If you weren’t lucky enough to attend last September’s all-star tribute to Bruce Springsteen‘s beloved 1982 solo album Nebraska in Nashville, you’re in luck. The show, Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska: A Celebration in Words and Music will air on PBS on August 31.
The first trailer for the special — which is available now on the subscription PBS Passport service — features footage of Noah Kahan singing an acoustic “Atlantic City” and musician/author Warren Zanes talking about the enduring legacy of the sparse album about dead-enders, law benders and no chancers struggling to rise above. “Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska has stayed with me over decades,” says Zanes, who hosts the show and wrote a whole book about the album, 2023’s Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.
The preview also features Emmylou Harris singing “The Price You Pay,” Lyle Lovett crooning “My Father’s House,” Lucinda Williams tackling another non-Nebraska classic, “Born in the U.S.A.” and Eric Church performing a touching solo version of the Born in the U.S.A. hit “Dancing In the Dark.”
The special was taped during an intimate gig at Analog in Nashville’s Hutton Hotel on Sept. 19, 2023, with the musicians performing covers in between Zanes’ storytelling about the songs recorded in The Boss’ New Jersey bedroom. “I wrote a book about Nebraska because the recording stayed with me over decades,” Zanes said in a statement. “Every time there was trouble in my life I reached for Nebraska. When I started doing events around the book’s publication, I quickly realized the best of them had music. When I went to Nashville, I had a remarkable cast of musicians to help me tell this story.”
The show will also feature Harris’ take on the album’s title track, as well as Lovett singing “Used Cars” and the Lumineers’ covers of “Mansion on the Hill” and “State Trooper.”
Watch the Nebraska special preview here.
