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August 26, 2023 To help raise funds for the important, ongoing work of TeachRock, Stevie Van Zandt is offering up for raffle a wicked-cool chance for one lucky winner to nab a pair of GA/pit tickets for all three of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's shows at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium on August 30, September 1, and September 3. Each raffle ticket costs only $25, with the per-ticket-price discounted if you purchase in blocks of five, ten, or twenty. All tickets for this special raffle can be purchased by clicking here. The winner's pot also has been sweetened with three official Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band 2023 Tour hoodies and a pair of E Street Lounge passes for each show. Other important information: The prize-package does not include meet-and-greets or photo-lines with any members of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. The GA-tickets prizes do not offer any early access into the venue; you will enter when doors open to the general public. All chances to purchase raffle tickets will end on Monday, August 28, 2023 at 5:59pm ET, and the charity prize-package recipient will be randomly selected after that time. The winner will be notified sometime on Monday evening, August 28, 2023 via an email message with ticket- and will-call information. (Tickets will not be mailed.) The prize-package does not include coverage of any costs related to travel or parking. Tickets are non-transferable and can’t be exchanged for other shows. All raffle-ticket purchases are tax-deductible donations in support of Stevie Van Zandt’s education foundation, The Rock and Soul Forever Foundation / TeachRock.org. Click here for all details and to purchase your raffle tickets, and good luck to everyone, baby!

August 30, 2023 How DOES he do it?! Tomorrow night, just one day after providing The Big Beat for almost three consecutive hours on the drum riser for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band at tonight's MetLife Stadium concert, and just one night before the band's next New Jersey performance this Friday, Mighty Max Weinberg will high-tail it to Huntington, Long Island, NY for a gig with his other band, Max Weinberg's Jukebox, at The Paramount. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets. The Jukebox shows are fully interactive, all-request gigs. Max and his great four-piece band let the audience write each show's setlist, giving them complete control by voting for their favorites from a video-menu of more than 200 songs, "everything from the Beatles to the Stones to Bruce and The E Street Band’s biggest hits," promises Max's website, "and hear the group play ‘em the way they want to hear them played!" It's great fun, and it shines a unique spotlight on The Mighty One's consistently superb drumming, as well as his band-leading and ingratiating "host-for-the-evening" talents. There's also another Max Weinberg's Jukebox gig scheduled for September 5 at Cleveland's Cain Park, for which tickets can be purchased by clicking here. More Max Weinberg's Jukebox concerts are scheduled and being added for the upcoming autumn months, as well. Visit MaxWeinberg.com for the most up-to-date information on Max Weinberg's Jukebox and all of Max's other solo projects.

September 5, 2023 EDITOR'S NOTE: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band weren't the only New Jersey musical legends rocking the Garden State over Labor Day Weekend 2023. Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes headlined a Saturday-night summer blowout that took place both inside and outside Asbury Park's legendary live-music venue, The Stone Pony. Letters To You contributor Mark Krajnak, the JerseyStyle photographer himself, was there to witness it all. Here's Mark's report, accompanied by some of his great photographs, of course. (And remember to click on any of the photos to see them all in full-screen gallery mode.) Has there ever been a bigger weekend in New Jersey, featuring "The Holy Trinity" of Asbury Park music? Maybe there has, but it certainly hasn’t been in quite a while. This Labor Day Weekend extravaganza kicked off last Wednesday, for most, when Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven and rest of the E Street Band kicked off a three-night set at Giants Stadium (Sorry…MetLife Stadium. Old habits die hard.) The Jersey Sound continued up there on Friday with Night 2, but really started to sizzle in Asbury Park on Saturday when Southside Johnny – the third prong of the AP musical triumvirate – and the Asbury Jukes took the stage at the legendary Stone Pony to help roll up the boardwalk for Summer 2023. Before a packed Stone Pony Summer Stage audience, with ocean tradewinds softly blowing and tousling Johnny's hair - but not blowing hard enough to knock the stiff-brimmed white hat off seersucker-clad bandleader Jeff Kazee’s head – Southside and the Asbury Jukes helped ease us all into these final, waning days of summer. Because we all know summer unofficially ends on Labor Day, no matter what the calendar says, right? So, it was up to the Jukes to put this summer to bed, and that they did. They came out jamming, as they always do, with "This Time It’s For Real," "Passion Street," and "This Time Baby’s Gone For Good." Johnny was decked out in his colorful Caribbean-style shirt, which, he said he was wearing to honor Jimmy Buffett, who had just passed way. While reflecting on Jimmy’s musical history, and especially for all of the Parrotheads in the audience, the Jukes delivered a suitably Calypso version of "Margaritaville," but one where Jeff Jersey-fied the lyrics just a little, singing, "…all these Jersey tourists and locals…covered in oil" in the opening verse. As the night wore on, and the breeze picked up, a definite chill was in the air, a harbinger of the coming autumn months. Johnny looked up at one point and noted the hazy moon overhead, prompting a sweet rendition of "Blue Moon." (The true Blue Moon – the second full moon of August – occurred a couple of nights earlier, but close enough!) As is often the case, the band closed out their encore with a rousing version of Sam Cooke’s, "Havin’ A Party," which everyone in the band seemed to take part in. In the end, while no one really wanted to go home, they had to. Many were probably headed up the NJ Turnpike the next night to see those other local guys (and gals) finish up the job they started on Wednesday. ______________ While Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes capped a long late-afternoon and evening at The Stone Pony, the music started much earlier in the day. Promised Land Band, featuring high-octane lead singer Kenny Munson, kicked things off inside the Pony with their songs, as well as covers of Springsteen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Little Steven, U2 and others. They were then followed, also inside, by the duet of Billy Walton and Destinee Monroe, who did their set acoustically. Before the blazing sun went down, the sounds shifted outside when Illinois native Matthew Curry took the stage with his rock and blues-tinged songs, plus some covers as well. Curry has two local Jersey Shore guys as part of his band, Mark Masefield on keys, and Francis Valentino on drums. At various points, Billy Walton and Destinee Monroe jumped onstage to help out, and Jeff Kazee sidled up to the extra piano at one point, a soft-billed blue fedora on his head. And as if all of this wasn’t enough, the night closed out, late night, with Jarod Clemons and the Late Nights inside the Pony. Jarod is still nursing his broken leg but even sitting down throughout his set, he was able the deliver the funky blues he’s becoming known for. An epic Labor Day Weekend of New Jersey music for sure! Words and Photos by Mark Krajnak | JerseyStyle Photography. Follow him on Instagram at @jerseystyle_photography or on his blog.

