Friday, March 28, 2014

Springfield Drops In

Courtesy: ABC Soaps In Depth

GENERAL HOSPITAL's Rick Springfield (ex-Noah) will soon turn up on Lifetime's DROP DEAD DIVA playing — you guessed it! — a bad boy rocker with some big-time problems. In the episode, titled "First Date," front man Liam Summers has legal drama stemming from his habit of trashing hotel rooms and comes to the firm for help. Might Jane and new hire Belinda prevent his irresponsible behavior from putting the band's next big tour at risk? "There's all sorts of reasons why Liam thinks he's getting kicked out of the band," Springfield previews. "You'll find out later on why that actually is."
"Brooke Elliott (Jane) is a doll," Springfield says of working with the series' star. "She did some really funny takes." But for the performer, in addition to getting some "meaty scenes," the best part of doing the appearance was getting to work with fellow guest star Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts, who plays the band's manager. When part of the shoot was postponed due to snow, the two had to make fast travel plans. "We both had to go to Nashville, and all the flights were canceled, so he gave me a ride back on his tour bus," the Grammy winner reveals, grinning. "We wrote a song — musicians don't like to waste time! I'm gonna see him next month... I want to write more with him."
Tune in to catch Springfield's episode on Sunday, March 30, at 9 p.m. EST. For more on what the multi-talented man is up to — including details on his soon-to-be released novel — catch his upcoming Keeping Track feature in Soaps In Depth

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Creativity drives Rick Springfield

Scott Hudson, For the Argus Leader
courtesy photo
After more than 30 years in the business, you'd expect Rick Springfield to start taking it easy.

Instead, the man behind such giant '80s hits as "Jessie's Girl," "I've Done Everything for You" and "Don't Talk to Strangers" is busier than ever. He's released new music (2012's "Songs for the End of the World"), starred on a TV series (Showtime's "Californication"), released a couple of documentaries ("Sound City," "An Affair of the Heart") and written an autobiography (2010's "Late, Late at Night: A Memoir"). Springfield even returned to "General Hospital" in 2013 for a few episodes to reprise his role of the legendary Dr. Noah Drake.

These days, Springfield is back on tour and will perform at Grand Falls Casino near Larchwood, Iowa, on Saturday. He's also promoting his first novel, "Magnificent Vibrations," which will be published May 6.

Why does he continue to work so hard? The 64-year-old performer has a simple answer: "I like what I do. … I'm very passionate about the creative side of what I do, and I think that has a big hand in the way you are as a person."

QUESTION: All through rock and roll, there's been music-acting crossovers, but most have been able to do one because of their success in the other. Elvis made movies because of his music, and vice versa for Ricky Nelson. It seems to me that you were the first whose success in both fields were independent of each other.

ANSWER: Yeah, it took people a while to figure out that the guy in "General Hospital" was also the guy that sang "Jessie's Girl." There was a nice moment there where they were completely separate.

Q: Soap operas famously film almost every day. Between the acting gig and your music career, how hectic was that time for you?

A: It was pretty crazy. I was on the road playing concerts on the weekends and doing the show during the week. It was pretty much 24-7 those first couple of years.

Q: Your character on Showtime's "Californication" was amazing. How did that come about, and did you have any say on how you were portrayed?

A: It was just a role that they were looking for with somebody who had some history in the '80s. I auditioned for the part and got it. Then they wrote the part around my name and some of my history. When I got the first episode, it was fairly tame. I told them that I knew what the show was about, so I'm game for whatever they wanted to write. They took me at my word. There was some pretty wild stuff. There was actually stuff that was too hot for them, and they had to edit some of the things out they had originally written. It was pretty crazy.

Q: Tell us about your upcoming novel, "Magnificent Vibration."

A: It's basically a wild story of a 32-year-old guy who has just gone through a brutal divorce, hates his job and thinks his life is over. He steals a self-help book called "Magnificent Vibration: Discover Your True Purpose," and written in handwriting on the front cover is a phone number, 1-800-CALLGOD. So he does, and depending on your spiritual leanings, it goes either right or left from there. It's dark humor, but it does have a soul and does have a kind of surprising culmination at the end of the story. … We've actually already got some great publishing reviews from real heavy literary types, so I'm very encouraged as they love to make fun of musicians or actors who suddenly decide to write a novel. They've been very behind the book.

Q: Did the experience of writing your autobiography lead to attempting fiction?

A: It did, actually. I wrote my autobiography without the help of a ghostwriter, which is kind of unusual for celeb bios. My publisher liked my voice and my writing style and said I should be writing fiction. As a kid, that was what I wanted to do. The only decent attention I ever got at school was for fiction essays, so I was geared up for a writing career until music took over and I channeled that into songwriting. This opportunity was something I couldn't pass up, and I wrote "Magnificent Vibration" as an answer to that.

Q: What can people expect in this stripped-down solo show?

A: I wanted to do something different. I'm bringing a bunch of different guitars. I play slide on a blues song. I also play a bunch of hits, obviously. It's a storyteller thing. I tell a story about the songs, and there's humor to it. It's actually got a great reaction. We started out just doing a couple of weeks of shows, but we've extended it to over a month now, and it may go into years. It's kind of growing as I go.

What: Rick Springfield concert
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Grand Falls Casino near Larchwood, Iowa
Tickets: $30 and $35 for the 21-and-older show at 877-511-4386, casino gift shop or at grandfallscasinoresort. com
original article: http://www.argusleader.com/story/entertainment/music/2014/03/26/creativity-drives-springfield/6925655/

Rick Springfield Plays Colonial Theatre Tonight

Musicworld.com
Pop-Rock Idol, Rick Springfield brings his Stripped Down Tour to The Colonial Theatre tonight, March 26 at 7:30pm. Rick Springfield fans will get to witness the pop-rock idol as they've never seen him before in his first-ever solo acoustic tour! In addition to playing unplugged versions of many of his memorable tunes, Springfield will share stories about the songs and his life during the performances and do a Q&A session with fans after the performance.

Tickets to Rick Springfield: Stripped Down on Wednesday, March 26 at 7:30pm are on sale now for $37.50-$75. Contact the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street, Pittsfield by calling 413-997-4444. Tickets can also be bought online at www.berkshiretheatregroup.org. The Ticket Office is open Monday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturdays 10am-2pm or on any performance day from 10am until curtain.

Springfield is known for one of his most famed hits, the Grammy Award-winning #1 single "Jessie's Girl," a landmark of '80s pop-rock that helped establish the emerging music video age. His 1983 album went platinum on the strength of hits "Human Touch," "Souls," and "Affair of the Heart." That same year Springfield won the American Music Award for "Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist." Springfield is also known for his role as Dr. Noah Drake on the daytime drama General Hospital.

For all of his accomplishments as an actor, best-selling author and documentary subject, Rick Springfield has always insisted his first love is music, a passion he's harbored since first picking up the guitar at the age of 12 in his native Australia.

"That's why I put a lot of thought and energy into making records," Springfield says. "I'd like to continue changing people's minds about me. And I have to write about what I know about, and what's important to me. I'm still hungry."

Collaborating on the songs with his bass player Matt Bissonette, Springfield sets his sights on the possibilities of escaping the current, apocalyptic world situation in our closest relationships, employing the kind of self-effacement and ability to poke fun at himself as he demonstrated when putting his dog Lethal Ron on the cover of Working Class Dog or spoofing his image by playing a sleazy, drug-and-sex-crazed version of himself on Showtime's dark comedy Californication.

