Nils Lofgren isn't a name that immediately springs to mind for the average punter, but in the music world, Lofgren is a legend.
Nils Lofgren isn't a name that immediately springs to mind for the average punter, but in the music world, Lofgren is a legend.While he has recorded and released more than 20 albums under his own name, the sound of Nils Lofgren has been more widely heard as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and in the early days with Neil Young.
He has performed with Ringo Starr and fronted his own band Grin, but as Nils says in this interview, he is equally comfortable fronting a band or just being a part of it.
In the mid 70's, Lofgren bordered on becoming a major star with songs such as 'Shine Silently' and 'I Came To Dance' but that wasn't to be.
Instead, his legacy to music is the backbone he gives the artists he works with.
While he has been "out of contract" for the last 13 years with any major label, Lofgren has maintained his creativity and continues his output at regular intervals.
He maintains his connections with fans at his official site www.nilslofgren.com and is not only uploading new music for fans to here, but has also started to give guitar lessons online from the site.
Before he was about to head out for a tour with Bruce Springsteen, Nils Lofgren spoke with Paul Cashmere.
PAUL CASHMERE: In this age of modern technology and access to information I came across two Nils Lofgren's. One belongs to an American singer-songwriter and the other belongs to the Swedish scientist who developed the anaesthetic lidocaine. I better make sure I'm talking to the right Nils.
NILS LOFGREN: Really, I didn't know that. Yes you have the musician.
PAUL CASHMERE: Good because we wouldn't want to confuse a rock star with someone who does things with drugs.
NILS LOFGREN: (laughs) God, that would be terrible. It would be the first of its kind.
PAUL CASHMERE: Before we talk about what you are doing currently and the most recent record, looking back over the last 30 years you have developed a real bonafide catalogue. I recall songs like 'I Came To Dance', 'Shine Silently', It's Not A Crime'. Do you ever look back over your own catalogue and get that "wow" factor.
NILS LOFGREN: I have made so many records and feel there is some pretty good stuff I am proud of. Some have stood the test of time like any record. There's always a few favourites from each one that I play live and have fond memories of. I am pretty grateful. This month of September marks 39 years on the road for me and I'm just glad I'm alive. I feel like I'm playing better and slowly but surely getting to apply what I've learned. I feel good about all of my records and every five or six years feel like I'm playing a bit better. I'm grateful some of the old stuff is starting to come out again. 'Wonderland' was recently re-released which is unusual because companies have refused to put the old stuff out. I hope that is a sign of things to come because you make music to share. When companies decide to make it extinct it is not a pleasant situation for anyone.
PAUL CASHMERE: In a digital world though, anything can be available anytime anywhere on the planet.
NILS LOFGREN: But companies aren't going to make old music available if it isn't profitable and if you haven't had a hit record they don't have a reason to do it. I was grateful that American Beat Records got the album 'Wonderland' out. As that came out the company was changing hands and it never got a fair shake. It is one of the favourite old records that I made in 1983. It's out again and I hope a sign of things to come.
PAUL CASHMERE: What is the status of your 70's catalogue, like 'I Came To Dance' for instance?
NILS LOFGREN: I've been talking to the companies over the years and they have refused to put that out. American Beat Records have been trying to put it out, maybe do a combo thing with 'Cry Tough' and 'I Came To Dance'. Sadly, they are just not interested. We'll keep talking to them and see if we can get some of that stuff out again.
PAUL CASHMERE: There are some real gems back in those early days. One song that springs to mind is 'Keith Don't Go (An Ode To A Glimmer Twin)'. Have you ever talked to Keith Richards about that song?
NILS LOFGREN: I have not but some of my friends have. I have bumped into Keith a number of times at Rolling Stones shows and he has always been very kind and friendly and gracious. I think he knows that I am certainly as big a fan as there is. I wrote a giant thankyou note on behalf of all of his fans as a writer and put it in a dramatic fashion. It has appeared in an acoustic version which has gotten to be a dramatic presentation on my acoustic live record and the DVD 'Live Acoustic'. He is to me one of my musical heroes and fortunately one of my heroes who is still alive and well and making music for us which is beautiful.
PAUL CASHMERE: Well you said "Keith Don't Go" and he hasn't so maybe that's because of you.
NILS LOFGREN: Exactly (laughs). In a small way, on behalf of all of his fans it might have meant something.
