INTERVIEW: They’re wild. They’re innocent. They’re the E Street Shuffle tribute band.
Photo: The E Street Shuffle features, from left, Sean Loughlin and Ryan Loughlin, two Jersey boys and brothers. Photo courtesy of the E Street Shuffle / Provided by band with permission.
The time between Memorial Day and Labor Day on the Jersey Shore is sacred for so many reasons. It’s the time of year when Jersey residents, and those from neighboring states, head down the Garden State Parkway and rent homes and hotels from Highlands to Cape May. Boardwalks are teeming with crowds, restaurants are selling pizzas and burgers, arcades are doing brisk business, and tunes emanate from stereos and the multitude of bars up and down the coast.
It won’t take long for a person to hear some recognizable songs from Bruce Springsteen’s deep catalog of hits. He is, after all, the Godfather of the Jersey Shore, someone who learned his trade in Asbury Park and the surrounding area, and someone who still has great influence over the Garden State.
There are many bands who pay tribute to the Boss and his E Street Band, and one of the most respected in a crowded field is the E Street Shuffle, fronted by the hard-rocking singer Sean Loughlin. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, Loughlin and the band are booked solid, playing to indoor and outdoor crowds along the expansive shoreline.
For the Jersey native, this Springsteen journey began back in high school, when his brother, Ryan Loughlin, the guitarist for the E Street Shuffle, convinced him to take the stage for a talent show.
“I was always an athlete in school, and he was a musician,” Loughlin said about these early memories with his brother. “And they were doing this talent show in school, and he needed someone to sing with him in this band he put together. I kept saying, ‘No.’ I didn’t see myself that way at that point in my life. I didn’t really want to get in front of the whole school, but he convinced me to do it. So I got up in front of our whole high school and sang ‘My Hometown’ and ‘Glory Days,’ so that was kind of the start of it. That kind of got me hooked on performing in general and the idea of me being a singer and being in a band.”
The two Loughlin brothers played for a number of years in original bands, and then they decided to come full circle and return to the Springsteen catalog. Loughlin’s voice is scarily reminiscent of the Boss’, so he decided to give the tribute band scene a try.
“On the one hand, there definitely is a lot of competition from bands that have been around since I was a very little kid, and they were doing it professionally,” Loughlin said of the other Springsteen tributes throughout New Jersey. “But, on the other hand, there are more Springsteen fans in this state than probably anywhere else in the country, so we felt the other bands cannot be everywhere at once. So, it’s like, there’s enough venues in this state that we can find our niche. We were a little bit younger. We were like, OK, we felt like we were the new kids on the block. We didn’t know where we’d fit in. We didn’t know if we would get that audience, but we felt it was worth taking a shot. We thought even if we didn’t succeed, it would be fun to do and fun to play some shows and play all these songs, so that’s kind of why we did it.”
The E Street Shuffle did find that audience. One look at their calendar of events can confirm that fact. In the upcoming weeks, they will play The Marina in Oceanport, The Princeton in Avalon, The Columns in Avon-by-the-Sea, Laguna Grill in Brigantine, and the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park.
When fans come to see an E Street Shuffle performance, they will certainly receive their money’s worth. There will be the hit songs — “Glory Days,” “Born to Run,” “Thunder Road,” among many others — and some rarities thrown in for good measure. Loughlin’s favorite tunes to perform live are “Jungleland,” “Thunder Road” and “Something in the Night,” and his all-time favorite songs to listen to are “Incident on 57th Street,” “Jackson Cage,” “The Price You Pay” and “The Promise.”
“We try to do something for everybody,” he said. “Pretty much at every show you’re going to hear ‘Thunder Road’ and ‘Born to Run’ and ‘Glory Days,’ stuff like that because that’s what people want to hear. That’s what gets people dancing and gets them excited and stuff, and we understand that. We also try to put those little nuggets in there. … A lot of those songs, the obscure ones, are some of my favorites and some of the favorites of the other guys in the band, but also for people out there. I’ll look around when we’re playing one of those obscure songs, while it may not get the overall reaction that ‘Born to Run’ does, if I can find a couple people, at least one person out there who I can see is excited to hear that song, then it makes it all worthwhile for me.”
On special occasions, Loughlin will even don a bandana or leather jacket, trying to give the audience a little visual reminder of the Boss. That said, the singer is the first to say that he sounds a lot more like Springsteen than he looks like him.
“There are certain shows where I dress it up if the occasion is right,” he said. “A couple of years ago we did a show at the Stone Pony where it was the anniversary of Born in the USA. It was the 35th anniversary of that, so for that sort of thing, I figured that’s a special occasion. We’re making that the theme of the night, so it makes sense for me to dress the part and really do it up. So those are the times when I do that. I’ve done that when we’ve done the Born to Run album or Darkness [on the Edge of Town]. I’ll put the leather jacket on, or I’ll do whatever, all in good fun. But, yeah, it’s not the same like a lot of the Beatles bands that will have all the different suits. I respect that, too. I like the bands that make it that type of show. … That’s the whole thing about Springsteen and the E Street Band. He had described it at one point as being a glorified bar band, so you’re able to be casual in this band and wear jeans and T-shirts and button-downs. And that’s still kind of the look of the E Street Band. I don’t always have to get that specific with it, but on occasion I’ll whip out the bandana or the leather jacket and have some fun with it.”
After the summer is finished on the Jersey Shore, Loughlin and the guys can take a well-earned break from playing, although they do offer concerts year round. In this downtime, their schedule slows down a bit, and they’re able to focus on other projects. But in the back of their minds are dreams of the next Memorial Day and the annual kickoff to yet another summer of celebrating Springsteen.
“The summertime is where it’s at for us,” Loughlin said. “The majority of our business happens from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and there’s really nothing like playing this music at the Jersey Shore. It’s where the music was born, and the people here appreciate it so much. People associate so much with summertime, Jersey Shore, Bruce Springsteen. It’s so connected that it really is something people want to hear again and again in the summer months, and that’s why it’s so busy. Plus, so many of those places are just doing such great business in the summer they’re booking more bands, and they’re booking us for multiple shows during the course of the summer. … And we’re out there sweating, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The E Street Shuffle, featuring Sean Loughlin, plays several venues on the Jersey Shore. Click here for more information and tickets.