On songs like the vintage three-chord rock of "I Hate Myself" and the anthemic "Our Ship's Sinking" (with backup vocals by John Waite and Mr. Mister's Richard Page), Springfield finds the parallels in society's discontent and the heartache of domestic strife. As demonstrated in "Wide Awake," he declares: "I am free to be a kid again," and in "Joshua" he tries to provide guidance to his college graduate son nervous about the future, while "A Sign of Life" and "Gabriel" look heavenward for inspiration; the former searching for either God, space invaders or a soulmate, the latter, a guardian angel's direction. Springfield's wicked sense of humor rears its head in the tongue-in-cheek "Love Screws Me Up," with his original '80s touring band guitarist Tim Pierce contributing a searing solo opposite Springfield's slide part.


"There's real feeling it, but you can't write about that stuff too seriously," he explains about the album's mix of moods. "It's about the world being in flames, but from a very personal viewpoint. I take what's happening to me and place it in a universal perspective...which is what I've always tried to do with my songwriting."

Indeed, before emigrating to the U.S. in the early '70s, Springfield was an established musical performer in his native Australia. He only took up acting-leading to the role of Dr. Noah Drake on TV's General Hospital-as a way of making money to support his musical career. His early albums, like 1981's Working Class Dog and the following year's Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet, placed him firmly in that era's jangly pop, New Wave tradition, leading to comparisons with singer-songwriters like Elvis Costello and near-namesake Bruce Springsteen-influences that can be heard on the new album's punk-rock "Depravity" and the working-class angst of "One Way Street."

"My template for Working Class Dog was 'My Aim is True' meets 'Ziggy Stardust,'" explains Springfield.

Still playing nearly 100 live shows a year, Springfield's current musical career renaissance can be traced back to 2004's Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance and 2008's Venus in Overdrive, which entered the Billboard sales charts at No. 28, his highest debut in 20 years, with Sony Legacy's 2005 retrospective Written in Rock: The Rick Springfield Anthology sandwiched in between. An Affair of the Heart, a documentary which captured the close ties between Springfield and his fans, came out earlier this year, winning special jury awards at both the Nashville and Florida Film Festivals. He also recently wrote and recorded a new song with Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters / Nirvana) along with being a featured guest in Grohl's new documentary about "Sound City," the fabled San Fernando Valley recording studio.

In addition, Springfield's 2010 autobiography, Late, Late at Night: A Memoir, for Simon & Schuster's Touchstone imprint, entered The New York Times best-seller list at No. 13, hitting the Los Angeles Times and Publishers Weekly lists as well, with Rolling Stone recently naming it one of the top-25 rock autobiographies of all time. In the book, Springfield revealed the lifelong depression he's battled throughout his career, a theme he returns to in such songs as "I Hate Myself" and "Love Screws Me Up."

"I'm not the shiny, happy guy people think I am from my role in General Hospital," insists Springfield. "I have a way of beating myself up over things I've done. I tend to put that angst into my music. In fact, if I'd gotten laid, 'Jessie's Girl' would never have been written. But I can't just write about that. There are plenty of 18-year-olds who can do that a lot better than I can."

With Songs for the End of the World, Rick Springfield continues to do what he does best-applying his sardonic view to life as we live it today, offering a ray of hope in the midst of all the turmoil.

"The darker side of my nature creeps in and out, but so does a degree of optimism," he says. "In the end, I believe that solace and healing can be found in the presence of someone who understands, loves and accepts you for who you are, even while these looming threats remain."

Original article:  http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/Rick-Springfield-to-Play-Colonial-Theatre-Today-20140325

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Stripped Down in St. Louis


"Stripped Down"
Friday, March 21, 2014
River City Casino
St Louis, MO
Set list & photo submitted by B. Minett


I Get Excited
Affair of the Heart
Me & Johnny
Light My Fire (Doors cover – only one verse)
Oh Well (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Love is Alright Tonight
Rollin & Tumblin’ (blues cover)
Inside Sylvia (using guitar chords on iPhone)
Honeymoon in Beirut
Don’t Talk to Strangers
Baby Blue (Badfinger cover)
Painted Girl (original version and Beatles-esque version)
April 24, 1981/ My Father’s Chair
I’ve Done Everything for You
If Wishes Were Fishes
Love Somebody
Our Ship’s Sinking
Jessie’s Girl

Monday, March 24, 2014

MUSIC REVIEW | Rick Springfield's "Stripped Down Tour" at the Pantages Theatre

By Patrick Dunn, TC Daily Planet
March 24, 2014
Photo by Patrick Dunn

The first thing most people associate the name Rick Springfield with is his seemingly timeless 1981 chart topping hit “Jessie’s Girl.” On the other hand, many of his adoring female fans were first drawn to his character Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital. Together, these two accomplishments enabled Springfield to springboard into a substantial entertainment career lasting more than 30 years including 11 studio albums, various acting roles and a best-selling autobiography.
Still relevant in 2014, Springfield made a March 23rd appearance at the Pantages Theatre in downtown Minneapolis as part of his “Stripped Down Tour,” his first attempt at a solo acoustic set in the Storytellers format. Of the Hennepin Avenue theatres, the Pantages certainly has the most intimate feel—making it a perfect fit for this show. Although the stage setup was minimal, it still had a classy look with a mix of fancy guitars creating a colorful backdrop for a bar stool, microphone and laptop. You could feel anticipation in the air as the crowd of mostly women was busy talking about their obsession with the artist while also busy grabbing cocktails and taking selfies by the marquee and in front of the stage.

Fans expressed their excitement as Rick Springfield appeared on stage in a stylish suit truly looking half his age and fittingly launched into “I Get Excited.” Although it was clear the motivation for some in attendance was Springfield’s good looks, most where longtime fans as was evident while they not only sang along, but knew all the words. Springfield performed some standout tunes early on and proved to be in good voice on “Love is Alright Tonight.”
Already having worked up a sweat, the suit coat came off triggering another wave of screams prior to Springfield exercising his skill at the storytelling piece of the show. This was also used as a vehicle for him to promote his new book “Magnificent Vibration” due out May 6th. He seemed very comfortable sharing his experiences and often had the audience laughing. It actually was interesting to hear some of his life experiences and learn about the inspiration behind many of the songs, which did add another level of appreciation to the performance.
Springfield showed he’s a capable guitarist, but his vocal kept standing out as his star quality. For example, he nailed the falsetto lines on “Inside Silvia” while upping the entertainment value by playing the guitar chords with his I-phone. Using still more technology, the catchy chorus on “Honeymoon in Beirut” was fattened up nicely with harmonies provided by the laptop he called his band in a box. He didn’t really need it though for songs like “Don’t Talk to Strangers”, where all he had to do was point and the audience could sing any part he directed them too.
The most touching part of the evening developed with an explanation behind two songs that were written as a result of his father’s passing. The performance of “April 24, 1981” and “My Father’s Chair” was inspired and emotional. He shifted into high gear for the Sammy Hagar penned “I’ve Done Everything for You” and the popular “Love Somebody,” which along with new song “Our Ship’s Sinking,” was the strongest material of the night. Of course the show could only properly end with the tune everyone came to hear, “Jessie’s Girl.” Fans were even inspired to rush the stage and make that up close connection with Springfield, fulfilling the expectation of what you’d hope to get out of this Stripped Down performance. In place of an encore, Springfield did return to the stage for an informal Q&A session, which added a unique twist to an already worthwhile evening.
Original article can be found:
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2014/03/24/rick-springfields-stripped-down-tour-pantages-theatre

Drop Dead Diva

Rick to appear on Lifetime Channel's  "Drop Dead Diva"
Sunday, March 30th at 9 pm.
To view a preview:
http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/drop-dead-diva

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Wisconsin tour date


Full band tour date announced:

7/2/14 - Riverfest - Lacrosse, WI
 http://riverfestlacrosse.com/
 

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Rick Springfield looks back, performs show at the Colonial Theatre tonight

By JULIA ANN WEEKES
NH Weekend Editor
.
Rick Springfield leaves behind the usual arena-rocking backing, heading out on the road with a format the
Grammy winner hopes offers audiences a bit more of a "Human Touch."