PAUL CASHMERE: Well you tell him when you bump into him next that we need another Stones album but we don't need another 'Pirates of the Carribean' movie.
NILS LOFGREN: You know I never saw that but I've got to believe he would have been entertaining to see. I know Johnny Depp modelled his character on Keith. Did you see it?
PAUL CASHMERE: He was the best part of the movie.
NILS LOFGREN: That's what I would have imagined. I'm yet to see it but I wasn't going to slog though 3 hours just to see Keith.
PAUL CASHMERE: Let's talk about 'Sacred Weapon'. There are some great guests on that. Willie Nelson, Crosby & Nash, Martin Sexton. Tell me about Willie and how you came to record 'In Your Hands' with him.
NILS LOFGREN: I had done the last Willie and Friends show in Los Angeles. He does a TV show in America. All his friends come out and sing with him and that was a beautiful experience. I was good friend with Martin his manager. Amy and I were out to lunch one day with Martin. He knows I was doing a grass-roots, no record company kind of thing with my website nilslofgren.com, just making music and playing live. He heard I was making a new record. He asked me to pick a song and he'd try to get Willie to do it. As it turned out, one of Willie's guitarists was sick and I sat in at the Kennedy Center show in Washington, DC. Willie liked the song. After rehearsals one day in Virginia, I was mixing and Willie came out and did it pretty quickly and effortlessly. It was pretty amazing to see him in the studio. I wrote that song a couple of Christmases ago for my wife Amy. To get Willie Nelson to sing on it was an honor and a treat and it is one of my favourite tracks on the record. He was very kind and gracious to play on my record.
PAUL CASHMERE: Let's move on to 'Frankie Hang On' with David Crosby and Graham Nash.
NILS LOFGREN: There was a show in Phoenix that I'd done. My wife and I got to sit in on 'For What Its Worth' and I got to play a beautiful old '57 Strat. They are old friends since the late 60s through Neil Young. I asked them if they'd do this song. It is from the perspective of the wife of a soldier. They liked it. It was right up their alley and they said they'd sing on it. When I got to Los Angeles, I had a beautiful afternoon with a couple of dear old friends. They sang beautifully and added some great ideas of their own. It was kind of a treat to get a couple of my heroes and friends to work with me and help me get something special on a record of my own.
PAUL CASHMERE: It's interesting to see Martin Sexton pop up. He is one of those great unrecognised singer songwriters but here he is with you on 'Whiskey Holler'.
NILS LOFGREN: It might have been 6 years ago, my brother Mark and his wife Kate went to see Rickie Lee Jones at the Birchmere where I recorded the live acoustic DVD. We walked into see Rickie Lee Jones and as I was sitting down they announced this opening act - Martin Sexton. I am used to watching opening acts and enjoy them but the second Martin opened his mouth it was just so stunning. I had to seek him out after the show. I was blown away. We had become friends. He was doing a show in Phoenix and whenever he is doing a show anywhere I encourage people to go and see him. On the way out of town the next day, Amy suggested he come by and sing on my record. I hadn't even thought to ask him but it was a beautiful idea. It is one of my favourite songs. Not only did he sing a beautiful harmony but he created a whole three part harmony solo for the middle section. He banged it out beautifully and then headed off to his next gig about two hours away in Tucson. That was another great gift.
PAUL CASHMERE: On the record you play a Dulcimer. Explain what a Dulcimer is?
NILS LOFGREN: Way back in the 60s on The Stones 'Lady Jane', Brian Jones might have played a Dulcimer. If you hear that sound, that jangly three note thing, it is kind of like an American Sitar. I just found it in a music shop and bought a little tuning book. It just had a sound. I found some strings to fit to that song. That's the beauty of rock and roll. It is simple enough and if you find a sound you like you just go fishing. Whether its an hour or two, you just find a few notes that might fit the song and put the part in. Fortunately the Dulcima worked. I did a lot of writing for this record and didn't try and edit myself too much. Eventually I came up with some surprises to me and that's one of the nice things about giving yourself permission to just write and not edit. I came up with some surprises and that was one of them.
PAUL CASHMERE: What about the glockenspiel? That's an interesting instrument to put on a rock record.
