this is radio nowhere.

"Reading Caryn Rose’s thoughts on Bruce Springsteen — whether a show she just saw or one she remembers seeing 45 years ago — was one of the great joys of editing Backstreets. As a contributor for two decades, Caryn brought exactly what we were looking for: the deep perspective of a longtime fan coupled with broad musical knowledge, an eye for detail, sharp memory, and especially in her case, pure enthusiasm for her subject undampened by a critical ear and commitment to calling it like she hears it. If you miss Backstreets (like I do!), I have to think her newsletter will scratch that itch — you bet I’ll be subscribing to Radio Nowhere. — Chris Phillips, Backstreets Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, 1998-2023

Radio Nowhere is your new home for true information, meaningful content and thoughtful musings, commentary and analysis about or related to the work of Bruce Springsteen. I'm your host, Caryn Rose. (You can learn more about me and my work here.)

I wrote for Backstreets Magazine for 20+ years and have spent the last couple of years since its closing wishing there was a place where I could actually find out what's going on and read in-depth reportage on all things Bruce from people I knew I could trust.

There's a lot of places on the internet where you can get information about Bruce. There's no shortage of people with posts about "this day in Springsteen history," reports of last night's setlist, or can regurgitate a Wikipedia or AllMusic listing of basic biographical information about an artist who sang a song Bruce covered.

But there are very few people who can explain why any of it matters, how it connects, why you should care, and obsessively care about getting it right. There are very few people who know how to research, and the difference between a random factoid and information that actually matters.

That's where I come in.

I've been writing about Bruce Springsteen since I was 16 years old and decided needed to review the show I just saw in Hartford on the River tour (12/12/80) for my high school newspaper. In 2003, I wrote my first piece for Backstreets Magazine about the Doubletake Magazine benefits.

I've since gone on to write a whole lot about Bruce Springsteen in many places – including Backstreets and brucespringsteen.net – over the ensuing 20+ years. But not having Backstreets to write for definitely left a large gap. Radio Nowhere is how I've decided to solve that issue for myself, although it is absolutely not intended to be any kind of replacement for Backstreets.

This is explicitly not a site for breaking news. It is, however, a site where I'll discuss that news, and explain why it's important (or not), among other things Springsteen related. It is for paid subscribers only, because doing this work right is incredibly time intensive.

"Caryn Rose is one of the best rock writers in the biz—maybe the best. She passionately champions the artists she loves without being afraid to call out BS when necessary. Whether it's in her books, newsletters, or epic lists, her writing is fun to read and sharp as hell, and there is no one better at doing a deep dive on an artist's career and catalog." - Ray Padgett, Flagging Down the Double E's

[You can read more comments on my Springsteen work on the Testimonials page.]

The types of posts you'll see on Radio Nowhere can be grouped into the following categories:

Three Minute Record: Breaking down Bruce Springsteen's best live cover versions, with historical analysis and discussion.

The Ties That Bind: Springsteen history: places and events.

Magic In The Night: Essays on historical live shows, officially released and otherwise.

Where The Bands Are: Reviews, discussion and analysis of the current tour / older live performance reviews.

Be True: About Bruce's songs and music and songwriting and albums.

57 Channels: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in the media.

The Upstage: Like the nightly jam, anything can happen here.

I have a full editorial calendar already sketched out for the entire year. There will be a big focus on the 50th anniversary of Born to Run, but there are also European shows scheduled. Will there be a second volume of Only The Strong Survive?

I'm so excited to do this work and publish it here. The good thing about this being my hangout is that I can write about whatever Bruce-related thing I want.

SUBSCRIBER BENEFITS:

You're funding quality independent journalism. Every dollar is going to fund this project. I will pay photographers and I hope to hire someone to help edit.

At least one deeply researched, in-depth newsletter per month, available to subscribers only: Sometimes there will be more, but these all take a very long time to research and write. If I'm writing about a show, I'm listening to it at least 2-3 times, so you do the math. Doing this for almost a year has made it very clear that I was unrealistic in my initial offering, so I'm scaling it back to what is more reasonable.

The exception is for historical, evergreen pieces (like Three Minute Record or historical show recaps) that may be made public later in some fashion. This allows my work to continue to be in service of the Springsteen community at large while still providing value for subscribers. There's a lot of bad information out there and AI is not helping improve that.

Live recordings: Live archive shows that have NOT been officially released will include show downloads in mp3 format that are available for subscribers only. Those download links will go away (or will be paywalled) once a piece has been opened to the public.

I know that a lot of you know where to find shows, but in talking with fans over the years, most folks just want an easy way to listen to a show that sounds like it might be interesting. It's a public service for those who wish to avail themselves. The rest of you can happily maintain your ratios on DIME or Jungleland.

Commenting privileges. You can have a conversation here that isn't clogged up with spam comments or randos.

Other stuff I haven't thought of yet. Do you want a private Discord server to chat with other Springsteen fans? A monthly AMA? Happy to discuss options with subscribers or potential subscribers.

Thank you for your consideration and hopefully your patronage. You can find me at caryn dot rose at gmail dot com if you have any additional questions I can answer.