September 7, 2023 The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University will present a symposium on Saturday, October 28, 2023 that celebrates the release of Springsteen’s landmark second album a half century ago. Entitled The 50th Anniversary: The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, the day-long event will include panel discussions, interviews, a pop-up exhibit, and musical performances of the songs on the album - which officially will turn fifty on November 5, 2023 - performed by regional musicians. Among the participants in the symposium will be original E Street Band members, music industry legends, and special guests. “This conference marks the second held in a series of 50th-anniversary events that explore and celebrate Springsteen’s early albums and landmark events,” said Bob Santelli, Executive Director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music. “Public programs such as this one and the symposium held earlier this year on Bruce’s debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., are part of our core mission.” “The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle was undeniably a pivotal album in Springsteen’s career. Coming off lackluster sales of his debut album and no hit single on the horizon, Bruce’s record company was no longer convinced that they still had a future together. The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle would draw on what Bruce did best; he assembled the first version of what would become the legendary E Street Band, penned some of his most lively spirited songs, and created an upbeat, jazzy, soulfully rocking album,” said Eileen Chapman, Director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music. “Not only did this album give us concert favorites such as 'Rosalita' and Kitty’s Back,' its importance and connection to the rest of Bruce’s career cannot be disputed." The symposium, which is open to the public, will be held in Monmouth University’s Pollak Theatre. Registration is required. The cost for attending the symposium is $100, with a 4-ticket limit per person. Each ticket will include a limited, special-edition The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle t-shirt. Tickets for The 50th Anniversary: The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle will go on sale tomorrow, Friday September 8, beginning at 10am at the Monmouth University Box Office located in the Ocean First Bank Center in West Long Branch, NJ. You also will be able to purchase tickets online by clicking here.

September 7, 2023 After being forced by illness to postpone two scheduled Philly shows in mid-August, but then delivering a set of strong and extremely well-received concerts with the E Street Band for his Boston- and Jersey-area fans, it seemed that Bruce Springsteen was fully recovered and back to rockin' on all cylinders. Unfortunately, his doctors - who've been treating him for symptoms of peptic ulcer disease - have decided otherwise, and have recommended that he postpone the remainder of his scheduled September gigs with the E Street Band. Disappointing news, for sure, but of course we're also very glad to know that Bruce is listening to the docs and doing what is best for his health at this time. Here's hoping that he'll be fully recovered as quickly as possible, and that he and the E Street Band will be back onstage together delivering more great performances beginning in early November, when their tour is scheduled to resume, starting with a series of shows in Canada.

September 12, 2023 Click here for more information.

September 11, 2023 “We know that if you want a kid to succeed, you don’t tell her to take her earbuds out. You ask her what she’s listening to, and then you trace it back together. Kids come to us with the natural gift of curiosity, and the TeachRock curriculum helps teachers meet them there on the way to meaningful learning.” - TeachRock founder Stevie Van Zandt “[Stevie Van Zandt’s Rock and Soul Forever Foundation] and its TeachRock program bring an essential curriculum of music and culture into school, and make it available at no cost to educators. In a time of cutbacks in arts funding, Steve’s programs are keeping kids engaged in the arts and in school. This is his greatest legacy.” – TeachRock Founders Board member Bruce Springsteen The 2023-24 school-year will mark a major step forward for TeachRock, the organization launched in 2006 by founder Steven Van Zandt with the support of Founders Board members Bono, Jackson Browne, Martin Scorsese, and Bruce Springsteen. Two Tennessee public schools - Red Bank Middle School in Chattanooga and West End Middle School in Nashville - will implement TeachRock's new Harmony Student Wellness Program with all students on a daily basis during the 2023-24 school-year. West End Middle School also will work with TeachRock to develop International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program Unit Plans for its students. Letters To You recently spoke with TeachRock's Executive Director Bill Carbone and Partner School Liaison Gina Machado about these exciting developments. While the TeachRock resources and curriculum-units already are being used widely by many teachers and schools across the U.S. and even in other countries abroad, TeachRock's 2023-24 work with the Tennessee schools will be part of a new phase of growth and expansion. "There have been plenty of partnerships," Carbone told us, "but this is our first program where the school says, 'We're going to do this program; all hands on deck.' We help them set it up. It runs 10-15 minutes per day in Homeroom or Advisory Period. The full school does it. So it's an evolution. We've done all of these partnerships where we've worked with, maybe, all of the social-studies teachers, or at times with the whole school and the goal is every subject-area tries arts-integration to some degree... But this is a much more refined full-school program. We did it for the first time last year in one school, and this year is really our big pilot year where we're going to run it in a number of different places, different geographies, different student populations, and really get to see what works." The Harmony Student Wellness Program also emphasizes social-emotional learning in its presentation of TeachRock's curriculum content. "We've had social- and emotional-learning content on the website before," said Machado, "but this is different in that it's a comprehensive program that offers a shared experience to every child in the school... What sparks this? Certainly the COVID-19 years and seeing the outcome and the effects on children after being shut down and having interruptions in their education, but it's always been important to educate the whole child... You're not going to get to the math, the science, and the social studies if a kid is coming into class and they're not emotionally present. Kids come in; they're humans just like us. They bring their own baggage from home; what is the stuff that they need to work through and learn how to cope with in order to be able to access the core-content curriculum that we're trying to teach? I think COVID-19 really brought that need to the forefront. We've always needed to care for the child as a whole person, but now it really has a lot of educators thinking about it. And one of the strengths of our organization is listening to teacher voice in addition to student voice, and applying that to our resources. Our goal is to create things that are really turnkey, that teachers can open and pretty much be ready to deliver. Ultimately, by supporting teachers in this way, we know that we're reaching tons and tons of students." One component of the program is designed to connect with parents and guardians as stakeholders, too. A weekly letter goes home to students' families to inform them of what songs the students will hear, the topics that will be discussed, etc. This way, added Machado, "the families are really in on it, too, and we're all coming together as a community, not just the school-building community but the families who are part of it, as well." Another key component of the Harmony Student Wellness Program is the involvement of members of TeachRock's newly formed Artist Council. The Council currently consists of fourteen members, all of them notable figures who collectively represent a variety of musical genres: Erykah Badu, Common, Sheryl Crow, Peter Gabriel, Norah Jones, DJ Khaled, Skip Marley, Darryl McDaniels, Melle Mel, Margo Price, Rapsody, Gina Schock, Marty Stuart, and Taboo. "There are five modules in the program," explained Machado, "and in each of those modules we feature one of the Artist Council members." Erykah Badu led off with what Machado described as a "beautiful student-facing video for us, where she's talking directly to students and saying basically, 'You all have the potential inside of you.' Just a really wonderful message to them, and we already had a lesson written about individuality, which