It is like a Springsteen song itself.
After decades working in a job he didn’t love, Graeme Richardson – fed up of the bureaucracy & red tape – packed it in, picked up his guitar and dedicated himself to rock and roll.
Sadly, there wasn’t a Chevrolet or a trip down Thunder Road. But three years later, the 51-year-old is enjoying some ‘Glory Days’ as the frontman for the North East’s only Bruce Springsteen tribute act.
READ MORE: Inside Frate Newcastle's shipping container village set to open for May Bank Holiday weekend
After leaving his job in social housing, Graeme pursued his passion full-time and it is paying off with the talented band set to play their biggest Newcastle gig to date next month at Anarchy Brewery.
“In my 40s, I’d realised I’d had enough of all the red tape in my line of work so I chose to follow my passion, which is teaching guitar, playing music – and the songs of Bruce Springsteen,” said Graham, known to fans as Rico.
“Incredibly while there are numerous AC/DC and Queen acts in the North-East, nobody was covering Bruce. You’d get the odd pub band playing Dancing in the Dark, but nobody was really doing The E Street Band justice.”
So the call went uptown, and Graeme assembled a talented collective of musicians from across both sides of The River to pay homage to the man behind Born to Run and Hungry Heart.
Word-of-mouth soon spread among the North East’s feverish Springsteen aficionados. Two-and-a-half hour sets that rivalled Springsteen himself for length, with sets filled with deep cuts along with the big hits.
And like Springsteen’s own shows, fans were so impressed some even bought SIGNS to gigs to request songs.
“Most of the time though, they just write them on a piece of paper and leave them on the stage,” laughed Graeme who spoke ahead of his idol’s upcoming UK tour.
The icon is playing a host of UK stadiums – including Edinburgh – for the first time in almost a decade.
For a man who now makes part of his living by paying homage to Springsteen, incredibly the Scottish show will be just the second time he has seen The Boss live, having caught him at the Stadium of Light in 2013.
Others in the band, such as bassist John Paul Hardy, were at his legendary St James’ Park shows in 1985 when Bruce rocked the Toon for two nights.
Around 76,000 screaming fans packed the ground as he toured one of his defining records, Born in the USA.
Many of the classic tracks from that album, such as No Surrender and I’m Going Down, are staples of his current tour setlist.
However, The NE Street Band offer a deeper dive into the New Jersey collective’s back catalogue, something that’s resonated with the region’s Bruce fans, many of whom now regularly follow the band.
“We even do stuff from The Seeger Sessions, and I’ve learned about 50 extra songs acoustically for my solo shows and, should fans request them,” added Graeme.
“But now we do this, we know why pub bands only ever play songs like Dancing in the Dark. The arrangements to Bruce’s songs, like Rosalita and Born to Run even, are very hard, but ultimately a very enjoyable challenge. One of the songs that we get a lot of requests for is Jungleland but that’s a monster of a song to learn – but we might just have to bite the bullet and spend the next few months practicing it.
“But even though learning the songs can be challenging, this is just a joy of a job. I get to stand on stage and sing the songs of Bruce Springsteen.
“It is playing music that you love. As someone I’ve followed for years, so to sing your idol’s songs is great plus the band is full of Springsteen fans.”
And they’ve played in some rather quirky locations.
While there were no gigs in the true ‘backstreet’ of the North East, one show did stand out – a laundrette in County Durham, an “incredible gig” which was packed with die-hard fans singing every word.
And while Bruce Springsteen may be rocking out to 60,000 fans every night, not even the Boss can say he’s played in front of a washing machine.
And it is experiences like this that Graeme feels show that the best decision he made was leaving work, picking up that guitar and learning how to make it talk – and following his passion.
Tickets for the Anarchy Brewery gig on June 23 are available here. For more information on The NE Street Band, click here.
READ NEXT:
Join ChronicleLive's WhatsApp community for breaking news and top stories
- Gateshead hedgehog 'hogspital' plea after huge rise in animals being injured in gardens
- Drinkers 'gutted' as Central Park announces it will not return to Newcastle this summer
- Subway staff stunned when dad demands 27 rashers on 'biggest bacon sub ever'
- New healthy eating cafe Island Poke opens doors to Newcastle diners
