Hey Bruce fans, dig this!

Thomas Mulready from CoolCleveland.Com caught up with Jim Henke, Vice President of Exhibitions and Curatorial Affairs for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, to discuss the new Bruce Springsteen exhibit From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen

Check out Mulready’s video interview with Henke via this link.

The interview is a great chat/look inside the new exhibit, and if you’re like me, you’ll be drooling over all of the Bruce items that are in the background behind Henke. I haven’t gotten a chance to see the new exhibit yet, but I’m hoping to be able to check it out within the next month or so.

As long as we’re talking about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, here’s an event that I want to put on your radar:

Drummer Joe Vitale (Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Eagles, Peter Frampton, etc.) is the next guest in the continuing series From Songwriters to Soundmen. Vitale will be at the Rock Hall next Wednesday (4/15) at 7pm.

Vitale will discuss his awesome new book Backstage Pass: Stories From The Road & In The Studio with Crosby, Stills & Nash, Dan Fogelberg, Peter Frampton,The Eagles, Ted Nugent, Joe Walsh, Neil Young, And Many More. The event is nearing capacity, so if you’re interested in attending, drop an email asap to the Rock Hall Education Department here.

I’ve had a copy of the book for about a month now, and I really love not only the content, but the way it is laid out. Lots of pictures, and a good portion of the content/stories are organized as band/tour specific chapters. Joe and his wife Susie Vitale really did a great job putting this book together. It’s a nice companion piece (in my opinion) to the book that former Eagles member Don Felder put out, although you won’t find much mud in this book – the focus is on the many great stories accumulated from decades spent on the road building an incredible resume as one of rock and roll’s premiere drummers.

From Joe’s website:

Get a Backstage Pass for all the craziness of rock ‘n roll! After years of hearing the comment, “You should write a book!” world renowned drummer Joe Vitale finally takes you backstage for a rare and intimate look behind the scenes, as told to his wife of thirty-five years, Susie Vitale. This book includes Joe’s all-time favorite stories and over a hundred pages of his personal photographs! Backstage Pass is a very personal, humorous, and nostalgic history-in-stories of on the road and in the studio spanning over forty years of his rock ‘n roll drumming career. His stories, dating right up to 2008, include experiences with legendary performers such as Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Eagles, Dan Fogelberg, Peter Frampton, Ted Nugent, Joe Walsh, Neil Young, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Ronnie Wood, Carl Wilson, Rick Derringer, Van Morrison and many more. Vitale’s many songwriting credentials include the classic, “Rocky Mountain Way” from “The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get” album by Joe Walsh and, “Pretty Maids All In A Row” from The Eagles album, “Hotel California.” Vitale has two solo albums and is releasing his third, “Speaking In Drums,” the summer of 2008. His son, Joe Vitale Jr.’s, album, which Joe Sr. produced called, “Dancing With Shadows” will also be simultaneously released. Joe continues to tour, record, write and produce, and has no plans for slowing down. The foreward for “Backstage Pass” is written by David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Stephen Stills.

Purchase your copy of Backstage Pass right here.