is centered around her career and her music, so that video tied into that lesson so beautifully." Carbone added, "We've recently done a bunch of [Artist Council] interviews. Darryl McDaniels and Melle Mel came to Stevie's studio, and we did interviews with them, with content from those interviews added to our hip-hop resources. The whole point was, 'Okay, I'm behind the camera asking the questions, but you're talking to kids. You're talking to teenagers when you're looking at the camera.' So we got them to tell their stories and their roles in the history of hip-hop. Youth culture, too...like, their hopes and dreams as kids. We were able to cut those up into little pieces and put those into our hip-hop lesson plans. And we're working on even more of that. DJ Khaled also sent some videos that we were able to use for some of that project. "Marty Stuart, on the country-music side, this year at the National Council for the Social Studies' annual conference in December - which is a major conference with about 4000 teachers - will do a keynote conversation with another educator and me, including a little bit of Marty performing. The subject is the similarities between culturally responsive education in urban and rural environments. What does it mean to use music to reach kids in cities and what does it mean to use music to reach kids in extremely rural areas? What are the things that are most important? Some educators who've been in both situations will tell you that they're so similar. The kids need the same things, though we sort of talk about those two situations differently, and they're filtered through our own sorts of issues in the United States, but when it comes down to it those kids need the same things, so how can we give them what they need through reaching them with music?" All of the Artist Council members, added Carbone, "basically agreed to do something with us in the next three years. If they're touring one year, you might not be able to do much of anything with them, but then the next year... So it's really exciting, and I feel like we're just getting started with it, on how to engage them." Carbone also stated that Little Steven Van Zandt - not surprisingly - continues to put "a lot of heart, soul, time, and energy" into TeachRock, "and it's been really exciting to take the idea that was totally his in the founding of this organization, and just kind of evolve it with him. I also would like everyone to know that we pretty much self-fund through fundraising campaigns, and work towards grants. Donations are always appreciated, of course, and are tax-deductible. (Please click here to donate.) Other ways to help are sharing information about TeachRock.org with teachers and administrators, if you have educators in your life. Ask them to take a look and see what they think. And if you work in a place that has corporate giving, make sure that your corporate-giving office knows that we exist and can provide information on our various funding campaigns." TeachRock also has just launched an ongoing partnership with The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music. Next month we'll have more information on this exciting partnership. Stay tuned...

September 2, 2023 EDITOR'S NOTE: All of the "then" photos seen in this photo-essay were shot by legendary photographer Barry Schneier at Harvard Square Theatre in Cambridge, MA on May 9, 1974, the night that Jon Landau saw Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band in concert at that now-closed venue and went home to write, "...I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen..." All of the "now" photos were taken by Barry during Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's August 26, 2023 concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA. Barry's beautiful book Bruce Springsteen: Rock and Roll Future remains essential reading (and viewing) for Springsteen fans. If you haven't done so already, we strongly recommend that you get a copy of the book, which remains available for purchase from our friends at Backstreet Records. Click here to purchase a signed copy and click here to purchase a signed copy bundled with a signed, limited 8x10 print. Barry, we can't thank you enough for writing this special essay for Letters To You, and giving us permission to include your stunning photos from both the past and the present. Readers, if you click on any of the photos here, you'll be able to see them in all of their full-size, slide-show-style glory. Enjoy, everyone! On a cool late summer night in Foxborough, Massachusetts, I stood in the photographer’s pit at Gillette Stadium and waited for the band to hit the stage and my camera to catch them. Taking a moment to gaze around the mass of people in attendance, I couldn’t help but reflect on my first encounter with Bruce and the band, almost fifty years ago. That night in 1974 there were under 100 people in a small bar in Cambridge. This night…closer to 60,000. Over the last five decades, my life, my work, and my sense of purpose have evolved. Though Bruce and I orbit in much different circles today, I like to believe there are some similarities. We are the same age, we have never lost our love for rock and roll, we believe in family and honoring those who have left us. We believe the only path to success is hard work and the creative process is not only one that must continue to evolve, but also can be the most powerful life force within us. Sometimes the process works and sometimes it doesn’t, but we persevere. Like Bruce, I moved to California believing that is where I needed to be. Then later, when it became time to raise a family, I moved back east to where I grew up. We recognized the importance of raising children around members of our extended family. And we encouraged our kids to seek their own paths and we were there when they succeeded, and we comforted them when they struggled. And I believe that just as Patti is for Bruce, my wife was, and still is, my rock and will always remind me, in a most loving way, that I need to get back on course when I stray. When I first saw Bruce and the band at Charlie's Place in Cambridge in the early spring of 1974, I remember being struck by the fact so many had turned out for a relatively unknown act. A stranger, sitting across from me in this small wooden both we were all squeezed into, commented on how he had been following Bruce up and down the east coast that year and told me to be “prepared to be blown away”. My first encounter with a Bruce evangelist proved to be right. The audience that night was a passionate and committed group. And I left that night a convert, saying to myself that I had never seen music like that before and I had to see them again. My Bruce evangelism had begun, and I quickly called the music promoters I had been photographing for and “demanded” that they book Bruce and the E Streeters for a show. I just needed to see them again. They got that booking, and a couple of months later, Bruce would open for Bonnie Raitt at The Harvard Square Theatre. The rest, some would say, is history. And I was there to photograph it. Bruce, in my opinion, is a performer first. Matured through countless bar band shows, he knew his path to success would come from building an audience through live performances. With album sales being underwhelming in his early years, he remained on the road honing his show skills. Even in his earliest years, using a hat as a prop or a microphone stand as a staging tool, he knew that night after night he had to deliver like it was his last show ever. As his following grew and the venues got bigger, he expanded his presence and performance on stage to make the largest arenas still feel intimate. I heard him say once that at every show he’s done, there’s someone there who is seeing him for the first time and someone there who is seeing him for their last time. For each of them, he wants it to be a show they will never forget. There has been static that this latest tour doesn’t have the spontaneity and urgency that past tours had. Well, maybe its not that type of tour. Maybe this is a different style, one he is trying out. One that will give the audience the best and right show he can night after night. If you look back at Bruce’s tour history, every tour is different, and even sometimes the configuration of his band different. This is the same artist who gave us the E Street Band, the Sessions Band, a Broadway show, a radio show, an autobiography, and Nebraska. Not to mention a beautiful album of orchestrated, classic Southern California 1970s sounds and an album of soul covers. But as I watched him on this recent summer night in Foxborough, I could see that much of what inspired me in 1974 remained the same. A man in charge of his band while honoring and respecting their presence, a deep connection with his audience, a mission to entertain and please them and still, a deep love for rock and roll that screams from his guitar, the one he learned how to make talk.

