E Street Keyboardist Danny Federici Returns, Springsteen Books Acoustic Show

Last night E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici — sidelined from the tour since last November as he recovers from melanoma — made a surprise appearance midway through the Bruce Springsteen show at the Canseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The founding E Streeter played on "The Promised Land," "4th of July, Asbury Park" and "Spirit In The Night" during the main set and later returned to the stage for the five-song encore. Steve Van Zandt told Rolling Stone last week that Federici was doing great and his recovery had been "a bit miraculous." In other Springsteen news, he's playing a rare solo acoustic show at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank New Jersey on May 7th. Tickets are available through an online auction with a minimum bid of $1,000. That may be a bit steep, but all proceeds benefit the theater, which hasn't been upgraded in over eighty years. Bids as high as $4,000 have already come in from as far as Italy and Scotland. The auction ends on April 2nd.

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

More Song Stories entries »

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