The "Stripped Down Tour," which includes a concert tonight at The Colonial Theatre in Keene, is a pared-back performance designed as a sort of retrospective of the 64-year-old performer's career, with familiar and lesser-known songs interspersed with stories and an audience Q&A.

And from "Sound City" fame to a forthcoming star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, from the sometimes sordid road trip of his autobiography to an inventive adventure in his first novel, Springfield has some tales to tell.

"I've had a pretty unusual life," said Springfield, whose string of hits over the years includes "Human Touch," "Jessie's Girl," "Affair of the Heart," "Love Somebody," "Don't Talk to Strangers" and "I've Done Everything for You." "I have a lot of stories, and a lot of them were turned into songs, so it's a very natural kind of thing" to share the experiences that shaped the lyrics and songwriting process. "It's told with some humor — not just, 'This is why I wrote it and when I wrote it'."

The more intimate production is a purposeful departure from his usual high-energy, full-band show, with more of an unplugged sort of vibe.

"It's me and a bunch of guitars and stories. It's a very laid-back thing," he said. "There's some hits — you know, some of the hits that I can't really get off stage without playing, obviously — but I tell some stories about them (to add to the performance.) There's some more lyric-driven songs, and there's some fan favorite songs off some earlier albums and stuff from my childhood. It's pretty full scope. We tried to give it an arc of a life, so that's where's I was aiming. It's fun to play, and people really seem to dig it.

"It's very different from the band show ...," he said. "Having the two touring identities is a lot more fun for me."

The approach has played well, with new dates extending his 2014 schedule.

'Sound City' Strides

The tour comes in the wake of the well-received "Sound City" documentary, in which Dave Grohl, of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame, and a who's who list of musicians chronicle the rise, fall and rebirth of sorts of a Van Nuys, Los Angeles, studio and its revolutionary Neve analog mixing console. Springfield not only appeared in the film in interviews but collaborated with Grohl on the song "The Man that Never Was" for the Grammy-winning soundtrack.

"It was a great experience," Springfield said of participating in the documentary and recording sessions. "It was really, really incredible.

"Sound City was my home for quite a while," he said. "I think both me and Stevie Nicks spent a lot of time there just hanging out. It became my home away from home. And I think that's why our stories resonate. We were both part of that studio. My manager (at that time, Joe Gottfried) owned it. I'm glad that he finally got the attention because he loved that studio. He passed away in the '90s, but I know he's up there smiling."

The documentary not only focused on the pivotal albums recorded in the original studio over the years by acts like Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen, Tom Petty, Guns 'n Roses and REO Speedwagon, but featured returning musicians who composed and played new tunes on the 1970s-era sound board after Grohl installed it in the Foo Fighters' own 606 Studios. In addition to Springfield, Nicks and Grohl, the soundtrack's roster included Paul McCartney, Trent Rezner, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Brad Wilk and Tom Commerford of Rage Against the Machine.

Celebrating an Era

"Sound City," which earned a Grammy for best compilation soundtrack for visual media, celebrates the creative process of days past — a technological and musical ode to the imperfections and sense of personality that underscored album creation before the digital age remastered the art.

"Dave did a great job of telling it, too," Springfield said of a story that revolves around recording equipment designed by British engineer Rupert Neve. "It's a difficult story to a degree (because) it's a technical story — parts of it. But I thought it was real entertaining, and it was well done.

"Writing the songs was a great idea, and then we ended up doing a short tour with it, too, opening and closing when they went around for film festivals showing the documentary," he said. " We played Sundance and South By Southwest (SXSW) and went over to London and did some shows over there. We did a total of about 10 shows, I think."

Springfield, whose career also includes acting stints ranging from a heartthrob doctor in the soap opera "General Hospital" to a debased version of himself in Showtime's "Californication," revisits another coveted spot of California real estate this spring when he gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.

"When I first came over here in 1971 from Australia, I lived near Hollywood Boulevard," he said. " I used to walk the boulevard and look for other Australians (honored) there. It's meaningful to be there for sure."

Still, his journey has included some missteps, and he's been open about the bumps in the road. His 2010 autobiography, "Late, Late at Night," dealt candidly with issues such as depression and infidelity, and his current tour continues a conversation about professional and personal highs and lows.

"I think they connect with the humanism, the human element of it — our screw-ups, and as anybody else, our occasional successes," he said. "Basically that's the idea of the whole thing: to illuminate a life, to a degree."

Springfield echoed sentiments shared by actor and rapper Will Smith, who appeared on the "Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" last month and spoke about keeping life in the spotlight in perspective. "You just keep loving people. The thing is to make sure ... your art is a gift to people to help their lives be better and to be brighter," Smith said, cautioning that "you'll see people fail in this business (because) they're in there for their ego and they start doing it for them. And it's like, no, ... you're trying to help people just get through a day."

"I fortunately realized a long time ago that it's about the fans and not about me," Springfield said. "It takes a while to be in the game and get that. Initially, you think it's all about you and what people can give you, not how you got there and how you stay there. Honestly, when you can afford the light bill, (the way you approach your job changes). My mind started to think of other things and go other places and understand.

"It's not an easy life, but it's a fun life, and I'm glad I picked it," Springfield said. "Once you start making money, you get a different perspective on it. Your mind gets to go to other places. The (easing of that) fear is the one gift that money really allows. You can help out the family and other people, and it frees you. Some people just end up thinking about themselves, or like Will Smith said, (others focus on) what you can do for others. It's the only way to live life."

Behind the Pen

That's also the premise of sorts behind his most recent writing project, his first novel. Titled "Magnificent Vibration," the book conjures a bit of heavenly intervention to put a bit of meaning back into one man's existence.

"It's slightly metaphysical," Springfield said. "It's the story of a 32-year-old guy who's been through a brutal divorce and has a job he hates. For him, life is one gray road until he flops over like a dead fish. He steals a self-help book and written on the inside cover is "1-800-CALL-GOD." So, he does. Three people get involved, and where it ends up is surprising.

"It comes out in May," he said. "It's gotten some really good advance reviews from some serious literary magazines so I'm jazzed about that, because they love to rag on guys like me."

Springfield, who tours regularly and continues to release CDs, including 2012's "Songs for the End of the World," said the book came together in a matter of a few months.

"I write a lot on planes. I started on Christmas vacations to Australia. I'm not the kind of guy who can sit on a beach for hours a day. I take my computer with me on airplanes and cars, and it's a great place to write."

CAREER RETROSPECTIVE: From “Sound City” fame to a forthcoming star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, from the sometimes sordid road trip of his autobiography to an inventive adventure in his first novel, Rick Springfield has some tales to tell. His latest pared-back tour has an unplugged sort of vibe, with songs interspersed with stories, and followed by a Q&A with the audience. 
original article:  http://www.newhampshire.com/article/20140320/NEWHAMPSHIRE01/140329938/-1/newhampshire


Rick Springfield to strip down with stories, songs at Penn State York's Pullo Center

The musician talks about touring, working on 'Sound City' and writing his first novel.

By Erin McCracken
emccracken@ydr.com @FlipSidePA on Twitter

Rick Springfield enjoyed a rare moment last month. He was home.

But he still had phone interviews, writing sessions and studio time on his agenda.

"I can't really sit still," he said.

Springfield's spring is packed. He will be on the road with his full band and for solo dates. He'll bring his "Stripped Down" show to the area Tuesday, March 25, at Penn State York's Pullo Family Performing Arts Center.
Springfield said his full-band shows include tunes from his career arc and his latest album, "Songs for the End of the World." Later this summer, Springfield will hit the road with Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.
He said his solo shows are completely different.