August 8, 2023 EDITOR'S NOTE: The recent publication of Warren Zanes' Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making Of Bruce Springsteen's NEBRASKA has spurred renewed interest in and discussion of one of Springsteen's greatest albums. This is, of course, a good thing. But it seems that no major reviews of Zanes' book have challenged even some of his more questionable and central claims about the album. To wit... No, it's not true that, as Zanes writes, "Nebraska is the recording that matters the most in Bruce Springsteen's career..." That's still not true if Warren Zanes or even Bruce Springsteen himself believes it. (What's that old saying about artists not being the best judges of their work?) Part of what makes Springsteen such a great artist is that he has made many equally important and great albums in his career, not just one or even just a handful. In fact, some songs as dark and existentially foreboding as most of the material on Nebraska can be found on some of the great Springsteen albums that preceded it. "Meeting Across The River," "Adam Raised A Cain," "Factory," "Racing in the Street," "The River," "Point Blank," "Stolen Car" (especially the originally released version over the outtake version,) or, say, "Wreck On The Highway" for starters, anyone? Furthermore, while Zanes included in his book the part of his Springsteen interview where he said, "I don't know if there would have been a Born In The U.S.A. in the form it was in without Nebraska being released in front of it," he left out of his book the equally important part of that same interview where Bruce implicitly noted the importance of the popular Springsteen albums and songs preceding Nebraska in making the large-scale release and reception of such an offbeat, unique, and personal album even possible: "[W]e were popular at that time, so there were Bruce Springsteen fans who were going to go out and see what it was about. I guess I had some confidence in that fact that, yeah, people were going to be interested in my obsessions. As fucked up and crazy, as far out as they might be. I've got an audience for this stuff, I felt I did." (This portion of Zanes' interview with Springsteen was published only in a recent issue of MOJO Magazine.) And as great as Nebraska remains, it's never lived up to the claim that Zanes makes (twice) in his book about it serving "in its own way... a little like the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, a message saying, 'You can do this.'" Seriously? Can anybody, let alone Warren Zanes, cite a truly significant and historical flood or even trickle of "post-Nebraska" artists and recordings with signature sounds mimicking those found on Nebraska? The mere act of anyone ever setting out to "make" a record the way that Nebraska was created is a contradictory and futile task anyway, since not even Springsteen consciously "made" such a record. Every single track on Nebraska was recorded with absolutely no intention of what was considered at first to be just a demo track ever getting released to the public, so it's impossible for anyone to consciously re-create such a complete "happy-accident" kind of recording process. Okay, that's enough about those parts of Zanes' book. (... but hey, somebody finally had to write it!) Now, however, it's time to grab our popcorn and head straight to the movies... Overall Zanes' book certainly did a pretty good job of at least touching upon some of the films that greatly influenced Nebraska, but it still missed some important flicks along the way. Therefore, we are honored to have film-scholar, writer, and noted Springsteen fan Caroline Madden, author of Springsteen as Soundtrack: The Sound of the Boss in Film and Television, take a much deeper dive and help fill in the gaps for all of us Nebraska fans, present company included. And...ACTION! It’s been over forty years since its release, but Nebraska remains one of Bruce Springsteen’s most haunting albums. He strips his sound to the bone, recording entirely on a four-track cassette with the backing of a soft guitar. The whining harmonica mourns for the individuals in his stories grappling with economic hardships, social dislocation, and personal despair. These melancholy songs paint a very specific picture of the American Dream, one that is often dark and unforgiving, giving little reason to believe besides small glimmers of hope. They rattle with a vicious unease unlike most of Springsteen’s work. The album was written during Springsteen’s burgeoning relationship with his friend and manager Jon Landau. Landau helped to expose Springsteen to more thought-provoking books and movies than he had ever experienced before. “I mean, I hadn't read. I hadn't watched anything. It was all top 40 records, it was all—we were all creatures of the radio, and blues and soul,” Springsteen told NPR. Springsteen’s new appreciation of films opened him up to an artistic world beyond the Jersey Shore. Films from the New Hollywood era, what he describes as “dark, bloody pictures that dealt with the inner, with the flip side of the American experience,” inspired his construction of Nebraska. Badlands (1973) directed by Terrence Malick The film most widely associated with Nebraska is Terrence Malick’s Badlands, a poetic reinterpretation of 19-year-old Charles Starkweather and 14-year-old Caril Ann Fugate’s killing spree across the Midwest during the 1950s. Springsteen was fascinated by these real-life criminals and used them to write the chilling “Nebraska.” Springsteen’s flat vocals and sparse instrumentation evoke Malick’s detached filming style, the distant shots that linger on the vast prairie—the dull backdrop of the teenagers’ savage crimes. These types of monotonous landscapes—from the fields of Nebraska to the badlands of Wyoming—are where Springsteen sets the stage for his somber album. Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek’s aloof performances combined with Malick’s steady camera not only capture the couples’ sadistic misanthropy but also influence Springsteen's characters. They have the same icy indifference, unbothered by the inexorable meanness in this world that drives them to commit violence or embrace the inevitability of death. Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska states that a late night viewing of Badlands empowered Springsteen to change his storytelling technique. He would build and expand upon his ability to use lyrics to create movie-like images in listeners’ minds. In an interview with Chet Flippo, Springsteen talked about wanting the songs he wrote for what would become Nebraska to “kind of just pan out and be very cinematic... where you get in there and you get the feel of life. Just some of the grit and some of the beauty.” His songwriting combined his precise musicality with visual expression to evoke visceral feelings in his listeners. We experience this countless times in the little details of Nebraska, the way Wanda thumbs a Texaco roadmap while eating fried chicken on the singer’s lap in “Open All Night,” Franky and Joe taking turns dancing with Maria in “Highway Patrolman,” and driving down the Jersey turnpike with only the glow of the refinery lights in “State Trooper.” In the plainly-sung “Nebraska,” Springsteen’s initial description of the innocent Caril twirling her baton on the front lawn is taken directly from Malick’s dreamy slow-motion opening. The last lines illustrate Starkweather’s macabre fate when he asks with a quiet, expressionless voice to let his baby sit on his lap “when the man pulls that switch, sir, and snaps my poor head back.” (In a footnote to the late, great critic Paul Nelson's review of Nebraska re-published in Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson, writer/editor Kevin Avery pointed out that in Fritz Lang's 1937 film You Only Live Once, Henry Fonda's convicted-criminal character is about to face electric-chair execution and tells a prison guard, "You can sit on my lap when they throw the switch." Springsteen, however, has never confirmed publicly whether You Only Live Once influenced his writing of "Nebraska.") Wise Blood (1979) directed by John Huston John Huston’s 1979 adaptation of Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood has a similar nihilism as Badlands and was another strong influence on Nebraska. Another recommendation from Jon Landau, it’s a strange, dark film that depicts the hypocrisy of religious organizations. Springsteen references the film in a 1981 interview with Rolling Stone: “One of my favorite parts was the end, where he’s doin’ all these terrible things to himself, and the woman comes in and says, ‘There’s no reason for it. People have quit doing it.’ And he says, ‘They ain’t quit doing it as long as I’m doing it.’” Springsteen relates this quote to his vow to provide his audiences with a life-affirming rock show each night. The main character of Wise Blood, Hazel Motes—a cynical World War II veteran turned faux preacher—takes the idea of dedication to a disturbing level, attempting to purge his sins and find redemption by strapping barbed wire around his chest, walking on rocks, and blinding himself. Springsteen can relate to Motes’ religious trauma, especially the disorienting flashbacks of authoritarian church leaders who use physical punishment, shame, and fear in order to affirm Motes’ beliefs. The unsettling sequences bring to mind the nun who stuffed Springsteen into a garbage can and said that’s where he belonged or the priest who dragged him face down on the altar. For his melancholic song “Reason to Believe.” Springsteen draws from Motes’ desperate desire to find meaning and purpose in a world he perceives as devoid of authentic spirituality. In Wise Blood, Motes establishes his own religion, the Church Without Christ, in an attempt to form a genuine dogma that does not attract greedy, cruel liars—the type of exploitative people that are often leaders of religious institutions. Throughout the film, Motes questions some of the cruel, hypocritical tenets of Christianity. Why does God condemn out-of-wedlock children as wicked if they can’t control how they were born? If Jesus once healed the blind, why do people still have disabilities? Would a true, just God allow pain and suffering to happen? Similarly, Springsteen’s Nebraska characters find little reason to believe when life continually beats them down. Against light guitar strumming, the “Reason to Believe'' lyrics touch on the same existential themes of faith, doubt, and search for meaning that Wise Blood explores. When facing the death of loved ones or the end of a relationship, Springsteen’s characters attempt to find hope in the same way that Motes searches for honesty in a corrupt world. Both Wise Blood and Nebraska also challenge the traditional notions of good and evil. They acknowledge the inherent complexity of human nature that religious societies often ignore. There are contradictions within us all—even the worst of wrongdoers. The Night of the Hunter (1955) directed by Charles Laughton There are several songs on Nebraska that allude to Springsteen’s formative years and draw inspiration from two distinct films with a child’s-eye view. The first of these films is The Night of the Hunter, an eerie tale about a sinister preacher who marries a widow with the intention of killing her family and stealing her money. Robert Mitchum’s villainous character, whom Springsteen also references in “Cautious Man” from Tunnel of Love, has the words love and hate tattooed on his knuckles. Much like Springsteen’s Nebraska album, Reverend Harry Powell exposes the dark underbelly of small-town America, particularly those who use religion to disguise their depravity. The film looks like how Nebraska sounds—especially the songs “Mansion on the Hill'' or “Used Cars.” We can imagine them brought to life with the same atmospheric black-and-white cinematography, exaggerated shadows, and skewed angles from a child’s vantage point. These Gothic formal qualities match the wistful sounds of Springsteen’s youthful memories. He specifically took from the expressionistic scene of the children escaping through the woods, fleeing Powell’s wrath after he brutally kills their mother. Laughton frames the sequence with an artificial countryside background—a stark, spooky painting that seems lifted out of a Grimm fairy tale. It recalls the “My Father’s House” lyrics where the young boy runs through the fields with the devil snapping at his heels and surrounded by ghostly voices, as well as the children racing through the tall cornfields and gazing at the mammoth steel gates that surround the titular “Mansion on the Hill.” As in The Night of the Hunter, these young characters are surrounded by a hyperrealized environment that overwhelms and overpowers them. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) directed by Robert Mulligan The 1984 interview with Chet Flippo also confirmed that Springsteen was influenced strongly by Robert Mulligan’s 1962 classic To Kill a Mockingbird while writing the songs that became Nebraska, especially its childhood perspective and Southern Gothic writing style. "The Nebraska record had that cinematic quality," said Springsteen. "I was thinking in a way of To Kill A Mockingbird, because in that movie there was a child's-eye view." The Southern Gothic genre explores the violent secrets that lie beneath peaceful American communities and characters who confront their dark past. Southern Gothic is frequently attributed to another Nebraska influence, author Flannery O’Connor. However, while To Kill a Mockingbird explores the harsh truths of racial inequality, there’s a warmth in the characters’ genuine desire to enact social change. Springsteen emulates Scout’s loss of innocence in his songs “Mansion on the Hill” and “Used Cars.” Just as Scout becomes aware of Maycomb’s cruel racial prejudice, the children in his songs begin to feel the weight of economic disparity, yearning for the unattainable comfort of the mansion on the hill or flinching with humiliation as their father rattles their used car down the street. Springsteen tells Warren Zanes that he experienced these same uncomfortable feelings about his own upbringing: “I know the house was very dilapidated. That was something that embarrassed me as a child. It was visibly ramshackle, my grandparents’ house. On the street you could see that it was deteriorating . . . That would have been my only sense that something wasn’t right with who we were and what we were doing. I can’t quite describe it. It was intense.” If these songs were projected on screen, they would have the same hazy, black-and-white cinematography that imitates the fading aura of memories, just as Scout narrates To Kill a Mockingbird as a nostalgic recollection. To Kill a Mockingbird also relates to Nebraska as a work with unflinching empathy for those on the fringes of society. Through his gritty acoustic melodies, Springsteen gives death row inmates, desperate small-time criminals, and blue-collar workers facing financial constraints a voice in the same way that To Kill a Mockingbird has compassion for the outcast Boo Radley and falsely accused Tom Robinson. Through Nebraska, Springsteen carries out Atticus Finch’s legendary maxim: “You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.” Springsteen uses similar language when discussing how the goal of his music is to illuminate other perspectives, writing in his memoir Born to Run, “I imagine a life, I try it on, then see how it fits. I walk in someone else’s shoes, down the sunny and dark roads I’m compelled to follow but may not want to end up living on.” Watching these films expanded Springsteen’s songwriting style and vision to create a raw, introspective musical journey that invites listeners to reflect on the tribulations of American life.

