When Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band kick off their spring tour March 18 in Atlanta, Georgia, filling the shoes of the late saxophonist Clarence Clemmons will be the band's biggest challenge. E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zant tells RollingStone.com that's why the Boss has decided to go with not just one saxophonist, not just two saxophonists, but an entire horn section .
"We’re going to have two saxes, really, playing those parts," Van Zandt says. "And whoever plays the sax part will emerge from the horn section, then they go back to the horn section. So it takes the pressure off that spotlight of suggesting that he’s replacing Clarence, which is just impossible to do."
Van Zandt said he's looking forward to touring with a full horn section. "It’s going to fun for me, because as you know I’m a horn guy," he says. "So I’ll be able to have some fun with our soul and R&B roots and emphasize some of that during that tour." Plus, he adds, having Clemmons' nephew Jake along as one of the saxophonists will help both band and fans heal. "I think that helps us emotionally, and I think it’ll maybe help the audience emotionally to make that transition by keeping it in the family," he says.
Meanwhile, although Springteen recorded his upcoming album, Wrecking Ball , with drum loops and modern studio sounds, Van Zandt says the band had no problems making the new material E Street Band material. "It’s not anything radical, but yeah, when we play it live it’s going to be a little different," Van Zandt says. "It’s not like we have any trouble adapting them to play them live. We learned the whole album in like a day."
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
