What began as a fan-led effort to preserve Bruce Springsteen’s story 25 years ago has culminated in a long anticipated new center dedicated to The Boss and the E Street Band. The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music finally opens to the public on Saturday.
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A preview was held earlier this week, attended by The Boss himself.
The 30,000-square-foot building has 10,000 square feet of space dedicated as the new home of the Bruce Springsteen Archives, and the official location for anything related to Bruce and the E Street Band – including photos, memorabilia, promotional materials, vinyl records, DVDs and oral histories. Fans will see the band’s instruments, clothes worn on stage, handwritten lyric notebooks, set lists, alternate album covers, early concert posters and more.
Start your visit by watching the documentary “The Ties That Bind: Bruce Springsteen’s American Music Journey,” an intro to the center narrated by The Boss himself.
Then, tour 10 exhibits spread out across two floors, including info on the evolution of the electric guitar and Springsteen as a songwriter, and a Behind the Music in-studio room and an in-concert room, while serving as host for the American Music Honors ceremony.
The Tribute to American Music area focuses on exhibitions, concerts and educational programs, like lectures, workshops and film series. Everything from folk, blues and gospel to country, hip-hop, rock, pop and jazz to Latin and Native American music are explored – and that means nearly 48,000 items from 47 countries.
The Temporary Exhibit Gallery has 2,200 square feet of space, with the inaugural exhibit called “Chimes of Freedom: Protest, Patriotism, and the Power of Song,” pegged to America’s 250th birthday.
There’s also a 241-seat performance space for live performances, mini concerts and film screenings.
The museum is also a working archive, so it’s open to amateur and professional musicians and scholars doing research. Teachers can plan workshops and school visits, or ask about online programs to use in their classroom. And through the TeachRock partnership, E Street member Stevie Van Zandt founded a K-12 curriculum featuring lesson plans.
This whole project came about in 2001, when Springsteen fans organized a campaign to collect and preserve items related to his career. The collection was brought to Monmouth University in 2011, and the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University was established in 2017. That means the planning, design, fundraising (the $50 million project was 100 percent donor funded) and opening took more than 25 years to come together.
Monmouth was chosen because not only did Springsteen perform from 1969 to 1974 in the area, but in 1974 he wrote his most famous song, “Born to Run,” in Long Branch. Long Branch is also part of the Jersey Shore, which has been a focal point of Bruce’s career – especially since he played The Stone Pony in Asbury Park countless times, while also headlining Asbury’s mega music-art-sand-surf festival, Sea.Hear.Now in 2024. (Fun Fact: The Asbury Hotel had a suite dedicated to all things Bruce when his biopic “Deliver Me From Nowhere” was released last year).
The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music is located on the campus of Monmouth University, 382 Cedar Ave., Long Branch. The center opens to the public on Saturday, June 13. During the summer, hours are 10 am to 5 pm daily, with extended hours to 8 pm on Thursdays. Timed tickets are $22 for adults, $20 for seniors 65+, $16 for kids ages 7 to 17, $16 for veterans with ID, and free for active military and Monmouth University students.
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