After a period of being available exclusively at NilsLofgren.com (purchase), Nils Sings Neil is getting a traditional retail release via your favorite local record store and online outlets.

The disc hit stores this past Tuesday (2/24) and I had the pleasure of running a radio tour that same morning with Lofgren in which he spoke to radio stations in Boston, Buffalo, Denver, Miami, Seattle, and Philadelphia.

Lucky for us, Springsteen decided to schedule rehearsal gigs in Asbury Park for Monday and Tuesday night (long after the radio tour had originally been booked,) so we got the nice surprise of having Nils on the line, fresh from the first semi-official airing of lots of new material from the Working On A Dream album.

Thanks to the modern world of podcasts and website audio, you can check out audio of the interviews from Boston and Buffalo. Big props to Boston for throwing in a song request for “Chimes of Freedom” at the Boston shows. I’d love to hear that one!

Unfortunately, Nils put a slight damper on the possibility of that request (and others being fulfilled,) yet offered one major helpful tip (that us hardcore Bruce fans are well aware of) on how to get your song request played!

“I’ve learned that unless you have a cute little five year old kid in your arms with a sign, it’s kind of wasted energy..”

Speaking of Bruce:

Pete at Blogness on the Edge of Town has some song samples from the first night, and also hipped me to the following video footage, which I actually enjoyed quite a bit, of NJ.com critic Jay Lustig discussing the Monday night gig. What can I say, I love fellow music nerds on camera!

Ledger Live: Jay Lustig recaps Springsteen concert in Asbury

Rolling Stone has a nice behind-the-curtain look at how Jay Weinberg scored the fill-in drummer gig for the upcoming tour, where he’ll play at least 6-7 of the European dates, and potentially other shows. 18 years old…..started playing drums at age 14? That’s crazy. I’d actually like to see one of the gigs with Jay behind the kit – he’s got the goods, judging by the tunes I heard from Monday night’s show!

Finally – I think all of us really enjoyed Ben’s post over at Deeper Shade of Soul, offering some helpful setlist tips to Bruce for the upcoming tour. I really like the suggested Human Touch/Lucky Town cuts, particularly “Cross My Heart,” which was always a favorite of mine. I’d also like to add “My Beautiful Reward” to that list. I get chills just thinking about hearing “Better Days” and “Lucky Town” again. Granted, the Human Touch/Lucky Town tour was my first Bruce show, but I really enjoyed both albums as well, and I’ve even softened up on cuts like “Man’s Job” for example, that I really couldn’t stand at the time.

Speaking of Human Touch and Lucky Town, they celebrated a birthday this past week.

The tour begins on Wednesday night in San Jose, CA. You’re ready, right?

Can’t wait to start tracking setlists!