NILS LOFGREN: That's that old bell-like sound you hear in all the old 50's records. It's in the Wall of Sound by Phil Spector and it's in a lot of Motown stuff. Bruce Springsteen uses it a lot on the records with the E Street Band. I had a couple around. They are some nice little touches to highlight some of the piano lines. I highlighted it in the rock spiritual 'Come A Day' and the first song I ever wrote on the peddle steel guitar, 'Trouble'. I just doubled the piano with a little bit of glockenspiel bells.
PAUL CASHMERE: You've played a lot of special gigs over the last number of years. The Jerry Lee Lewis 'Last Man Standing' concert must have been amazing to have been a part of.
NILS LOFGREN: It was great because Kenny Lovelace was the guitar player for Jerry Lee and Jimmy Rip was the musical director and there was another guitarist that the TV musical director bought us. So there were 4 guitar players and of course you don't need 4 guitar players. So Jimmy asked me to sit at the peddle steel. Thanks to the E Street Band starting in '99 I learned a little peddle steel and bottle neck and dobro, 6 string banjo, just some odd sounds for the band because we were another band with 4 guitar players. Surprisingly, the band was so good and covered so much territory and hopeful some tasteful peddle steel would fit in there if I didn't get in anybody's way. I felt there are a lot more qualified peddle steel players but I was just musically challenged and excited by what I was listening too. I was just playing some nice licks and I got to fit in and stay out of the way of everyone. I got to sit in and play my peddle steel. Tom Jones walked out and did 'Green Green Grass of Home' with Jerry Lee Lewis and I'm playing the peddle steel. I don't know, it's just the beauty of rock and roll. It's not so much about technique, it's about feel. I also feel the requirement for being in a great band whether it's been with Neil Young, Ringo Starr's All Star Band or, of course, the E Street Band, really it is about the love of the music more than any technical prowess. Hearing that great old Jerry Lee Lewis stuff with all of those guys and having Ronnie Wood sit in with all those great singers, it was really an extraordinary treat.
PAUL CASHMERE: I was going to ask you about the All Star Band with Ringo because you did that gig twice.
NILS LOFGREN: I did the '89 one which was the first one and then I was asked back in '92. Joe Walsh and I were both repeat guitarists in the '92 band. Ringo is just an amazing person to work for. He is a great band leader. We did a round-robin where each one of us got up and sang our own songs two or three times a night . It was kind of an extraordinary format were you are trying to back up to the best of your ability a lot of different styles and different singers and then you get up and do your own thing too. It was a very healthy, muscular band. It was extraordinary talent put together. The theme of it was beautiful the way Ringo ran it. He would come down the front and sing then he'd go back and play drums. To help him have fun on the road was a real honour because really The Beatles to me have the greatest recorded body of music in history. That was the reason I fell in love with rock and roll. It was through The Beatles then I discovered all the rest of it. I was a classical accordion player playing Beatles melodies in my 9th grade school show. I discovered music through The Beatles and through them discovered all of their heroes back to all of the early blues greats like Little Richard, Jerry Lee, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry, that whole lot. Then, of course, Stax and Motown. There was just an explosion in the 60s. Music was just a lifeline I hung onto and fortunately it is conserving me ever since. I had a metaphorical title on my last album 'Sacred Weapon' meaning whether its love of your family or your dogs and cats, it is about the love of music. Its just humility about love and music and I continue to find it in music, thank God. Fortunately for me, music has become the Sacred Weapon.
PAUL CASHMERE: When you aren't being Nils Lofgren, Rock Star you are at home with the wife and the son and the dogs and the cats. Is it really that normal a lifestyle for you?
NILS LOFGREN: It is kind of strange. I love to perform and I love to sing. I feel really at home with an audience. It is a healing, medicinal thing I get. But as you get older and about 12 years ago I just happened to find this great girl called Amy from New Jersey. Her son Dylan is my step-son. He just turned 17. He is growing up. Then there are three dogs and two cats and a beautiful piece of desert in Scottsdale. It is funny when I am home I'm up at 6 or 7am with the dogs just walking around. I open my garage studio and ease into the day early. When I am on the road I become a night-owl. It all feels natural to me. I wouldn't want to give up either. Of course, it is strange now after 39 years on the road I am experiencing for the first time a pretty intensive home sickness which is good because I have a beautiful home. I have always had homes that were way-stations or pitstops for the road. Now I have an actual home that I love to be in. You never feel like you strike the perfect balance but you just seek the best that you can. I get home when I can. Amy is very supportive of my musical journey. Unfortunately, I have to travel to do it. It is a beautiful thing. I am looking forward to grabbing a few days here and there as I hit the road with the E Street Band in October. I am hoping Amy can pop out and visit me once in a while. I have a frame with all these pictures of Amy and my dogs and Dylan. I'm kind of taken at how homesick I've been getting lately. Fortunately I am very humble and aware of the gift of music that remains in my life after 39 years. It's a beautiful time because I know a lot of wonderful musicians who are either crazy or dead at this point. I feel blessed and lucky to be able to carry on.
