{"id":42084,"date":"2018-04-05T09:29:06","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T15:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=42084"},"modified":"2018-04-05T09:29:06","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T15:29:06","slug":"bruce-springsteens-guitarist-saved-by-an-old-bar-mitzvah-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/bruce-springsteens-guitarist-saved-by-an-old-bar-mitzvah-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce Springsteen\u2019s guitarist saved by an old bar mitzvah gift"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_1535069\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">By GABE FRIEDMAN<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 Bruce Springsteen\u2019s longtime guitarist Nils Lofgren found himself in a pickle on Friday night: Just hours before a sold-out solo show in Dallas, he discovered that his four vintage guitars had been stolen.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_42085\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/lofgren.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-42085\" class=\"wp-image-42085 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/lofgren-300x198.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/lofgren-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/lofgren-768x506.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/lofgren.jpg 880w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/198;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-42085\" class=\"wp-image-42085 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/lofgren-300x198.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/lofgren-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/lofgren-768x506.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/lofgren.jpg 880w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-42085\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nils Lofgren, left, on stage with Bruce Springsteen in Los Angeles, March 15, 2016. (Kevin Winter\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Lofgren, who has also toured with Neil Young and Ringo Starr,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nilslofgren\/status\/979794932159234049\">tweeted<\/a>&nbsp;that he was \u201cdevastated\u201d by the robbery, but he promised fans that the show would go on.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully the search for a replacement axe didn\u2019t take too long. Lofgren remembered that his old friend Howard Kweller \u2014 now a doctor, formerly Lofgren\u2019s bandmate in middle school \u2014 lives in north Texas. A little over two decades ago, Lofgren gave Kweller\u2019s son Ben a guitar for his bar mitzvah. Ben Kweller \u2014 who is a noted&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=o4K-SPnZJOU\">indie rocker<\/a>&nbsp;himself \u2014 was more than happy to let Lofgren borrow the old bar mitzvah gift.<\/p>\n<div class=\"SandboxRoot env-bp-350\" data-twitter-event-id=\"0\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>\u201cNils knows that guitar and he\u2019s played it before,\u201d Howard Kweller&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/dfw.cbslocal.com\/2018\/03\/30\/instruments-stolen-from-e-street-band-guitarist-nils-lofgren\/\">told<\/a>&nbsp;CBS DFW. \u201cHe\u2019s the ultimate performer. I have no doubt he\u2019ll have an amazing show.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben Kweller has opened up about his Jewish identity, notably to the UK\u2019s Jewish Telegraph in 2004. He said that his family was the only Jewish one in Greenville, Texas, where he grew up, and that he became friends with his local rabbi.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing a Jew in a small town helped me form my identity,\u201d he told Mike Cohen. \u201cI am proud to be Jewish.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Lofgren_friends.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-42086 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Lofgren_friends-290x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"290\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Lofgren_friends-290x300.jpg 290w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Lofgren_friends.jpg 448w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 290px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 290\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-42086 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Lofgren_friends-290x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"290\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Lofgren_friends-290x300.jpg 290w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Lofgren_friends.jpg 448w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a>On his 2002 song \u201cLizzy,\u201d Kweller sings the Hebrew word \u201cDayenu\u201d (\u201cit would have been enough\u201d), and his son\u2019s middle name is Zev, or wolf in Hebrew (Ben\u2019s middle name is Lev, or heart in Hebrew).<\/p>\n<p>In the end, Lofgren\u2019s guitars were&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.app.com\/story\/entertainment\/music\/2018\/04\/02\/nils-lofgrens-stolen-guitars-recovered-says-dallas-police\/478747002\/\">found<\/a>&nbsp;by police, just a few days after he enjoyed the company of an old friend.<\/p>\n<p>(In the adjacent photo, Ben Kweller is on the left, next to Lofgren, and Howard Kweller is on the other end.)&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Bruce%20Springsteen%E2%80%99s%20guitarist%20saved%20by%20an%20old%20bar%20mitzvah%20gift\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7137],"tags":[9277,8790,8795,8788,9276],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42084"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42084"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42087,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42084\/revisions\/42087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}