Two years ago, faced with one of the biggest decisions of his adult life, Brian Fallon did what any of us would do in the same circumstances: he reached for his phone, and texted Bruce Springsteen.
"I call it the Batphone," Fallon says with a laugh. "Because that's how absurd it is to me that I have Bruce Springsteen's number, it's like me being a seven year old kid and having Batman's phone number. And you don't want to use it unless there's a real problem."
The issue, in this instance, was that Fallon was considering resurrecting The Gaslight Anthem, the band he put on hiatus in 2015. It was with the rock n' soul punks - alongside guitarist Alex Rosamilia, bassist Alex Levine and drummer Benny Horowitz - that the singer/songwriter made his name, but that success came at a cost to his mental health, and revisiting old ground had the potential to re-open old wounds, and send Fallon back to dark places. Hence the text to 'The Boss', one of Fallon's biggest musical heroes, and also, coincidentally, one of The Gaslight Anthem's biggest fans. As it turned out, not only was Springsteen encouraging of the idea of getting the band back together, he also offered to guest on the album, if Fallon thought there might be a spot for him.
That duet, and more, can be found on History Books, The Gaslight Anthem's first album since 2014's Get Hurt. Brian Fallon tells us how things fell back into place.
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