PAUL CASHMERE: Nils Lofgren started out with Neil Young's Crazy Horse and you are now with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. It's an amazing resume to look at.
NILS LOFGREN: I started out as a singer songwriter with my band Grin and we made four albums. Then I went on as a solo artist because we just didn't have enough commercial success to keep a record deal. I have always liked to be in bands and I am happy to be the bandleader and sing and play but I don't have to be the bandleader all of the time. I just had some gifts of opportunity thanks to Neil Young on the 'After The Goldrush' and 'Tonight's The Night' records. Then Crazy Horse wanted to make a record with me on it so I joined that band. I love to be in great bands but I don't always have to be the leader. As long as the people and the musicians are really great I can really thrive in those positions. I discovered that early on and discovered that it is good for my soul and spirit to take a break from being the boss for a while. In a band with Neil or Ringo or Bruce I can really put myself into it knowing that it will be a year or 4 months on the road and then come back to my own music. It recharges my batteries and gives me a fresh outlook on life. It is also gratifying to belong to a band of that nature. I have never had a hit record and I haven't had a record deal in 13 years. I'm off the grid. I make music I am proud of and go share and play but the music industry hasn't had much use for me for 13 or 14 years. It is very heartening and encouraging to be in that arena with people like that and know that you belong. It just reminds you that it is about the music and not the business. You can get swallowed up by the business if you're not careful. I've got my website and I started a guitar school at nilslofren.com. There are four one hour lessons you can download. It is kind of intermediate. I talk people though music very slowly. In fact, the first song is 'Keith Don't Go', it is an hour lesson. I show you all of my tricks on the acoustic version. It is kind of a new adventure for me. I've got some free downloads and downloads you can buy. In fact, I have just posted a new download called 'Whatever Happened To Muscatel'. Clive Cussler, who is a best selling author, he and I wrote a song together. It came out beautifully. We call it 'Saloon Country' as a genre. I have my freedom and if I get excited about something I can do it because I don't need a record companies permission. For me anyway, it is nice not to be wrapped up in the politics of the music industry which to me is very counter-productive to creativity.
PAUL CASHMERE: It's interesting talking about the politics of the music industry. Bruce Springsteen touches on that with your new song 'Radio Nowhere'. I guess you share the same opinion.
NILS LOFGREN: In general, in 1967, a good buddy of mine opened up one of the first FM stations on the planet. Fortunately, in the 60s, the Top 20 was like The Beatles, The Stones, The Yardbirds, The Animals, The Kinks, Herman's Hermits, all these great bands with great records and then there was Stax and Motown. The Top 20 was full of great stuff. But even back then, Buddy Miles Express, Electric Flag, Blues Project ... all of those great bands that weren't in the Top 20 you heard on FM radio. Also, the old blues guys, you heard their catalogue. I fell in love with that concept. Now, in the name of money, radio is about playing 20 songs and making millions of dollars so why change? It is just silly. Even if there is one DJ who has two hours everyday and turns you onto good stuff? Satellite radio today is turning us onto that. A lot of Modern Pop stations are stations that aren't burdened with the Top 20. Radio today, the life has been choked out of it. That's just radio. It's just a business. Music fortunately is thriving. Friends, young and old, they hear about stuff that they would never hear on Top 20 radio. Fortunately, we are free to turn each other on to great new stuff. There are some formats popping up that do play a lot of stuff that is not on the Top 20 list. Thank God, because it is just not practical emotionally if you are a listener.
PAUL CASHMERE: The E Street Band should be keeping you busy over the next 6 months.
