Ryan White & Associates

“We live in a post–authentic world. And today authenticity is a house of mirrors. It’s all just what you’re bringing when the lights go down. It’s your teachers, your influences, your personal history; and at the end of the day, it’s the power and purpose of your music that still matters.” —Bruce Springsteen, SXSW keynote, March 2012

“The first book I read was “The Wizard of Oz,” one lazy summer on my front porch on Randolph Street in New Jersey. I remember being thrilled by the book and the act of reading. Over time my most beloved character became the great and powerful Oz himself. He’s summed up by that great quote that’s in the film, but not in the book: “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” He’s a carny phony, in way over his head, who manages to pull it off anyway. “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” One of the great quotes in American literature.” —Springsteen, New York Times Sunday Book Review, this week

The Wizard as inspiration, and it’s all just show business at the end of the day.

By the way, the first two books Springsteen mentions in this much-passed around (and substantive) New York Times interview made my wife swoon. I just wished for the kind of rock star time that allows for all that reading.

Speaking of books: Springsteen: Album by Album is out and people seem to dig it. The illustrated edition of Springsteen’s song “Outlaw Pete” is out next week.