Bruce Springsteen in the Sea to Shining Sea video.
The Newport Folk Festival’s Sea to Shining Sea project, executive produced by Jay Sweet and co-hosted by singer-songwriter Devon Gilfillian, has featured interviews with musicians that were filmed at various locations around the country. Joy Olakadun, Tyler Childers and Sierra Ferrell are among those who have participated. And the project recently landed its biggest name yet: Bruce Springsteen, interviewed at the new Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch. You can watch the segment below.
During the interview, Springsteen was told that he has been the person whose name has come up the most when other artists were asked, “What song or artist, when you hear it or hear them, makes you think of America?” In response to the question, Springsteen said:
“Well, it’s tough to pick one. … Really it’s just a myriad of people. I guess first and foremost I would have to say Bob Dylan. I often refer to him as the father of my country. His music was the first music where I felt I had a vision of America with the veil torn away and I got to see the truth of how we lived, where we lived: the good, the bad, the ugly, you know. So Bob’s always been my mentor and has been that figure in my life. But I would also have to add Elvis (Presley) and Woody (Guthrie) and bands like Public Enemy, and James Brown, and everybody at Motown. There’s just so many people that played some central part in American culture and American music and influenced me tremendously.
“Bob, of course, influenced my lyrics. Elvis, I think, influenced the physicality of my music. You had James Brown or Sam Moore, who influenced my showmanship. Then you had the guys like Public Emmy who carried on social commentary in a new form and were just incredibly powerful in hip-hop music. So, I really take inspiration from all of those places”
Here is the interview. To watch other segments in the series, visit youtube.com/newportfolkfest.
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