Eric Church Teams With Bruce Springsteen for Acoustic ‘Working on the Highway’ Jam [Watch]
Eric Church got to live out a musical dream in New York City on Monday night (Nov. 5). The country superstar joined one of his own musical heroes, Bruce Springsteen, onstage to duet on one of the Boss' songs, "Working on the Highway."
Click play on the fan-shot video above to watch Church and Springsteen trade vocals on the song, which Springsteen wrote and released as part of his landmark Born in the U.S.A. album in 1984. Their acoustic rendition is very different from the rock arrangement Springsteen brought to that recording. They trade verses in the video, then join together with Springsteen singing high harmonies as they hit the chorus.
The performance was part of a four-song set Springsteen turned in at the Hulu Theater inside Madison Square Garden as part of the lineup for the 2018 Stand Up for Heroes benefit, which raises money and awareness for the Bob Woodruff Foundation. The foundation's website says it "partners with community and national programs, organizations and the military community, and advocates like you, to create healthy, positive futures for our service members, veterans and their families."
According to the Asbury Park Press, Springsteen's performance also included a duet with his wife, Patti Scialfa, on "If I Should Fall Behind," as well as solo acoustic renditions of "This Hard Land" and "Dancing in the Dark."
Rolling Stone reports that Church also played a separate acoustic set that included "Desperate Man" and "Hippie Radio" from his new Desperate Man album, as well as an unreleased song called "Standing Their Ground" that is a tribute to veterans.
The lineup for this year's event — which is part of the New York Comedy Festival — also included Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, Jim Gaffigan and Jimmy Carr.
Church has been very open about his admiration for the music of Bruce Springsteen, and one of his biggest hits, "Springsteen," looks back wistfully on a concert experience that was part of a young romance. Though the concert is a real memory, Church admits he took liberties with the title. The show was actually by another artist, but he wrote the song about Springsteen because of his admiration for his music and career.
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