E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren is ready to share his latest solo project, Mountains, which was recorded during the pandemic.
Lofgren tells ABC Audio that while he loved being home with his wife, Amy, and their dogs, "it was the first time in my life that I didn't do anything kind of professionally," and he knew he needed to change that.
“So I just really hunkered down and I was kind of excited to write a record, just write what I was feeling,” he shares. “And it really was kind of a great adventure when I got into it.”
Lofgren says the title of the album is reflective of the hard times the world was going through with the pandemic and the divisive political climate.
"Mountains was obvious to me because I felt all of us climbing new mountains, new challenges. Everybody had surprising stuff going on that was very challenging," he says.
The album features special guests like Neil Young, Ringo Starr, Ron Carter and the late David Crosby, who Lofgren says had wanted to work with him for a while.
"David Crosby, God rest his soul, friend of 55 years, had told me at the end of the last record, Blue with Lou, 'Let me sing on your record,'" Nils says. Unfortunately, he had already finished that record, which was released in 2019. But then a new opportunity came with the Mountains track "I Remember Her Name."
Nils says, “I called and said, ‘Look, I got an idea for a song, give me a little bit, I'll send it to you,’” and Crosby simply replied, “Great. Count me in.”
Mountains will be released Friday, July 21. It is available for preorder now.