August 20, 2023 EDITOR'S NOTE: On July 21, 2023, the State of Alabama executed inmate James "Jimi" Barber after a controversial series of legal decisions that culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. You can click here to read the Associated Press report. Barber's execution also was opposed by Sarah Gregory, the granddaughter of Dorothy Epps, the woman whom Barber killed in 2001. In the past three years, after almost two decades of grieving and grappling with Barber's brutal murder of her grandmother, she came to forgive and even befriend Barber before his execution, in a life-changing personal journey. That journey began when she first heard Bruce Springsteen's song "Letter to You." Sarah Gregory recently reached out to the Letters To You website and asked us to share this firsthand account of her moving, inspirational story with our readers. We are deeply honored to have been asked by her to do so. As a longtime Springsteen fan, I know personally how deeply Bruce's music can affect one's life, and of course I've read and heard many similar accounts from other fans over the years. If you've read this far, I'm sure that you have had similar experiences and encounters, as well. Nevertheless, it's been quite some time since I've read anything as powerful as what Sarah has written below. (Incidentally, I find it especially fitting that we're posting this on the anniversary of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's now-legendary A Night for the Vietnam Veteran concert, because I strongly believe that the connection of the music to "lives on the line" is just as high here.) Again, it is an honor to make Sarah's story available for you to read, as she requested. Like so much of Bruce Springsteen's music, her story shares truths, offers inspirations, and lays down challenges that often are difficult to find elsewhere, if they can be found at all. ---Shawn "Letter To You" changed not only my life, but as I have come to see in recent months, the lives of many others. In 2001, my grandmother was murdered by a friend of our family. I spent many, many years in substance abuse trying to forget my anger and pain. I was able to get sober in 2013 and began to work on myself, yet I could not let go of the pain from her loss and the rage I had toward the man who inflicted such violence. I had tried for years but could not allow myself to even say his name. On what would have been her 94th birthday, July 29th of 2020, I wrote about her and even to her on Facebook. I wrote, in part, “My heart wants to rid myself of the weight of this feeling (hatred.) You forgave everyone, believed in everyone, believed everyone could change, and saw the good in everyone. For me to hate is to disrespect the values you instilled in me. Lord, help me to forgive the unforgivable. Help me release him from the power he has had over me for almost twenty years.” God answered my prayer only a few months later. I was sitting in my car listening to E Street Radio and "Letter to You" came on. I broke down and cried during the entire song. That night, I sat down and prayed for guidance. I did as Bruce Springsteen sang, I took all my fears and doubts, all my happiness and pain, dug deep in my soul, and signed my name true…I felt the pain ease as I sent a letter to Jimi Barber, the man who took my grandmother's life. I had no idea that writing that letter would lead to one of the most beautiful friendships in my life. I had no idea God would take my pain and show me His grace. We continued writing, then speaking on the phone, until it turned into a weekly occurrence, and after that even more often. Bruce's music was a dominant figure in our relationship. In one of the first letters I received, Jimi sent a song he had written many years before. He told me to “sing this in your head to the tune of 'My Hometown' by the one and only Boss!” Over the years, he and I shared many Springsteen songs with each other. We discussed our interpretation of each song and what that song has meant in our lives. One of the saddest songs, given the circumstances, that we discussed often was "Nebraska." Yet it is now one of my most cherished songs and memories, for a reason I will share shortly. Jimi became the person who supported me when I needed it the most. He helped me navigate dealing with my son, who suffers from severe mental-health challenges. He prayed for me and with me, and he was (after my husband) the person with whom I could not wait to share things. Jimi gathered all the men on Death Row at the Holman prison to rally behind my son. Multiple times they would all pray for us while I was on the phone. It would bring me to tears. Prior to the execution, I received a beautiful handmade box made of tiny pebbles that all the men gathered to thank me for showing them that forgiveness and redemption is not only possible, but beautiful and life changing. On July 20, 2023, my friend was executed in Alabama. I did attend, but not with hate in my heart. I was the bridge between the two families, and I was there to ease his fears as much as I could; the fears of someone I now call my friend. None of this would ever have occurred if I had never heard "Letter to You." I was able to visit Jimi and his family for almost seven hours on July 19th and 20th. This was one of the most meaningful, beautiful, and heartbreaking moments of my life. As I approached the prison, I felt sadness seeing the conditions he had lived in, yes due to his own actions and consequences thereof, but I still felt sadness. Cold, dark, isolated cells surrounded by multiple fences, barbed wire, and a sense of evil in the air. Once I entered the gates and was escorted to the visiting room, my eyes saw him for the first time in over twenty years. I saw the man who caused myself and my family the greatest pain one could endure. Yet as I saw him, my heart felt happy. I immediately looked into the eyes of my friend and saw regret, love, and admiration in return. It looked as though not a day had gone by. Yes, years had changed us both, but he still was the same man I remembered. Once the door opened to the visiting area, I was immediately greeted by the other visitors in the room. First Jimi hugged my mother, who had managed to slip in without her ID being checked. She was denied her visit pass due to being a direct victim of his crime, but I was approved. Jimi said he had prayed that somehow God would allow one hug from her, and He did. Jimi then turned to me and the hug we shared was the deepest and most sincere embrace. It was absolute forgiveness. I looked around the room and everyone was in tears. However, within three minutes the guards had checked the ID’s and quickly removed both my mother and me from the prison. I was very upset because I had too much to say to him. Once again, God stepped in and I was called