Rick Springfield will share stories and take fan questions during his March 25 concert.
Rick Springfield will share stories and take fan questions during his March 25 concert. (SUBMITTED)
"This is laid back," he said, adding that he likes to share stories and bring out different guitars. "There is a lot of humor and a Q&A after the two-hour show."

At first, Springfield said he was nervous to be so candid on stage, but the response from fans has boosted his confidence.

'Sound City'

Springfield had early success with his music in his native Australia before setting out for America. He tried acting at a time when his music prospects had faded and was cast as Dr. Noah Drake on "General Hospital."

The role coincided with his 1981 smash album "Working Class Dog," which spawned "Jessie's Girl."

A few years earlier, in 1976, Springfield said he'd been looking for a manager. Joe Gottfried, who ran Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, was looking to sign new artists.

"It felt like a good mix," Springfield said of the production deal. "We basically recorded a bunch of albums that nobody wanted. But (Gottfried) was really supportive."

They hit the right note with "Working Class Dog." It remains one of the biggest records from the studio, which was later visited by Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Weezer.

Several months ago, Springfield said he got an email from Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, formerly of Nirvana.

Grohl was working on a documentary about Sound City Studios and asked Springfield to be a part of the project. Several other musicians agreed to be interviewed.

From there, Springfield said the project grew legs. Grohl organized an album and tour to correspond with the documentary, "Sound City."

The soundtrack, which features Springfield and Grohl's song "The Man That Never Was," won a Grammy in January. Springfield said, for him, the effort honored Gottfried, who passed away in the 1990s.

"He was so proud of that studio," he said of Gottfried. "I kept seeing him on stage smiling."

Novel and star

Between touring, writing music and working on "Sound City," Springfield found time to focus on creative writing. He said it was the only thing he got attention for in school.

For years, his writing went into making music. But on May 6, he will release his first novel, "Magnificent Vibration." The story follows a man who connects with God via cellphone.

"I have a pretty eclectic view of religious practices and spirituality," Springfield said. "(The novel) has dark humor. It has a heart and a surprise ending."

About a week later, Springfield will get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — a stretch he used to peruse years ago.

"When I first came over, I used to walk the boulevard looking for Aussies (on the Walk of Fame)," Springfield said. "It's kind of fun to be joining them."

In the coming months, Springfield said he might switch gears to acting again.

"I'm looking for a project that works," he added. "I like to try new things. I like to try to experiment."

If you go

Rick Springfield will bring his solo "Stripped Down" show to the stage 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, at Penn State York's Pullo Family Performing Arts Center, 1031 Edgecomb Ave., Spring Garden Township. For tickets, $75 and $55, call 717-505-8900 or visit ThePulloCenter.com. For details about Springfield, visit rickspringfield.com.

original article: http://www.flipsidepa.com/concerts/ci_25375713/rick-springfield-strip-down-stories-songs-at-penn

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Tour Dates announced

New tour dates have been announced:

4/17/14 - Aberdeen, WA - D & R Theatre
4/26/14 - Rapid City, SD - Rushmore Plaza
4/27/14 - Billings, MT - Alberta Clair Theatre

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Rocker-author Rick Springfield gets metaphysical with Magnificent Vibration

Magnificent Vibration by Rick Springfield
Rating:****
March 13, 2014
Peter Roche

Eighties rock and roll heartthrob Rick Springfield is still touring like a madman. We caught General Hospital’s “Dr. Noah Drake” in concert here in Ohio just three weeks ago, in fact, and the guitar-slinging dude from down under put on a hell of a show in support of his latest album, Songs for the End of the World.
       
But in recent years the Renaissance man has been writing more prose than song lyrics; his 2010 autobiography Late, Late at Night became a New York Times bestseller and was named one of Rolling Stones all-time best rock memoirs. Now the man who gave the world “Jesse’s Girl” and “Don’t Talk to Strangers” is dipping his foot into the shimmery waters of fiction.

The results are impressive—and downright apocalyptic.

Coming in May 2014 from Touchstone, Magnificent Vibration is, in many ways, a long-form story version that extrapolates upon themes Springfield first spun into song for End of the World. It’s a cautionary tale wherein the pop star / author deftly weaves armchair philosophy, science fiction, romance, and adventure into one witty (and often brilliant) Zeitgeist-tapping, eve-of-destruction romp that challenges readers to engage in a little self-actualization of their own.

Horatio “Bobby” Cotton is a recently-divorced 32-year old haunted by his past. He’s lonely, hates his job dubbing audio for Cantonese karate films, and misses the “red golden retriever” he lost to his unfaithful ex-wife. He celebrates his loser-hood by wearing T-shirts bearing the logos of famously inept sports teams like the Cleveland Spiders and Houston Texans.

Springfield knows what the view’s like at the top, and he appreciates better than most of us the impact of a public fall from grace. He reciprocates the devotion lavished by fans but maintains awareness of how one’s artistic output can be co-opted and commercialized. He’s seen his work reduced to cardboard sleeves and pin-up posters for the benefit of image-hungry audiences, and was privy to that reduction. For better or worse, Springfield’s been a willing—if somewhat repentant—“player,” and we spot more than a sample of his contrite, blue-collar esthetic in our bedraggled, ADD-afflicted, perpetually horny protagonist. But (also like the singer) Bobby’s honest to a fault. A clever, working-class dog who keeps rolling with the punches, braving one loss after another.

Has success spoiled him yet?

What success? Bobby (aka “Tio”) is Springfield’s Holden Caulfield, a Salinger / Kesey-ian confab caught up in society’s Cuckoo’s Nest of liars, cheats, adulterers, and superficial phonies. He’s a malaise-ravaged miscreant begging for lobotomy—but unwittingly bound for transfixion.

Bobby’s plagued by memories of a childhood spent in a volatile home governed by his prim and proper Presbyterian mother (and vacated by his womanizing father). [We’d call it a “dysfunctional” home, but that term suggests an opposite “functional” home actually exists, which, hypothesizes Rick, may not be the case.] As a boy he busies himself with model toys, guitar lessons, and marijuana. His sole confidant is his frail, mentally ill older sister, Josephine, a gentle spirit who can’t cope with the harsh realities of this world and retreats, tortoise-like, into a deaf-mute shell. He dreams of serpent Nessie swimming her dark loch in the Scottish Highlands, and isn’t bothered that most photos of the mythical beast have been proven fake.

As an adult, Bobby can’t reconcile his accumulated religious guilt with his still-hyperactive sex drive; his libido is hopelessly, gloriously amplified by Old Testament edicts, soft-spoken prayer, church incense, and myriad other spiritual stimuli in some bizarre yin-yang dichotomy of flesh and soul. His first erotic memory is that of his own mother dressing for mass, and his first crush is the mysterious, Vampira-esque girl who converts him to the Mormonism (Bobby’s erection outlasts his faith). Later, he’s seduced by his sister’s nymphomaniac Christian caretaker. Now, even in the throes of depression, he can’t begin to process religious data without rousing “Woody.”

Bobby’s life just gets weirder after he steals a self-help manual from an L.A. bookshop and discovers—scrawled in pencil on the inner jacket—a 1-800 number purportedly belonging to God. Having arrived at another “desperate ledge,” Bobby dials the digits and engages in strange conversation with the Big Guy himself. Naturally, he’s skeptical, but the omnipotent respondent knows Bobby’s deepest secrets, can light brushfires in dingy barroom lavatories on a whim, and scroll emergency messages across car windshields. Turns out the Creator has a sharp sense of humor and is “kind of a dick.” He quotes Freddie Mercury, and thinks humanity’s most profound epithet is “Shit happens.”

His advice? Go for some pizza. Have a coffee.

