After a pit stop in Phoenix to prepare our tax return and help our fabulous new renter get settled into our house, we are repacking and reloading for another long stretch on the road. That entails updating the iPod with some new tunes.
Back in December, before we set out on the first leg of our journey, I caught part of the 32nd Anuual Kennedy Center Honors. One of this year’s honorees was Bruce Springsteen, and Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder paid tribute to The Boss with a cover of “My City of Ruins”. Springsteen wrote this gospel-tinged song about the deterioration of Asbury Park, N.J., but it took on new meaning after September 11 and, later, Hurricane Katrina.
Vedder’s version of the song is available on iTunes, and proceeds from each download benefit victims of the earthquake in Haiti via Artists for Peace and Justice. I was happy to find this recording, and I have friend and former co-worker Stephanie Heckathorne to thank for pointing me in the right direction. Stephanie and I share a love for both Eddie Vedder and gospel-influenced rock ‘n’ roll, and in the months ahead Jill and I will definitely miss Steph’s late-night, red-wine-slurping, story-swapping visits to our home in Phoenix.
P.S. If you dig this particular live performance by Vedder, check out his haunting cover of Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” at a 1992 tribute to Dylan.
—Scott