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Musician (Guitar)
BIO
Nils appears with Bruce Springsteen on episodes 6 and 7 on season 2 of SPECTACLE: ELVIS COSTELLO WITH...
Although perhaps best known as the guitarist of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band for the past twenty five years, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nils Lofgren began his musical journey four decades ago fronting his own band called Grin that would remain in existence until the mid-seventies. Quickly noticed by Neil Young, Nils would be asked to join Young's band and go on to perform piano/guitar/vocals on the critically-acclaimed 1970 release, After The Gold Rush. The landmark recording would mark the first of several collaborations with Young, including a stint with Neil's band, Crazy Horse, beginning the following year. Nils recently paid homage to Neil Young in the summer of 2008 by releasing The Loner - Nils Sings Neil, a collection of fifteen renditions of some of Young's greatest songs. The CD would mark his seventh solo release on the Vision Music label, while escalating the total number of solo releases to more than two-dozen overall.
Shortly after establishing himself as an integral member of the E Street Band, Nils would join yet another music icon, Ringo Starr, as part of Ringo's All-Starr Band in the late eighties and early nineties. His time with Springsteen coupled with his solo efforts and other musical endeavors have keep Nils busy throughout his career.
In addition to being on the "Working on a Dream" tour with Bruce and the E Street Band since February of 2008, Nils has been immersed in his Online Guitar School that features instructional videos containing lessons for both beginning and intermediate players. The lessons -- which can be downloaded from his official website at www.nilslofgren.com -- were recently translated into both Spanish and Italian.
This year certainly got off to an exciting start as Bruce and the legendary E Street Band rocked Super Bowl XLIII halftime in Tampa, Florida on February 1st with a twelve-minute, four-song performance that included "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," "Born To Run," "Working on a Dream" and "Glory Days." The game and festivities were watched by an estimated 151.6 million people and the Halftime Show would go on to be nominated for four Emmy Awards. Nils believes that, "Playing any gig with Bruce and the E Street Band is like playing a Super Bowl for a hometown crowd and we're guaranteed a victory... we're just working on the point spread."
Nils also wrote and recorded many instrumentals for John Madden's classic "All-Madden Teams" which are featured on TUFF STUFF! The Best of the All-Madden Team Band, also available at his website. Certainly no strangers when it comes to performing in front of huge crowds over the years, Bruce and the Band recently performed five nights at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey followed by four nights at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Enjoying challenging collaborations, Nils is the only guitarist to have ever played with Cab Calloway and Bart Simpson! For Nils Lofgren, it's been a great ride and one he hopes will continue for years to come...
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