by the warden to return, without my mother. Once I returned, we sat and talked. We remembered our lives that we had shared from before the murder, and remembered my grandmother. I spoke to his family, who kept thanking me for forgiving him. One of his brothers, Mark, told me that my forgiveness was the catalyst to not only his own forgiveness, but for his whole family’s forgiveness for Jimi. Many tears were shed, many hugs given, and a lot of healing happened in that cold, secure prison room. That night, my mother and I had dinner with Jimi’s brother, niece, and his spiritual advisor. We supported each other, healed some more, and encouraged each other for what we all knew would be a very tragic next day. The day of the 20th was the most beautiful and the most heartbreaking day. We all met outside the prison wall at 8:30am. The hugs and the tears were ready before we even entered. Jimi was eagerly waiting as everyone went through the security process again. He was pacing back and forth and talking through the window slots every chance he could. After we all completed the security procedures, Jimi greeted each of us with a long, strong hug. The kind of hug one gives when you don’t want to ever let go. After everyone received a “Jimi hug,” he asked to speak. At that time, he read his last words since he knew he would not be permitted to speak while in the death chamber. Jimi made almost constant eye contact with me, as though looking for security, strength, and peace as he pushed through reading the hardest speech of his life. His brother Mark walked over and put his arm around me. We held each other the entire time. He thanked me for bringing his family back together and for bringing some sense of peace and light to this whole situation. So, when he held me, I could feel everything he said. Everyone, including Jimi, cried and all our hearts broke in a way that was almost palpable. Then, Jimi said that was enough and made a joke, and we all laughed. His church-member was permitted to bring a guitar, so after all tears we dried we began to sing. "Mary, Did You Know?" was sung by his niece, in the most beautiful rendition of that song I have ever heard. Other hymns were sung, and Jimi sang Bruce Springsteen’s "Nebraska" directly to me. Bruce’s song "Letter to You" was what had brought us back together, and "Nebraska" was the stark reality that he and I had discussed many times before. I cried as he sang, and he never broke eye contact. It was one of the most touching moments of the visit. He learned that song just for me, and the way he pushed his fears aside to sing this song was the most touching gesture anyone has ever done for me. Many guards had stopped to witness what they later said was something they had never seen: not only a victim’s family member visiting with the convicted, but together singing, laughing, and hugging. One guard asked if we could sing "Amazing Grace," to which we obliged. Every person in that room sang with all of the emotions we had left. The guard cried, praised God, and sang. It was beautiful. Then we discussed how Bruce’s rendition of "When the Saints Come Marching In" was the most beautiful version we had ever heard. So, we sang that song with all our hearts and Jimi led us all in a train dance around the room for the entire song. We praised God, sang, and cheered and we circled the room. I remember seeing the guards and administration staff looking in complete amazement, many crying. As time drew to an end, we stopped and took communion. Jimi handed each of us the Bread to represent the Body of Christ. We each hugged him, stood there solemnly, and cried. His spiritual advisor and I held each other, doing what we could to not allow either of us to fall to the ground. After a prayer was completed, we knew it was time to go. I hugged each of the people in the room, and with each person more tears came. Finally, when I got to Jimi I could barely speak. I was sobbing and could only hold him. He asked me to never stop sharing our story, and I promised him I would not. He asked that I tell of our visit, and I promised him I would. I placed my shaking hands on his face and thanked him for saving me. I thanked him for showing me the greatest gift God could bestow upon a person. I thanked him for being my best friend these last three years. He kissed my cheek, we hugged, and I had to leave. Two of his attorneys were waiting to enter and as I passed them, I hugged them, thanked them for trying to save my friend, and cried. When I returned to my car, all I could do was cry uncontrollably. Every part of my being wanted to run through those gates, hug him again, and not let go. My heart broke for Jimi, for his family, and for his best friend who stayed next to his side until he met God. May God give them all strength and comfort, and may they all be reunited in Heaven. I did not see my friend again until the curtain of the execution chamber was lifted. There he was, strapped to the gurney, IVs coming out of his arms, and his lower body wrapped in a cocoon of blankets. Yet, he smiled and even told jokes to the men who were in the room with him. He made a brief statement of remorse and love, and forgave the Governor and State for what they were about to do. Then, as the injections began to enter his body, he turned to make eye contact with me one last time. I pray my face provided some sort of comfort to him. He then closed his eyes and met God a short time later. I now have experienced two murders in my life. Both changed me, both shattered me, and I pray that together both will lead me to be the person I was always meant to be. Not only did God answer my prayer that July day in 2020, but he also used me as His vessel and showed me the most beautiful gift. I celebrate what God allowed Jimi and me to do together. I celebrate my grandmother and all she means to me. I celebrate and mourn the loss of her and one of the best friends I have ever had. Just think of what God did for me to say, with all my heart…Jimi was my friend. None of this would ever have occurred if I had never heard "Letter to You." Bruce's music has forever changed me. I am a better woman and a better human because of it. Sarah also would like readers to know that she has chosen to become active in supporting the work of the Alabama-based organization Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, and would like to encourage others to consider joining/supporting this organization and/or similar groups in their communities. If you'd like to reach out to Sarah for support with any kind of personal struggles similar to hers, or even if you just have a comment or question for her, please email Sarah directly at nooneisalone.1733@gmail.com or - if you prefer - you can email her via editor@letterstoyou.net and your message will be forwarded to Sarah on your behalf.

