Credit: Kelsey Ayres

Bruce Springsteen’s advice reunited The Gaslight Anthem

Tue 25 July 2023 12:42, UK

The Gaslight Anthem singer Brian Fallon has revealed how advice from Bruce Springsteen helped bring his band back together.

The New Jersey punk-rock band are set to release their new album History Books on October 27th, marking their first LP in nine years. Following the tour for 2014’s Get Hurt, The Gaslight Anthem parted ways although they did briefly reunite in 2018 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The ’59 Sound. However, they have now reconvened on a permanent basis.

In a new interview, frontman Fallon explained how during the pandemic he started yearning to reunite with The Gaslight Anthem and play in front of large crowds again. Unsure what to do, he contacted his old friend Springsteen, who put him on the right track.

“I texted him saying, ‘I need to talk to you, and it’s about the band,’” he explained to Kerrang. “And he’s like, ‘I’m free on Thursday.’ And I didn’t realise that the Thursday that he met me was on his birthday. He went out of his way to meet me for pizza on his birthday (laughs).”

Fallon continued: “And I had a legit talk with him about, ‘Where do I begin? How do I do this? Here are the problems…’ and he just laid it out for me. He understood that he has knowledge and experience, and it’s invaluable. What’s good is that somebody like that would take the time to share with me some advice that I truly believe probably helped the band get back together.”

Springsteen told Fallon to write four songs for The Gaslight Anthem within the next fortnight, which he managed to do before getting the wheels in motion for a reunion with the rest of the band.

Speaking with Far Out last year, Fallon said of The Gaslight Anthem 2.0: “I wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t for the new music. I think I’m not the only one that feels that way. I feel like definitely some of the other guys, if not everybody, would have said, ‘If we’re not gonna do new music, I don’t really want to do it.’”

Listen to The Gaslight Anthem’s new song ‘History Books’ featuring Bruce Springsteen below.