"Nebraska"

I've always loved the music and songwriting of Bruce Springsteen.

He is, in fact, the biggest influence on my music and why I do what I do.

The Nebraska album was probably one of the biggest "Ah-ha" moments for me in my music career, not just because of the songs, but because of how Springsteen recorded them and the process of those songs once tracked. Recorded on a 4-track cassette tape recorder(Portastudio), the tracks were originally laid down as demos for the E Street Band. When you think about it, this process that he used was one of the precursors to the home recording movement that started gaining momentum in the late 90's.

The band had actually gone into the studio and recorded the album, but it was felt by the engineers, producers and The Boss that the essence of the album lay in the haunting folk sound that ebbs throughout the album. There is speculation as to whether the "Electric Nebraska" recorded by The E Street Band will ever surface. One thing is certain and that is that Nebraska can be attributed as one of the key sounds that attributed to the rise of the Americana music genre that is prevalent today.

The Nebraska album was probably one of the biggest "Ah-ha" moments for me in my music career, not just because of the songs, but because of how Springsteen recorded them and the process of those songs once tracked. Recorded on a 4-track cassette tape recorder(Portastudio), the tracks were originally laid down as demos for the E Street Band. The band had actually gone into the studio and recorded the album, but it was felt by the engineers, producers and The Boss that the essence of the album lay in the haunting folk sound that ebbs throughout the album. There is speculation as to whether the "Electric Nebraska" recorded by The E Street Band will ever surface. One thing is certain and that is that Nebraska can be attributed as one of the key sounds that attributed to the rise of the Americana music genre that is prevalent today.

#43 of Rolling Stones Greatest Albums of the 80's

#224 of Rolling Stones Greatest Albums of All Time

The film "The Indian Runner" produced and directed by Sean Penn is based on the song "Highway Patrolman" that appears on the Nebraska album

Mark Cunningham

July 8, 2014