American Century (2023) and Born in the U.S.A.: Bruce Springsteen in American Life (2024, 3rd revised/updated edition.) Use the QR code below or click here to register to attend online, free of charge. And on the evening of Thursday April 25, the day after the 2024 American Music Honors event, the Archives will present its first annual "President’s Lecture on Music History and Contemporary America." As per the official announcement/flyer, "Hosted by Monmouth University President and BSACAM Board of Directors Chair Patrick F. Leahy, this inaugural event will highlight how music history can inform our understanding of the world we live in today...The inaugural event will feature The New York Times’ best-selling author and acclaimed historian Douglas Brinkley, who will present 'Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology): Long Sixties Protest Music and the Earth Day Revolution,' a timely reflection on music and the environment, coming shortly after Earth Day. Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University, CNN Presidential Historian, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair." Brinkley's lecture will begin at 7pm ET and take place on-campus at Monmouth University's Great Hall Auditorium. This event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited, and advanced registration is required. To reserve your complimentary seat for the President’s Lecture, use the QR code below or click here.

April 13, 2024 Best wishes for a happy 73rd birthday, and many, many more happy birthdays ahead, to one of the coolest drummers on the planet... Mighty Max Weinberg, of course. Just how cool is Max? Even "The Fonz," The King of Cool himself, dug The Mighty One after recently watching him in action in L.A.... Aaaaaaaay! Now THAT's cool! Happy Birthday, Max, and many more. Thanks for continuing to bring the power, AND the finesse, AND the expertise, AND the emotion, AND the dedication... night after night after night after night.

April 10, 2024 Fifty years ago tonight, Jon Landau first met Bruce Springsteen, on the same evening that Landau also saw Springsteen in concert for the first time, at the long-gone Charlie’s Place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Just under a month later, Landau would see his second Springsteen concert on the night of May 9, 1974, when Bruce and his band opened for Bonnie Raitt at Cambridge's Harvard Square Theatre, also long gone. After the May 9 show, Landau went home and wrote “Growing Young With Rock and Roll,” his essay-as-concert-review for the long-defunct Boston-area alternative weekly newspaper The Real Paper that contained the now-famous sentence, “I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen.” Landau and Springsteen quickly connected, becoming fast friends, and eventually Landau also would become a longtime key production collaborator from the Born To Run album onward, as well as Springsteen’s manager, a position he retains to this day. Their friendship-combined-with-music-business-partnership is among the most unique and longest-lasting ones in popular music, and that’s counting not just artist-manager partnerships, but all music-based partnerships in general, such as the similarly long-standing one between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It's also a partnership that has expanded and done much to fulfill the promise and potential of "rock and roll future" from five decades ago, not just resetting the bar for multiple generations of what could be achieved by a musician in the studios and on the stages, but also by redefining what successful management of a musical career looks like. Through the past five decades, the partnership between Springsteen and the Jon Landau Management team has produced one of the longest runs ever of great artistic achievements combined with immense commercial successes. And obviously "Team Springsteen" isn't quite finished just yet, either. Here's to all of the high points of the past, the present, and those that still lie ahead for this artist, his various collaborators, and his international, multi-generational audience, in our collective rock and roll futures.

April 4, 2024 Throughout what Larry David states will be the series' final season,The Hollywood Reporter's Jackie Strause has been checking in weekly with Jeff Schaffer, Curb Your Enthusiasm's executive producer and director/co-writer for all of this season's episodes. In this week's check-in, Schaffer gives Strause a behind-the-scenes account of getting to work with Bruce Springsteen as a guest-star in two of this season's ten episodes (so far, that is. Read on...) Schaffer describes the filming of one of Springsteen's lines, uttered during his appearance on Curb...'s latest episode, as "one of my favorite moments ever," not just in the show, but "like, in life...That was Bruce chiming in, which was amazing. We were like, ‘What! He’s so funny.'” Schaffer was even more surprised that Springsteen agreed to be on the show at all, since reaching out to Jon Landau Management about that possibility seemed to Schaffer to be such a long shot. It turned out, however, that Bruce is a Curb Your Enthusiasm fan and was happy to play a Curb-style version of himself on the show. Schaffer co-wrote the final season's story arc with Larry David back in 2022, and all of Springsteen's scenes were filmed in one day of December 2022, on the series' final shooting date for that year. Schaffer found Springsteen's comic improvisational skills especially impressive. “He’d seen the show, but a lot of people haven’t worked the way we do, where it’s not all scripted. Lots of things get said. And we kept telling him, ‘We’ll use the best stuff,’ so he could try everything. And he played around. He knew the basic beats, but he was in there adding and slugging around. We showed him the scenes because we were so happy with how they turned out.” Schaffer shares with Strause many more interesting behind-the-scenes details about filming Springsteen's scenes, and also hints that there just might be some more Springsteen to be seen in this Sunday's extra-long series finale. Click here to read Jackie Strause's Hollywood Reporter article in full. But please do yourself a favor and don't read it until you've first seen the most recent episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 12, Episode 9: ""Ken/Kendra.") Click here for more information on viewing options for Curb Your Enthusiasm. Trust us; you'll be very glad that you did, and avoided any/all spoilers. Enjoy!

April 2, 2024 Bruce Springsteen's second (and, given that it's the penultimate episode of what Larry David promises will be the series' final season, maybe final) appearance on the latest episode of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm is hilarious, and well worth the thirty-five minutes or so you'll spend watching it. The latest episode, which dropped on Easter Sunday and is entitled "Ken/Kendra," is the ninth episode of the series' twelfth season, and it links up to Springsteen's first appearance on the show in this season's second episode, "The Lawn Jockey" (about which we previously reported here.) In both episodes, Springsteen plays a version of himself, as do Larry David and most of the show's celebrity guest-stars, in a comically altered "reality" setting. In "The Lawn Jockey," Springsteen was seen just briefly as some of the show's characters watched him on television, praising a recent action by Larry David that was perceived widely as heroic. In "Ken/Kendra," however, Springsteen now wants to meet David in person, because he remains so impressed by David's supposed bravery and heroism. "Ken/Kendra" is very much centered around this meeting, with Springsteen's screen-time in the episode much longer than his screen-time in "The Lawn Jockey." And that's all we're telling you, and all you really need to know, even if you don't watch Curb Your Enthusiasm regularly, in order to enjoy Springsteen's dryly comic performance here. If you dug some of the similarly dry comic turns he's taken onstage in his concert performances of the past, especially in something like Springsteen On Broadway, then this is very much up your alley. Click here for more information on viewing options for Curb Your Enthusiasm.