Following God’s directives, Bobby meets lapsed nun Alice Young and gigantic Mexican landscaper Lexington Vargas—each with a custom copy of Magnificent Vibration (procured from a store than no longer exists) and a hefty amount of emotional baggage. The middle-age misfits bond like exiles en route to Oz’s Emerald City, each exquisitely broken and unfulfilled but dimly aware their fates are entwined. The apparently mismatched outcast / seekers hole up in Bobby’s apartment to ponder the fantastical evidence and meanings behind fresh clues. Later, they attempt to outrace (or embrace) the inevitable in his trusty Kia, which has the constitution of the Millennium Falcon.

Ferreting out their common future isn’t easy: God is effusive on the cell phone, and Bobby is distracted by his lust for the sweetly pious (but tech-savvy) Alice. Then an enigmatic, impossibly-handsome stranger miraculously emerges from a catastrophic plane crash on the 101 freeway and starts tailing them around town, antique pirate gun in tote.

Springfield’s a more gifted writer than his Top 40 hits let on. We always suspected the guy was smart (based on articulate comments made during TV interviews and documentaries over the decades), but Vibration is next-level stuff. One detects traces of his Cold War childhood amidst his colorful, thought-provoking descriptors and self-deprecating barbs. The idyllic homesteads of Kennedy’s “New Frontier” are scrutinized, dissected, and exposed as culture-wide fraud: His words loose and the spigot of his cerebellum left running, Springfield disarms the “nuclear” family and sends up the meaning of “normal.” Magnificent Vibration addresses mental illness and skewers society’s maltreatment of the afflicted and their kin. Institutionalized religion is set on a pedestal—only to be swiped off with an angry arm. Love is deemed sacred, and the giving and receiving of it approached with the same reverence as the Eucharist.

Springfield masterfully leap-frogs several seemingly incongruous sub-plots and narrative strands over one another until all are united in a singular cosmic Technicolor ribbon, and employs a different font for each: Bobby’s present-tense odyssey is printed in a standard typeface, while his flashbacks unfold in italics (until the two timelines converge). God, the “OSB”—the Omnipotent Supreme Being (he prefers “Arthur,” actually)—thinks aloud in an ornate, divinely script. Sinister agent provocateur Merikh is assigned his own devilish font, and background information regarding an old Scottish fisherman and the fabled Loch Ness Monster (both of whom are pertinent later) are likewise distinguished.

Given its freakish chain of events, otherworldly ramifications, and looming religious overtones, Magnificent Vibration echoes the ruminations of other well-regarded “thinking” books and film that mash pop culture with the paranormal / metaphysical. Indeed, Springfield’s novel reads like a wacky puree of the five (yes five) installments of Douglas Adams’ beloved Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy series and John R. Powers’ iconic The Last Catholic in America (and its sequel, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?). Like Hitchhiker’s Guide, Vibration ends abruptly, and with a cliffhanger climax (calling for an unorthodox act of love / sacrifice on the part of the heroes) that puzzles more than it pacifies. Shades of Donnie Darko and X-Files abound, and yes, we want to believe.

The characters and phenomenon depicted in Vibration are significantly strange and progressively preposterous enough to warrant total suspension of disbelief, always going “north of the impossible," and priming us for whatever happens next. Springfield (Mr. Mission: Magic! himself) could base a follow-up in Scotland, outer space—even heaven itself—without a single reader questioning the setting or circumstances.

Here’s hoping he does.
Original article :http://www.examiner.com/review/rocker-author-rick-springfield-gets-metaphysical-with-magnificent-vibration

Friday, March 14, 2014

Rick Springfield “Stripped Down” at Yoshi’s San Francisco | San Francisco, California | 3/13/2014 (Concert Review)

Venue: Yoshi’s San Francisco
Where: San Francisco, California
When: March 13, 2014
Review and photo by Jason Debord

“…I thought, ‘you know, there’s no better translator of Black American Blues than a middle-class, 16 year old Australian white child’.”  Part of Rick Springfield’s storytelling in-between songs, it was apparent early on that not only has he led an interesting life, but he has real depth as well as a self-deprecating sense of humor.  Though he is best known for that one big 80s hit (“Jessie’s Girl”) and acting on General Hospital as Dr. Noah Drake, he is a great storyteller and certainly a real artist with some great music and a knack for bringing it alive in a special way in an intimate venue.  The highlight of the night for me was his very personal rendition of “My Father’s Chair”, a song about the loss of his dad many years ago.  It’s rare to see an artist connect with such a powerful song on stage, and present such vulnerability to an audience.  This set of solo shows is definitely well worth checking out, and in many ways more compelling than the traditional, full band rock show, as Rick Springfield has a lot of storytelling in him, in both personal accounts from his life as well as his music.

Last night’s show was hosted at Yoshi’s San Francisco, which is one of my favorite Bay Area venues, mostly attributed to the classy and intimate atmosphere.  They put on an entirely unique sort of show, and bring in great artists all year long.
Titled as the “Stripped Down” tour, my expectation was that it would be a mostly acoustic show, which it was, but what was truly stripped down was Rick Springfield in talking about very personal moments in his life – time in the Vietnam War, his marriage and related challenges, the aforementioned loss of his father.  It was really remarkable to see a man open up about things that most wouldn’t share too openly.
Like life, it covered a wide spectrum of emotions and reactions, including a lot of laughter.
It was definitely a crowd that tilted heavily toward woman – I think I could count the other men in the room on my hands.  Which is kind of a shame, because he is really a great musician, but has sort of a sex symbol status that maybe keeps men less interested.
There was a special meet and greet option, which I also participated in, so it was a great way to kick off the evening.

Of course, Rick Springfield is the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, who has also been involved in other pursuits such as acting and writing.  Though Australian born, now in his mid-60s he said he’s lived in the U.S. just as long as his country of origin at this point, and his now subtle accent is evidence of his time in the States.
Rick opened the show talking about his “band in a box”, with some pre-recorded tracks to back his solo live performance.
“This is all me singing and playing on this… so, you know, it’s a solo show.  But the good news is, instead of one, you get seven or eight of me sometimes.”  The added sounds were brought to life on his Apple laptop on the adjacent stool, and while mostly subtle, created a fuller sound on some of the songs performed.
Rick definitely had a unique approach to putting his show together, which was filled with some surprises, including using a cell phone app in place of a practical guitar for one of the songs.
Weaved into his stories were a lot of insights, like how great songs are often born out of arguments.  When he got to the point of talking about the loss of his dad, he said “it’s never all good, and it’s never all bad, it’s always both at the same time.”
He did cover Badfinger’s “Baby Blue”, also recounting a story about writing music with Todd Rundgren.
He also played the first song he ever wrote, “Painted Girl”, which was interesting in that he did two versions, the latter a Beatles-esque version that worked well, in a playful way.
He also debuted a brand new song, “If Wishes Were Fishes”, which I thought was fantastic.  He prefaced it all saying, “you need to put your dreams into action to make them happen.”  The song was both clever and funny, and a great, catchy song as well.
Rick closed out the show with a story about the genesis of “Jessie’s Girl”…
“In 1979, I hadn’t had a record deal for five years”, he said.  “I started to think, maybe this music thing isn’t going to work out for me.  So I thought, what’s the next step for a musician?  It is… ?”
Many in the audience shout out “acting!”
To which he retorted, “No, stained glass master…”
He talked about working making stained glass, and one day a girl walked in…  and a guy walked in – her boyfriend – and she wouldn’t give Rick the time of day.
He took his “sexual angst home”, and thought about making a song about…  Gary and Gary’s girlfriend.  Gary didn’t work, so he tried Randy, and then “thank God, I finally got the guy’s name right”.
That song is certainly a staple of 80s music (of all genres) with a universal theme that men can relate to as well as that catchy riff (I was lucky enough to catch a more rocking version at the Sound City Players show in Hollywood about a year ago, which I recorded and put on YouTube).  Last night’s performance of the same “stripped down” can also be found on YouTube).
Throughout the show, Rick referenced his upcoming book, Magnificent Vibration, which is due on sale May 6th.  His first novel is described as follows:
These are the kinds of questions Horatio Cotton, aka Bobby, asks in New York Times bestseller Rick Springfield’s debut novel, Magnificent Vibration.
After stealing a mysterious self-help book called Magnificent Vibration: Discover Your True Purpose from a bookstore, Bobby calls the 1-800 number scrawled inside the front cover, only to discover that he has a direct line to God. This launches Bobby on an unlikely quest, serendipitously accompanied by a breathtakingly sexy and exceedingly sharp travel companion named Alice. Together the pair sets out to find some combination of spiritual and carnal salvation—and possibly save the planet.
By turns hilarious, poignant, over-the-top, and deeply meaningful, Magnificent Vibration is a highly original novel about the biggest questions one man—or mankind—has ever asked.
Rick of course released his own memoir, Late, Late at Night, a few years ago, which was on the New York Times bestseller list.