August 18, 2023 EDITOR'S NOTE: For Chicago 2023 Night 2, we invited Chicago-based, Grammy-nominated gospel-music scholar Robert Marovich, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gospel Music (and a longtime Springsteen fan,) to share his impressions of the show. True to his background, Bob zeroed in on the evening's most emotionally charged, uplifting, and inspirational aspects... Everything about the final night of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s recent two-shows sojourn in Chicago—from the decade-spanning music to poignant reflections from the stage—suggested the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers understood the weight of their legacy and the responsibility that goes with it. But their nearly three-hour concert left no question as to their permanent position in the pantheon of rock stardom. The tens of thousands who poured into the friendly confines of Wrigley Field for the Friday, August 11 concert epitomized a half-century of Springsteen, from a young girl in a bedazzled dress to a gray-haired woman wearing a T-shirt proudly proclaiming the greatness of grandmothers. People who were twenty-somethings when Springsteen debuted Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. in 1973 mingled with youth whose parents were not yet born in the U.S.A. when Born in the U.S.A. hit store shelves in 1984. The lights went out and, to hoots of “Broooce” from the fans, Springsteen appeared, clad in a tight-fitting black collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up above his biceps. Brandishing an electric guitar like a weapon, he punched out the machine-gun opening licks to “Night,” from 1975’s Born to Run. Only the saucy aroma of hot dogs dripping in condiments reminded ticketholders that they were in a baseball field, not a theater. The show was masterfully paced, the music almost unceasing, thanks in particular to Max Weinberg’s incessant drumming, even between songs. Interspersed with fan favorites like “Prove It All Night,” “The Promised Land,” and “Glory Days” were selections from 2020’s Letter to You, including the title track and “Ghosts.” Another new entry was the Commodores’ “Nightshift,” reprised recently by Springsteen on his 2022 album of cover songs, Only the Strong Survive. The combination of amplified violin and brass approximated the sound of highland pipes on “Wrecking Ball,” giving the song a Celtic vibe, while “She’s the One” rocked to the Bo Diddley shave-and-a-haircut beat. Some of the most exciting moments were when Springsteen duked it out instrumentally with Weinberg and guitarist Stevie Van Zandt. One particularly frenetic jam session captured something of a Pentecostal revival service when Charlie Giordano coaxed the warbling of a Hammond organ out of his keyboard. If the Friday setlist differed slightly from previous evenings, it wasn’t an issue for fans Rena and Gaston Ceron, who attended the Wednesday and Friday shows. “What stood out to me most weren’t the differences,” Rena commented, “but the passion and genuine feelings displayed by Bruce during both concerts. And the acoustic pieces really came through strong both nights, as if he was talking and playing directly to us.” Indeed, the most poignant part of the Friday show, and the most reminiscent of Springsteen’s earliest live performances, was the acoustic “Last Man Standing.” Through the deafening wail of a police siren just outside the park, Springsteen reminisced about joining his first rock band, The Castiles, at age fifteen. The 2018 death of founder George Theiss made Springsteen the last living member of The Castiles and provided a chance to reflect on mortality. “Rock of ages, lift me somehow,” he sang, “Somewhere high and hard and loud / Somewhere deep into the heart of the crowd / I’m the last man standing now.” Augmenting the evening’s pervading sense of legacy were vintage images of the band projected on the scrim during “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.” Springsteen’s treatment of the band members as stars as well as close friends was another illustration of the significance of legacy. Members of the E Street Band entered the stadium individually, each soaking up the audience applause. Then, exiting at the concert’s conclusion, Springsteen hugged and shook hands with each one like a coach after a major victory. The final encore, a solo acoustic version of “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” found Springsteen lost in another last-man-standing moment. The Letter to You track-turned-tribute to the late Robbie Robertson of the Band had a special poignancy, as Springsteen, alone on a darkened stage, honored a fellow guitar hero. But if wistful, Springsteen’s singing was also optimistic, as if he had in mind Robert Browning’s famous line, “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.” He and the E Street Band proved it all night. [For more on Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band at Wrigley Field in 2023, check out Promises Fulfilled: A Special Report on Chicago 2023 Night 1, written exclusively for Letters To You.]

August 18, 2023 EDITOR'S NOTE: For Chicago 2023 Night 1, we invited Andrew Harris, one of the Chicago YMCA Housing Managers who worked closely with Bruce Funds on a special campaign that secured Springsteen-@-Wrigley-Field tickets for YMCA Housing residents, to attend Night 1 himself, as well, and write about what both he and the residents experienced during the Windy City run. Here's Andrew's report/review: There is pretty much nothing left to say that hasn’t been said already about a Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band concert. It’s been called "the greatest show on Earth," but I think that even that term cannot fully describe what seeing the show in person is like. This 73-year-old man plays nearly three solid hours of back-to-back songs; no breaks, nothing but back-to-back greats. The crowds that see these shows have some of the most dedicated and welcoming fans. Not only did everyone seem to know every word (even to some of the lesser-known songs) but no matter what the age, they were standing and dancing the whole show. Everyone was having a good time and rocking out! Every YMCA Housing resident who went had nothing but great things to say and could not believe how lucky they were. Tim works at Whole Foods and is a big Bruce fan, but had never been to a show at Wrigley Field before last week. He was blown away by the gracious ticket-donor's generosity, and was lucky enough to sit next to his ticket-donor and enjoy the show with him. Tim got there early and was able to see the stage-setup finalized and the crowd begin to build as thousands of fans began to arrive. He could not stop talking about how the show seemed to go on forever and at the same time was over in the blink of an eye. Another of our residents, Mark, won the main ticket-raffle drawing. He was lucky enough to win two tickets to the show and decided to bring Jan, our resident housekeeper, who is retiring at the end of the month. He was happy that he was able to bring Jan as a way to thank him for the all hard work he has done here at the Y over the years. Mark could not believe that Jan was standing and dancing the whole show nonstop. Jan is in his late sixties, but you would not have guessed it by the energy that Bruce seemed to transmit into Jan and the rest of the crowd. Mark admitted that he had to sit down and relax, but Jan stood and danced the whole night away. Our final resident who chose to share his experience did not want to share his name, but he was also lucky enough to get two tickets. He was able to bring his daughter, who is also a major fan, and they were able to see Bruce together for the first time. He admitted that he might not have known all the newer songs that Bruce played, but that did not stop him from singing along (wrong lyrics and all.) He could not stop talking about how amazing Wrigley Field was, and how Bruce kept the place alive and rocking all night long. I know I probably sound like a broken record, but I would once again like to thank Donna at Bruce Funds, who's amazing, for making all of these donations possible for our residents, and of course all of the Bruce fans who donated the tickets. These tickets went a long way to provide an experience to our residents that they never would have been able to obtain on their own. Thank you, all! [For more on Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band at Wrigley Field in 2023, check out Rock of Ages: A Special Report on Chicago 2023 Night 2, written exclusively for Letters To You.]