Bruce Springsteen’s longtime E Street string-slinger gained notoriety playing piano for Neil Young at age 18, but carved out a career with solo work and his band Grin. Now, Nils Lofgren shares his favorites as part of a duo with Greg Varlotta, Sept. 26 & 28 at Vinyl at the Hard Rock Hotel. He recently spoke to Las Vegas Magazine’s Matt Kelemen.
I just saw you on a 1971 PBS documentary on the late Roy Buchanan, playing great guitar on a Stratocaster. It was amazing.
He was one who I first saw play harmonics that sounded like bells. We got to be friends, and I followed him around the D.C. area and saw him play a lot. I was very honored that he invited me to participate and jam with him that day. Certainly a giant influence on me as a guitarist.
Do you still have the guitar you played in the documentary?
Yeah, a ’61 Strat. I have two of them ... I didn’t realize they’d get so valuable ... but I still have them and play them regularly.
Do you prefer to jam?
I like it all. It’s all part of the job. When I get with the E Street Band I like to get there three hours early and do massive amounts of homework—put my hands on the over 50 instruments I have and things I’m a beginner at like pedal steel, lap steel, bottleneck, dobro, six-string banjo ... But also, on the Born in the U.S.A. tour, every night off I went to a bar and jammed with somebody.
Reportedly, when you were asked to play on After the Gold Rush you attached yourself to an upright and played every available moment in preparation. Did that initiate the way you approached new instruments?
I played classical accordion for 10 years. It would take me a year studying “Flight of the Bumblebee” before I could play it. I’d have to take a two-bar phrase and study it for weeks at a slow speed, then speed it up over the course of months. So I learned good practicing techniques.
What are your duo shows like?
Got my buddy Greg Varlotta, who’s worked with me the last six, seven years ... Fabulous keyboards, guitars, sings. He plays trumpet, tap dances beautifully—we use that as percussion ... I jam out a lot on acoustic and electric, kind of the best songs of the last 50 years. I’ve got this box set, Face the Music, that’s out now. It’s … a beautiful representation of what I’ve done recording-wise in the last 46, 47 years.
Nils Lofgren performs with Greg Varlotta at Vinyl inside the Hard Rock Hotel, 9:30 p.m. Sept. 26 & 28, starting at $25 plus tax and fee. 888.929.7849
