Bruce Springsteen centre opens in New Jersey

WASHINGTON: A new museum dedicated to Bruce Springsteen and the story of American music is opening in New Jersey, in a tribute to one of the state’s best-known artists.

The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music opens on Saturday in Long Branch, the city where the 20-time Grammy winner was born. The venue stands close to Asbury Park, the coastal town closely associated with Springsteen’s early years and the development of his musical identity.

Spread across two floors, the centre includes a level devoted to major US musical forms such as blues, country, hip-hop and jazz. It also places particular emphasis on artists linked to protest music, including Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, Public Enemy, Kendrick Lamar and Springsteen himself. In a 25-minute film shown to visitors at the start of the experience, Springsteen says:

"I'm the one of a long line of messengers,"

Jared Gilbert, an associate at the CookFox architectural firm that led the project, said Springsteen’s memoir and songwriting informed the design of the museum. He said:

"The stories that Bruce tells in his book 'Born to Run,' and of course in his lyrics, really became the inspiration for a lot of design choices here,"

The exhibits feature a gold jacket once owned by Elvis Presley, a saxophone used by John Coltrane, a guitar associated with Eddie Van Halen and a cap belonging to Chuck D. Executive director Bob Santelli, described as a close friend of Springsteen, said the objects were lent by the artists themselves or by their estates. He told AFP:

"It was relatively easy for me to go and make a phone call and say we'd like to borrow this or like to borrow that,""Bruce's name goes a long way."

Archives, technology and career milestones

The $53 million centre will also house Springsteen’s archives. Santelli said the project was financed largely through donations from what he described as Springsteen supporters with financial means.

Visitors can use listening stations and touchscreens to move through a wide range of styles and periods in American music. Collections director Melissa Kozlowski said some genres were left out because of space constraints. She said:

"Unfortunately we were running out of space,"

Upstairs, the museum traces Springsteen’s earliest performances on the Monmouth University campus, the creation of the E Street Band, his breakthrough in the mid-1970s and the success of his 1984 album Born in the USA.

A significant portion of the exhibition examines the title song of that album, which is still wrongly viewed by some as a patriotic anthem even though it was written as a criticism of how the United States treated Vietnam War veterans. The centre also includes a virtual library featuring books important to Springsteen, who says in a video that he only developed a love of reading at the age of 28. In a replica studio, visitors are able to create their own mixes using a mixing desk.

Political context kept outside permanent exhibits

Springsteen finished a 20-show US tour in May and used each stop to criticise President Donald Trump. However, Trump is not mentioned in the museum exhibits. Santelli said the institution aimed to present a non-political account while still addressing the broader subject through a separate short-term display.

"We strive to tell an apolitical, non-political story. This is a very important subject in this country, which is why we have a new exhibit, a temporary exhibit, that will open with the building that will be there for about six months," he told AFP.