12-SONG COLLECTION ARRIVES JUNE 27, AS 1 OF 7 UNRELEASED FULL-LENGTHS AVAILABLE ON ‘TRACKS II: THE LOST ALBUMS’ (SONY MUSIC)

Bruce Springsteen will release “Somewhere North of Nashville” in full on “Tracks II: The Lost Albums” (out June 27 via Sony Music), a previously-unheard collection inspired by the sounds of honky tonk, rockabilly and uptempo country. Recorded simultaneously with “The Ghost of Tom Joad” in the summer of 1995, “Somewhere North of Nashville” features much of the core band at the heart of those sessions — including Danny Federici, Garry Tallent and Gary Mallaber. Adding elements like pedal steel from Marty Rifkin (later a member of The Sessions Band) and fiddle from Soozie Tyrell, “Somewhere North of Nashville” saw Springsteen spontaneously cutting material live in the studio with a full band — not unlike what he had done for the recording of “Born In The U.S.A.” a decade earlier. Fittingly, the tracklist for “Somewhere North of Nashville” includes two songs originally planned for that album, “Stand On It” and “Janey Don’t You Lose Heart.”

“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,’” Springsteen recalled. “‘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.”

Listen to “Repo Man.”

Pre-order “Tracks II: The Lost Albums.”

In addition to today’s release of “Repo Man,” Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will kick off The Land of Hope & Dreams Tour tonight in Manchester, England. The first of 16 scheduled dates this summer to over 700,000 fans, the 2025 European run will conclude “one of the most successful tours of all time” (Pollstar) — which has been called “the greatest show on earth” (Billboard) and “a masterclass in the uplifting power of rock-and-roll” (Washington Post). For more information about Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’s The Land of Hope & Dreams Tour, visit brucespringsteen.net/tour.

Photo Credit: Danny Clinch