Below is the set list for the show…
Setlist:
I Get Excited
Affair of the Heart
Me & Johnny
Oh Well (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Love is Alright Tonite
Rollin’ & Tumblin’
Honeymoon in Beruit
Don’t Talk to Strangers
Baby Blue
Painted Girl
My Father’s Chair
I’ve Done Everything for You
If Wishes Were Fishes
Love Somebody
Written in Rock
Jessie’s Girl

Jayn from Alice 97.3 hosted a post show Q&A, with nearly all of the questions coming from the audience.  This provided yet more insights into Rick Springfield and his life.
The most interesting to me was his thoughts about education, prompted by a question from a middle school teacher in the audience.  She asked Rick for his advice to teachers, since he himself was “disconnection from the school process” (Rick did not finish high school).
He opened saying, “My view, I don’t think, is very popular.  A lot of the most successful people actually don’t have a lot of schooling.”
He talked about school being good, as it gives guidance, but in his own life passion is what helped him to find his success.  He said a good teacher can help a kid stay focused, and find their own passion.
All in all, it was a really special show and well worth turning out for to see him perform and learn more about his experiences and views from living a rich life.

Q&A  :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsj4qlR1DJ0

Original article :  http://rocksubculture.com/2014/03/14/rick-springfield-stripped-down-at-yoshis-san-francisco-san-francisco-california-3132014-concert-review/

Thursday, March 13, 2014

KGO 810 Radio Interview

Rick Springfield was on the radio today, interviewed by Ronn Owens from KGO 810.
To listen to the Podcast click here

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Rick Springfield, Rob Hirst, Scott Owen Play For Russell Morris On Van Dieman’s Land

by PAUL CASHMERE on MARCH 12, 2014
Russell Morris has gathered an impressive list of famous friends to play on his new album ‘Van Dieman’s Land’.
Rick Springfield, Rob Hirst of Midnight Oil, Scott Owen of The Living End, Joe Camilleri of The Black Sorrows, Ross Hannaford of Daddy Cool, Vika & Linda Bull, Phil Manning of Chain and Joe Robinson joined Morris to record the album over recent months in Melbourne.

‘Van Dieman’s Land’ is the sequel to the platinum selling ‘Sharkmouth’ which gave Morris his first ever Top 10 album and first hit record in 40 years.

Like ‘Sharkmouth’, ‘Van Dieman’s Land’ will also tell the stories of historic Australian real-life characters. “I spent over a year researching these great Australian stories,” Morris said. “To me these albums are about looking back at the characters that deserve to be remembered and then doing that in the best way I know how—through song. It’s about leaving a legacy that in fifty years’ time, someone can put these records on and learn something about the spirit of our great country, in the same way we do when we read The Man from Snowy River.”

Morris had the idea to tell Australian history in blues songs around 5 years ago but it wasn’t until the album reached the ears of Ambition Entertainment’s Robert Rigby did it find a widespread release.

“Australia has an amazing history of yarns,” Russell says. “From Banjo Patterson and Henry Lawson, through to Paul Kelly and Bryce Courtney the Australian experience has always been retold in story. Americans have a proud tradition of folk songs passing their history down through the generations and while there are some amazing songwriters celebrating modern Australia, I wanted to create something that connected people today with the characters that shaped them”.

‘Van Dieman’s Land’ will be released on Ambition through Universal on April 11, 2014.

Original article is posted here:
http://www.noise11.com/news/rick-springfield-rob-hirst-scott-owen-play-for-russell-morris-on-van-diemans-land-20140312

More shows announced

Full band show:
6/6/14 - Mid America Center
Council Bluff, IA
With special guests: Eddie Money & Little River Band
Tickets on sale 3/14 on Ticketmaster
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/06004C5AAC2C97E6

Stripped Down
6/11/14 - Tarrytown Music Hall
Tarrytown, NY
Tickets on sale 3/14
https://tickets.tarrytownmusichall.org/eventperformances.asp?evt=1514

Photo by Renata Hearn

Monday, March 10, 2014

Australian singer, actor Rick Springfield Pens apocalyptic novel

By Tom Lanham
Courtesy Photo      Actor-musician Rick Springfield — who appears in the Bay Area this week — 
recently has added fiction writer to his résumé.
At 64, Australian-born Renaissance man Rick Springfield has done it all, starting with his early-1970s stint as a teen idol with the hit “Speak to the Sky” and the Saturday morning cartoon “Mission: Magic,” in which he transformed into a caped superhero (Quentin Tarantino once approached him, praising the show).
Later, he played Dr. Noah Drake on the soap opera “General Hospital,” to which he recently returned, with the script attributing a 23-year absence to
a Doctors Without Borders career.

And he’s still acting. Coming off a recurring role in “Californication,” he recently filmed a cameo for “Drop Dead Diva.”

Then there are his smash pop singles, such as 1982’s Grammy-winning “Jessie’s Girl.”

Springfield, who plays two Bay Area shows this week billed as “Stripped Down — An Intimate Solo Performance of Music and Storytelling,” also can claim another title: New York Times best-selling author.

In October 2010, his tell-all autobiography “Late, Late at Night: A Memoir” rose to No. 13 on the list, prompting his publishers to point him in another direction.

“They liked my voice from the autobiography and said, ‘You should be writing fiction,’” says Springfield, a lifelong bibliophile. “And in school, I’d always wanted to be a prose writer. The only thing I got good marks for were my essays.”

Instinctively understanding how a book should flow gave him the courage to tackle “Magnificent Vibration,” his first novel, which is slated for release in May.

He admits that having the discipline to complete the book was difficult. He says, “It was like anything. You get inspiration, but the hard work of nailing and finishing it is brutal.”

He describes the beginning: “I was on vacation in Australia, and I got up one time at 3 o’clock in the morning and thought, ‘If you don’t get up right now, walk to the computer and write Page One, then you’re never going to do it.’”

The plot started with a fun concept — a protagonist unearths an 800 number that’s a direct line to God — then spins off onto apocalyptic, environmentally concerned tangents, a la the singer’s dark 2012 album “Songs for the End of the World.”

He kept working on it — on planes, in hotel rooms and in one final burst at home while his family was away for five days. He’s already considering a sequel.

Springfield admits that red wine helped his creativity. He says, “I had to get a little buzzed to finish it. But I got so involved in the characters, I couldn’t wait to get back to it, just to see what would happen next. It was like reading a book — I was really sad to see it end, actually!”

IF YOU GO

Rick Springfield
Where: Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday
Tickets: $99 to $175
Contact: (510) 238-9200, (415) 655-5600, www.yoshis.com
Note: Springfield also appears at 8 p.m. Thursday at Yoshi’s, 1330 Fillmore St., S.F.

