Nils Lofgren Announces New Album ‘Blue With Lou’

On April 26, Nils Lofgren will release Blue With Lou via Cattle Track Road Records. The LP is set to feature a handful of unreleased songs that Lofgren wrote with Lou Reed in the late-1970s.

Lofgren and Reed’s relationship dates back to 1978 when the current E Street Band guitarist was working on his fifth studio album Nils. Lofgren shared 13 demos with the Velvet Underground founder, who wrote lyrics for the compositions. “I said to him, ‘I have all this music that I felt strongly about, but I didn’t like the lyrics,’” Nils told Rolling Stone. “Lou said, ‘I’m the exact opposite. I write lyrics all the time that I think are good, but the music takes a bit more elbow grease.’”

Of the 13 songs, Reed used three for his 1979 solo album Bells, while Lofgren would record five of them over the years, including three for Nils. The singer-guitarist reached back into the well for the remaining five to include on Blue With Lou, whose title track is a tribute to Reed. Among the brand new songs on the record is “Dear Heartbreaker,” a tribute to another iconic musician – Tom Petty.

Additionally, Lofgren has announced that he will hit the road for a club tour with the studio band he made the album with this May. According to Rolling Stone the setlists “will focus on songs from Blue With Lou along with selections from his long solo career and his days in Grin.” The 19-date run kicks off on May 10 at the Dakota in Minneapolis and wraps on June 2 at The Kessler Theater in Dallas. The tour also includes stops at the City Winery outposts in Chicago, New York City, Boston, Nashville and Atlanta.