Bruce Springsteen will release “Somewhere North of Nashville” in full on “Tracks II: The Lost Albums” (out June 27 via Sony Music), a previously-unheard collection inspired by the sounds of honky tonk, rockabilly and uptempo country. Recorded simultaneously with “The Ghost of Tom Joad” in the summer of 1995, “Somewhere North of Nashville” features much of the core band at the heart of those sessions — including Danny Federici, Garry Tallent and Gary Mallaber. Adding elements like pedal steel from Marty Rifkin (later a member of The Sessions Band) and fiddle from Soozie Tyrell, “Somewhere North Of Nashville” would ultimately mark Springsteen’s first time cutting material live in the studio, with a full band, since “Born In The U.S.A.”
“What happened was I wrote all these country songs at the same time I wrote ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad.’ Those sessions completely overlap each other. I’m singing ‘Repo Man’ in the afternoon and ‘The Line’ at night. So the country record got made right along with ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad,’” Springsteen recalled. “‘Streets of Philadelphia’ got me connected to my socially conscious or topical songwriting. So that’s where ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’ came from. But at the same time I had this country streak that was also running through those sessions and I ended up making a country record on the side.”
In addition to the release of ‘Repo Man’, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band kicked off The Land of Hope & Dreams Tour in Manchester, England. The first of 16 scheduled dates this summer to over 700,000 fans, the 2025 European run will conclude “one of the most successful tours of all time” (Pollstar) — which has been called “the greatest show on earth” (Billboard) and “a masterclass in the uplifting power of rock-and-roll” (Washington Post). For more information about Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s The Land of Hope & Dreams Tour, visit brucespringsteen.net/tour.
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