Original article can be found:
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/australian-singer-actor-rick-springfield-pens-apocalyptic-novel/Content?oid=2729491

Milwaukee, WI 3/5/14 - Pabst Theater

Fan Review

Rick mentioned again this past weekend that there would be a DVD of the Solo tour.  Given that, and for all the people still planning to catch the Stripped Down show for the first time, we will try to avoid any spoilers.

I Get Excited
a song he wrote about his hot girlfriend who is now his hot wife.
Affair of the Heart.
At this particular show he actually started out with the line "When we make love" and caught himself.
A couple of people came in late, and he said "I came all the way from LA and I got here on time.
Also while this was going on security was telling people to stop taking pictures.  At the end of the song he told security he was ok with people taking pictures because "with this face, there's no such thing as a bad picture" (wink).  Then he goes on to say he's seen the pictures that people take and made some faces of some poses that can be captured that aren't very flattering.
Me and Johnny
He talks about growing up in Australia and his friendship with John Kennedy.
He also tells a very funny story about his grades in school
Light My Fire
He sings part of this song and talks about his experience in Vietnam
Oh Well
He explains Band in the Box
He talks about the upcoming novel Magnificent Vibration, how 2 of the 3 top literary guys from Rolling Stone gave it a good review, but Rolling Stone never really gave him a good review on any of his music so he gave a big FU to Rolling Stone.
Love is Alright Tonite
He says he wrote this song at 29 for what he wanted to be like when he was 15.
He takes off his jacket, so that becomes the "stripped down" portion of the show
Rolling and Tumbling
Tells the story about his first band being a Blues Band starting the song with "I Dig You Tony!"
Honeymoon in Beirut
Talks about living in a beautiful house, looking like they are living the perfect life, when inside all hell is breaking loose.  (He has yet to mention that he sold that house to Mel Gibson)
Inside Silvia
He has a new ap on his phone that plays guitar and he does the first part of this song using the ap on his phone.
Don't Talk to Strangers
Baby Blue
He calls this a song he wished he had written, then tells a hilarious story about an experience with Todd Rundgren.  This story probably gets the biggest laugh of the night.
Painted Girl
First song he ever wrote.  He plays the "original" version and then the version the way it sounded in his mind back then.
April 24, 1981/My Father's Chair.
This is always a very emotion portion of the show.  Most of the time he sings at least one line (this time it was "I watched my family...." during the middle away from the microphone, not playing guitar, and you really hear the raw emotion of the song.
I've Done Everything For You
He tells a very funny story about Sammy Hagar and his tequila
If Wishes Were Fishes
He talks about the story behind the phrase.  He also talks about an interesting statistic about the powerball.
The most laughter seems to come from the Miley Cyrus line - a close second is the "I wish people whole quit calling me...."  line
Most applause seems to come from the Noah Drake reference (although he never says the name) and the line following it.
At the end of this song, he spills his tea on the Magnificent Vibration book (which isn't really the book, its the cover over a different book), and on his phone.  People were yelling "save the book" not realizing it wasn't the real thing.
Speak to the Sky
He played a little of this on his phone to make sure it was still working after the spill.  He then knocks some other stuff over and wonders out loud "How do I drive, really?"
Written in Rock
He talks about being married to his wife for 30 years and when you've been together that long "shit goes down"
A string had broken on one of the Acoustic guitars, he told us the guitar had been given to him by MGM at EFX, and this it was a 10,000.00 guitar.
Just One Kiss
He played part of this song to check the guitar
Love Somebody
Talks about Patti Hansen and KeithRichards
Our Ship is Sinking
(not really a story with this one)
Jessie's Girl
He asks what the obvious next step is for a musician who doesn't seem to be making it in music.  If you've been to the shows and you know the answer, probably would be best not to shout it out, and let him tell his story.  Just Saying.
Human Touch
He doesn't always do this one, but was nice to see it.
Q&A
There are rules to the Q&A, that are often ignored.  No multipart questions, no asking for hugs, or kisses, or birthday songs.
Some of the questions asked were - who his favorite current author is - he settled on Mitch Albom.
He was asked about future acting projects and he talked about Drop Dead Diva and that he was writing some stuff himself.
He was asked what his parent's best advise was, and he said when he was trying to decide whether to go after a music career or go back to school, they told him to do what he really to do, and to "never give up, never give up, never give up"
He was asked how close he was to his character in Californication.  He said not at all (at least he hoped not)
Someone said that they wouldn't sell her a tshirt at the merch booth because it was already closed.  Some laughter followed and Rick said "that's not really a question"
There was a guy there with an Aussie accent who asked him what he missed the most about Australia.  Friends and the country, dessert/terrain.
Someone asked if he remembered his banker back in the 80's (I think her name was Becky).  He asked if that was her, and she said no, but that she worked with her and she said to say "Hi".  So Rick says to tell her Fing Hey from me.  Rick Fing Springfield says Hey.
He was asked when Noah Drake was coming back.  He said he would never say never but it wasn't very challenging when he only comes back for a day or two, and his lines would be "I'm back from Doctors without borders and I need to get the F out of here in a day and a half".
He was asked what the strangest thing that happened to him at a gig, and he said he played the Buddakan back in the 80's and the audience is nice and polite and he came out with his Rock Star pose and the girls were giggling with their hands over their mouths, and he realized that his pants were unzipped and his shirt was hanging out of his fly.
He was asked if he ever got nervous before he went on stage, and he said not anymore, that is was more excitement than nerves, but that he played with his back to the stage when he was 15.
He was asked what kind of dog Gomer was, and he said they figured out he was part Catahoula, and the way they figured that out was that David Carradine had seen Gomer and mentioned it (and he also mentioned he had been in a tv show with David Carradine - aka Human Target)

The show lasted right at 2 hours from start to end of the Q&A.



Sunday, March 9, 2014

Buy A Lithograph at the Show

Starting with the Nashville Shows in February, the merch table has been selling lithographs of Rick's own artwork from the upcoming Magnificent Vibration novel.  There is a choice of 3 different lithographs - A dog named Murphy, an outer space themed Litho with the word God on the bottom and a Nun, Alice .  Rick will personally sign them after the show (normally no posed photos allowed).  You also receive a free copy of the book that will be mailed to you in May and you are entered in the Magnificent Vibrations contest going on over on http://magnificentvibration.com/.  Cost is 50.00.

Rumor Has It - 3/9/14

During the concerts this weekend, Rick mentioned a couple of things: A possible tour in November in Australia and a possible Christmas tour (performing Christmas songs).  We will see what the future holds.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Rick on Drop Dead Diva

Drop Dead Diva" season 6 spoilers reveal that Rick Springfield will join the cast taking on a role that is right up his alley as rumor has it that the show has been cancelled and season 6 will be its last.
The rock star of the 80s will play (what else?) a rock star who is battling legal issues. According to radiotvtalk, Rick Springfield had to take two trips to film his scenes for the "Drop Dead Diva" season 6 after filming closed down last month due to the snow storm.
There's no word yet on when "Drop Dead Diva" season 6 will air the Rick Springfield episode although the blog presumed it will be "sometime in late April or May."
Meanwhle, season 6 will be the last for the TV series, according toHollywood Reporter.
A two-hour premier on March 23 at 9 p.m. will kick off the final season and aside from Rick Springfield, Virginia Williams, S. Epatha Merkerson, Corbin Bleau, John Ratzenberger, Colin Egglesfield and Jay DeMarcus will also guest star in the show.
The show was cancelled during the fifth season, Hollywood Reportersaid, over financial constraints. Three months later, the show was reincarnated when Lifetime and Sony Pictures Television crafted a financial model that was cost-effective.
Even if "Drop Dead Diva" picked up several awards such as the GLAAD awards and the Gracie Award for the star Brooke Elliot, ratings for "Drop Dead Diva" declined steadily from 2.84 million average in season 1 to just 1.99 viewers during the fifth season.
The show is about a model who was killed in a car crash and reincarnated as a lawyer. It stars Brooke Elliot, Margaret Cho and April Bowlby. The series chronicles her adventures and misadventures in the courtroom as well as her personal life.
Lifetime's decision to make "Drop Dead Diva" season 6 its last came in the wake of the "Army Wives" cancellation after seven seasons.
Original article can be found :http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/82884/20140309/drop-dead-diva-season-6-spoilers-cancelled.htm

photo from Jay DeMarcus Twitter Page

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

No end to the work for "Working Class Dog" Rick Springfield

Published March 5, 2014
by Matt Mueller
Some may consider Rick Springfield a one-hit-wonder (though his 17 songs in the top 40 would seem to disprove that), but Rick Springfield's career is far more than pestering Jessie about his girl.

