The Boss going country.
To be clear, Bruce Springsteen isn’t exactly jumping in on the recent fad of artists outside of the country – like Beyoncé, Post Malone and Ringo Starr – recording their own country music records. He just happens to be releasing a country album he put together in 1995 in 2025. Better late than never, I suppose?
Apparently, Springsteen recorded a 12-track album titled Somewhere North of Nashville while he was also recording The Ghost of Tom Joad back in the 1990s. The latter album was released as the Boss’ eleventh studio album… and the country music record, which was recording with the normal band consisting of Danny Federici, Garry Tallent and Gary Mallaber, that was inspired by rockabilly and honky tonk sound was shelved indefinitely.
Bruce says that the country music sound and ideas that came out as uptempo country happened as a bit of a side project:
“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.’
‘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.”
So now, Somewhere North of Nashville is getting a June 27, 2025 release – 30 years after it was recorded and put together. It’ll be a part of a larger project titled Tracks II: The Lost Albums, which is exactly what it sounds like. A collection of never released songs and albums by Bruce Springsteen will suddenly see the light of day.
Somewhere North of Nashville will feature two songs that were originally intended to be included on Springsteen’s iconic Born In The U.S.A. album: “Stand On It” and “Janey Don’t Lose Your Heart.” And the track “Repo Man,” which was just released this week, will give listeners an idea of what the rest of the Boss’ country music record will sound like:
Interesting to say the least… and I guess it’s a plus that it actually does sound like country music, unlike some of the stuff that other artists outside of the genre have put out in recent years.
If you haven’t heard about Bruce’s revived country record, you’ve likely seen him in the news cycle for other reasons. Earlier this week, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off their The Land of Hope & Dreams Tour in Manchester, England. In front of a full crowd of Brits, the rock star went on a rant against the current state of the America:
“In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration…
The majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply America. The America that I’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real, and regardless of its faults, it’s a great country with great people. So we’ll survive this moment.”
I’m assuming all of those from England that were in attendance were probably like, “Umm… you all were no longer our problem after July 4, 1776. Just sing some songs Bruce!” I mean, if Ed Sheeran started railing about the British government in Topeka, Kansas, would anyone care at all? It makes no sense to me.
But at this point in his career, I suppose you know what you’re signing up for when you go to a Bruce Springsteen show… the rainbow shirt woman in the front row raising both fists in solidarity with Bruce is all the proof you need.
