Bruce Springsteen’s Guitarist Saved By Bar Mitzvah Gift
Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — Bruce Springsteen’s longtime guitarist Nils Lofgren found himself in a pickle on Friday night: Just hours before a sold-out solo show in Dallas, he discovered that his four vintage guitars had been stolen.
Lofgren, who has also toured with Neil Young and Ringo Starr, tweeted that he was “devastated” by the robbery, but he promised fans that the show would go on.
Thankfully the search for a replacement axe didn’t take too long. Lofgren remembered that his old friend Howard Kweller — now a doctor, formerly Lofgren’s bandmate in middle school — lives in north Texas. A little over two decades ago, Lofgren gave Kweller’s son Ben a guitar for his bar mitzvah. Ben Kweller — who is a noted indie rocker himself — was more than happy to let Lofgren borrow the old bar mitzvah gift.
“Nils knows that guitar and he’s played it before,” Howard Kweller told CBS DFW. “He’s the ultimate performer. I have no doubt he’ll have an amazing show.”
Ben Kweller has never talked much about his Jewish identity, but he does sing the Hebrew word “Dayenu” (“it would have been enough”) on his 2002 song “Lizzy.”
The search is still on for the guitar thief, but Lofgren got to enjoy the show — and the company of an old friend.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