The '80s rock star continues to tour – including his current "Stripped Down" tour, his first ever solo tour which brings him to The Pabst Theater tonight. In between shows, he's appeared in two recent documentaries – with his fans as the subject of "An Affair of the Heart," which played at the 2012 Milwaukee Film Festival, along with a significant part in the acclaimed rock doc "Sound City" from Dave Grohl – and wrote a memoir "Late, Late at Night" with his first dive into fiction, titled "Magnificent Vibration," gearing up for release in May. He also receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in May.

OnMilwaukee got a chance to talk to Rick Springfield and ask him about touring solo, his most recent cinematic and literary projects, and if he's had enough of "Jessie's Girl."

OnMilwaukee.com: How did you decide how you wanted this storytellers-style solo show to come together, without a band and with a Q&A session and an emphasis on storytelling?

Rick Springfield: We thought the Q&A idea might be a cool thing to add into it to help make it a different show, the band show. It's a different set list, although I do some of the hits. It's more lyric-driven and story-driven show. The band show is very high energy, and this is much more laid-back. We can talk and have fun and kind of ad lib and have a more relaxed kind of show.

OMC: What's the weirdest question you've received so far in the Q&A session?

RS: By that time, everyone is in the vibe, and they just ask mostly real questions, hoping for answers they want to know. Nothing particularly weird, other than "Boxers or briefs?"

OMC: You're performing a lot of songs that you haven't really played before live. You're focusing on a different set list then with previous tours. What's a song that you're bringing out on this tour that you've really wanted to play in the past and now you get a chance to play it now?

RS: There's a song off of "Rock of Life" called "Honeymoon In Beirut" that's always been a really complex song, and it didn't really fit any set list I was doing with the band. So I pulled that one out because lyrically, it's just a really interesting story, and I think it's one of the better songs I've written.

I pulled out a song I wrote when I was 15 years old. It's pretty horrible, so it kind of shows where it all started. I wrote a song especially for this "Stripped Down" thing. There's a lot of different stuff in there.

OMC: What's the song about that you wrote as a 15-year-old?

RS: It's called "Painted Girl," and I think it's about women who wear makeup. I'm not quite sure, because none of the girls I knew back then wore makeup.

OMC: Why did you decide to write your first fiction novel as well? Where did that idea come from?

RS: I always wanted to write. I thought I was going to be a writer when I was a kid. It was what I loved to do, and then music took over, and I channeled it into songs. But when I wrote my autobiography (which I wrote myself with no ghost writer), my publisher loved my voice and suggested that I should be writing fiction. I always wanted to, so I did it, and it's actually been getting some great reviews. I'm excited about it. You never know; it's my first thing out, so it's always a crap shoot.

OMC: Where did the story for the book come from?

RS: It started out with an idea about conversations with god and messing around with that. The story kind of grew out of that. It's dark humor; you have to have a sense of humor to read it. It's starts out with a 32-year-old after a brutal divorce. He hates his job, and he thinks his life is one grey road until he flops over like a dead fish. So he steals a self-help book called "Magnificent Vibration in the Land of Desperation," and on the inside cover, there's a phone number: 1-800-CALL-GOD. So he does. Depending on your spiritual beliefs, it goes north or south from there.

OMC: Where did you really get this idea from and flesh this idea out from?

RS: It just kind of wrote itself. I know a lot of writing classes and everything say that you should have the arc or understand where you're going before you start. But I've never written like that. I always just kind of launch into it and discover it along with the characters. And that's pretty much what I did with this.

It's a bunch of different voices in there; it's not just a straight narrative. It goes back and forth in time and out into space and all over the place. I'd write a section and go, "I have no idea what that means," and then later on, it would kind of reveal itself and come together. So it was a fun thing for me to do too. I was looking forward to getting back to it and find out what was going to happen.

OMC: You also recently played a role in the music documentary "Sound City," and one of the more emotional moments is when you're talking about leaving your manager at the time, Joe Gottfried. What was that experience like telling that story to the camera, and was there anything that you wanted to say that didn't make it through the edit?

RS: No, they got the best stuff from what I wanted to say. I was really excited for Joe that this studio that he loved so much was getting all of this attention. Every time I played or any time saw anything on TV about it or anything, I could see him standing off to the side smiling.

OMC: What was it like retelling that story because it seemed a bit painful talking about it on camera?

RS: Yeah, I didn't really expect to get into it, but I kind of felt caught up in the moment of honoring Joe. The studio was all about him. I mean, I know everyone's interested in all of the artists who recorded there and the hits and that, but it was really Joe that was the karma that brought all those people into that crappy little industrial complex in Van Nuys.

It was him and his love of just wanting to be around music. And karmic-ally, all the right people were sent to him. Even at the point when the studio had really gone under after the '80s, and then friggin' Nirvana showed up out of nowhere. Stuff like that was really, to me, a reflection on Joe's spirit.

OMC: I have to ask one last question: Do you ever get tired of "Jessie's Girl"?

RS: No, I don't, actually, because I think it's a really good song. Once you play it that many times, it becomes more than a song. It becomes a part of your life. It's like dragging out your most popular child. You never get tired of uncles and aunts ooh-ing and aah-ing over your kids. So it's kind of similar to that, except songs don't steal your car at 3 'o clock in the morning and go out driving.

OMC: It's interesting it's become so popular considering it's lyrics are fairly sad, about a guy who's longing for a woman he'll probably never get.

RS: He didn't (laughs). Trust me; I know. It's a universal thing, and it's said in a fairly unique way. It's got a good beat, and you can dance to it, I guess. A lot of the start of its resurgence was it being placed in "Boogie Nights." It was in such an unusual context, and I think it gave people a different perspective on it. It's really cool to see 10-year-olds still singing verses. I just got an email from a friend of mine in Australia; Green Day is down there, and they just played it. It's always being done in some form or another, so I'm very proud of writing it for that reason.

So no, I don't get sick of it. I get sick of people – not sick of people, but get tired of it overshadowing other stuff. But in a way, it's a double-edged sword. The fame of that song gets other stuff heard, too.

Original article:  http://onmilwaukee.com/music/articles/rickspringfield.html

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Lincoln, CA show

This is a good day - another new show announced:

Lincoln, CA - Thunder Valley Casino - outdoor show with Loverboy and Eddie Money

June 7, 2014 - Full band show

Tickets go on sale March 8 at Ticketmaster: http://www.ticketmaster.com/rick-springfield-loverboy-eddie-money-lincoln-california-06-07-2014/event/1C004C6496D244E4?artistid=1971576&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1


Photo by Darla Gerken

Sioux Falls, SD

Just announced on Ticketmaster.

Sioux Falls Arena - Sioux Falls, SD
May 30, 2014
Full band show

Show starts at 3:00 p.m.  Get your tickets for a little "Afternoon Delight"

Tickets go on sale March 7 at 10:00 a.m.

http://www.ticketmaster.com/rick-springfield-sioux-falls-south-dakota-05-30-2014/event/06004C63C658A4FA?artistid=736178&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1

Photo by Pam Geiger