Bruce Springsteen and the Long Walk Home

I'm busy writing. Just not here. I'm almost finished with a long essay about Bruce Springsteen for Image Journal. I have upcoming reviews of Eleni Mandell, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, and Southeast Engine for Paste. I have a Listening to My Life article for Paste on my father and Simon and Garfunkel. Yes, there is a connection. I have a review of Mavis Staples' latest album for Christianity Today Magazine, and a review coming up of the new U2 album No Line on the Horizon. And I'm looking forward to playing talent scout/American Idol judge as Michael Kaufmann (Asthmatic Kitty head honcho) and I evaluate a bunch of hopeful musicians/bands for Calvin College's Bandspotting event, part of the 2009 Festival of Faith and Music in early April. Last contest's winner, Son Lux (Ryan Lott), was just named NPR's "Unknown Artist of the Year" for 2008.

In the meantime, here's a teaser on the connections I'm pursuing in my Bruce Springsteen article:

My father said "Son, we're lucky in this town,
It's a beautiful place to be born.
It just wraps its arms around you,
Nobody crowds you and nobody goes it alone
You know that flag flying over the courthouse
Means certain things are set in stone
Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't"
It's gonna be a long walk home
-- Bruce Springsteen, "Long Walk Home"

And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-- T.S. Eliot, from Four Quartets