Patti Scialfa is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. She's also married to "The Boss." Since the 1970s, however, Patti has been a singer, songwriter and musician in her own right. 23rd Street Lullaby, is her first solo release in more than a decade.
During the 1970s, Patti Scialfa played with several New York and New Jersey bands, including Cats On A Smooth Surface. It was on that club circuit that she first crossed paths with Bruce Springsteen before he became a rock legend and, later, her husband. Patti's new album, 23rd Street Lullaby, recalls the New York City neighborhood of Chelsea, where she got her start as a singer and songwriter when she was just out of college. When she lived there in the 1970s and 1980s, Chelsea was an artistic, bohemian district, similar to the Left Bank in Paris. She also played on street corners in the heart of Greenwich Village. A New Jersey native, Patti says, "You come to the city and you have a chance to find out who you really are. You test yourself, find yourself and lose pieces of yourself."
The lyrics on Patti Scialfa's new album include a cast of characters drawn from her past, such as a street-corner preacher, a lost love she calls Romeo, and a waitress named Rose.
Patti Scialfa's last solo album was 1993's Rumble Doll, which was more introspective. She describes that early release as "a love letter full of questions," whose songs described people struggling to find the courage to reveal themselves. Patti comments, '23rd Street Lullaby, has more confidence to it, and it's not afraid to have a little fun. And all my experiences, whether painful or rewarding, served me as self-recovery. The record is about acceptance, and how you learn to trace your footsteps in order to express who you are today. And I like writing a body of music that has a cohesive, emotional thread through it."
Guest artists on her new album include fellow E Street Band members Bruce Springsteen, Nils Lofgren and violinist Soozie Tyrell, who also played with Patti during her early club days in New York City.
Patti plans to tour as a solo artist for the first time, with a 20-show itinerary that's due to open in September.