Is A New Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Album In Progress?

(2/6/02, 5 p.m. ET) -- There are conflicting reports as to whether Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band recently spent time in an Atlanta recording studio. A spokesperson for Southern Tracks Recording told LAUNCH, "We'd love to have 'em," while denying a report from the Backstreets fanzine that Springsteen and company had been laying down new tracks at the facility. Springsteen's representative told LAUNCH that no information was available regarding current recording plans. 
However, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirms that Springsteen was in the city for about eight days. In addition, E Street Band singer-guitarist Nils Lofgren--interviewed last Friday (February 1) by author, syndicated columnist, and radio host Tony Kornheiser--confirmed that the group was working on new material in Atlanta . 

"Last week, in Atlanta, we got together--I mean, it was supposed to be a big secret, but it's all over...There were 'spies' in the parking lot when we were down there," Lofgren said. "This is the first step of what would have to be many. And you know, I love Bruce and I hope he takes all those steps, and in a year or so, whatever, on his timetable, does that." 

Lofgren also said, "At the end of the last tour--and many times in recent interviews, with Bob Costas or others--Bruce has indicated...his commitment to kind of rededicate himself and the band to the fans and have another chapter, which involves a record and eventually a tour." 

Last year, Springsteen told Reuters that he was looking forward to recording with the E Street Band again. "I just got a lot [of] just, just music sitting around, and things I'd like to finish at some point," he said. "But I think the central thing for me right now is I would really like to make a record with the band, because they bring out... there's just something. It's a different thought process when I think about writing for that group of musicians, and I think I tend to be more direct in some ways. ... I expand maybe my... scope in some fashion--it's something just about what the band is after all these years that makes me think a little bit differently, so I'm excited about doing that."

Gary Graff, Detroit, and Bruce Simon, New York
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