NILS LOFGREN: We tour America until Thanksgiving and then we go to Europe until Christmas. Of course, with a brand new record our hope is that the record does great. Bruce, as always, has written an amazing batch of songs and I think that the E Street Band is as good as a band as there has ever been. With Bruce out front and the strength of his songwriting, the hope is that record is successful, Bruce is having fun and hopefully in the Spring we will carry on. Right now, we are promoting a record and we have a beautiful challenge ahead of us and I'm just thrilled to present Bruce's music. My wife Amy has been talking for 4 years about how the planet is so screwed that the kind of healing that Bruce brings through his music, on stage and to the world, that the planet can really use it. I am thrilled to be in that band and get a chance to present it. He will do a little healing and spread a little peace and love and joy in the process.
PAUL CASHMERE: The 'Magic' album seemed to be suddenly here. Were you working on it for a long time?
NILS LOFGREN: Bruce and Brendan have such a great relationship. They worked together on 'The Rising' record. Bruce and Brendan had been chipping away at it for a while and we would all go down to Atlanta and put on some parts for Brendan and Bruce to throw in the soap. They would decide what to use and where. I am not exactly sure when they began the project, but as a writer Bruce may have been chipping away at this bunch of songs for a while. That's really a Bruce question, but we are thrilled that it is coming out.
PAUL CASHMERE: You are also on Patti Scialfa's 'Play' album. How much did you do for that?
NILS LOFGREN: That was a record that I got to play a lot on. There is a lot of my guitar on that record. We have a band that we call the Whack Brothers. Steve Jordan, Matt 'Willie' Weeks on bass and Bruce and I. Bruce plays some bass and guitar. I play guitar and some dobro and peddle steel. Cliff Carter plays some keyboards like Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer. It's a great record. I am really proud of Patti. I really loved her first two albums. This record to me is her first. It is funky and earthy. I think people are going to love it.
PAUL CASHMERE: The UK seems to get Nils Lofgren live often. That doesn't happen In Australia. Why?
NILS LOFGREN: I keep wanting to come there but I just can't seem to get a promoter to give me a string of dates. If someone says why don't you come down and play a couple of clubs, by the time I fly by band and crew to Australia I might have to sell my home to pay for it. I just need to get a handful of dates down there and I would love to do that. I keep mentioning it to DJs and writers and promoters but so far I haven't got more than a couple of dates. I don't know if I am coming down with the E Street Band next year yet but whether it is with the band or acoustic, I would love to do it. I've just put out an acoustic DVD called 'Live Acoustic', it is on my website nilslofgren.com. It has some great guests like Skunk Baxter from the Doobie Brothers and some great locals singers. We did some Grin songs with my brother Tommy. That's on my website too. Maybe some promoter will take a look at it, like it and invite me down for a few weeks.
PAUL CASHMERE: That acoustic concert featured Grin. That was the first Grin performance in a long time.
NILS LOFGREN: It was really the first time we had played since Bob Gordon our bassist had passed away. Grin was a true band. We all had an equal say in the band, we all participated equally. Bob Gordon was really a powerful force. After Bob died it never felt right. People would ask us to do things but to be paid money and perform in Grin without Bob didn't feel right so we never did it. This was different. It was a free concert in a park. Bob's son Billy Gordon played bass and Billy Newmar who used to play with me played. It was a good opportunity for Grin to do our first official reunion. There were some handheld cameras there. People just filmed it to commemorate the night. I had no idea that we would be able to put together such as complete DVD out of it. It is very homegrown. My brother Tommy mixed it up on his computer for love. We are doing some proceeds for charity for kids in the DC area for kids to get some instruments who can't. The money goes to charity and it is available on nilslofgren.com. It is a pretty healthy set. We did 6 or 7 songs. I thought it was inspired. It was a beautiful thing having Bob's son out there with us. Being a free concert there wasn't a reticence for us to get together and play as Grin. It was a beautiful day.
PAUL CASHMERE: It's a great story, thank you for sharing it.
NILS LOFGREN: I'm thrilled to be talking about it. If anyone is a fan I would love for them to check out my website and the last couple of records, the DVD live acoustic, Patti's record, its gorgeous. Hopefully, we can get down to Australia and play whether its with Patti or Bruce. Last time we were there we had a ball. The people have been kind. Hopefully someone reading this who owns a few nightclubs can invite me down and I'll do my own shows.
