Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on the beach in Asbury Park. See how it was done

A set of headings from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on the beach at their spiritual home in Asbury Park, NJ, sounds more like a fever dream than an actual festival booking. But that show is actually happening on September 15, the second night of the sixth annual Sea.Hear.Now festival. The festival, which already has names as big as Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters headlining (and which will welcome Noah Kahan to headline the night before Springsteen), was founded in 2018 by renowned photographer and Jersey native Danny Clinch with his longtime friend Tim Donnelly. and HM Wollman, in association with promoter C3 Presents. It also features a surfing contest and pop-up shows at Clinch's Transparent Clinch Gallery near the beach. Clinch, who appears as the harmonica player in the Tangiers Blues Band, called me Rolling rock to explain how Springsteen and the E Street Band landed the already sold-out festival, share some predictions and more.

Given the location, this is the biggest possible thing you could do. Was there even a glimmer of possibility in your mind at first?
No, definitely not. But what we hoped would happen, and it actually did, was that we knew we'd have bands that Bruce loves, like Social Distortion, because we love those bands. Our hope was always that he would come and sit in.

I work with Bruce a lot, so we see each other quite often. We text occasionally and stuff. And so I told him, we have this festival with Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Social Distortion and it's going to be great. This was our first year, 2018. I said, “You should pass,” and he said, “Yeah, that sounds cool.” And I waited a few months and reminded him again. After the first day, Ben Harper comes on stage, and it's absolutely beautiful. The sun sets, the moon rises on the other side, it's just full of people. And “Atlantic City” is playing. I say, “Oh my God.”

So I pull out my phone, film it and text it to Bruce. He says, “What's going on? And I said, “That's the sea. Listen. Now, that's what's happening on the beach right now.” And he said, “Oh man, amazing.” Of course I said, “Tomorrow, Social Distortion is playing on the beach in Asbury.” About an hour goes by, and he texts me and says, “Can I get the tour manager information for Mike Ness?” The next day, he shows up and sits down with Social Distortion. And it was really a kind gesture, because as soon as he set foot on stage, he became an international story for Sea.Hear.Now, and he had such a great time.

How did you end up in this year's line-up?
So this time, we were looking for our headliners, and he would be on the East Coast and his tour would end on September 13th. So we're like, “Oh, man, this looks like a good opportunity to hit him.” And I happen to be above his position. And I said, “Man, I've been watching your show and we'd love to have you on our Sea.Hear.Now show,” and he said, “Yeah, that would be cool.” And I said, “Can I have my husband contact your husband?” She just laughed, and said yes. Later, I went back to the studio, and he just turned to me at one point and said, “I'm going to do this on the beach. I'm going to the Sea. Listen. Now. I want to bring the band to the beach. That could be incredible.”

I guess there were some complaints about overcrowding last year.
I think when you have a band like the Foo Fighters, more people will stay for the day. We didn't sell more tickets than we did for any other year. Everyone wants to be in front, but on the last quarter of the beach, people spread blankets.

Covid has been very difficult for everyone in the live music industry, obviously, but for a festival just starting out, that must have been very disappointing.
Yes, it was. We were lucky we only missed one year, right? Since we were in September, we were able to do Pearl Jam on the beach [in 2021]. They hadn't played in three years, and they were excited to play and be in Asbury Park.

Right before Bruce on Sunday night, you have Trey Anastasio and the Gaslight Anthem. Bruce is close with Brian Fallon from Gaslight and has played with Phish in the past. I guess you're hoping for some kind of collaboration.
Yeah, I mean, it's happened before. It's kind of a family party in a sense right now because Trey is from Princeton. Trey texted me and was so happy and told me it was his first concert [Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band] in 1978 at Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton. He was 14 and I think his sister brought them to the show. He's like, “You've got to be kidding me. That's amazing.” And you know, Gaslight on Bruce — it's crazy. It's a New Jersey dream over there.

What has been your best Bruce moment at Asbury so far?
I would have to say my favorite moment for me was the [annual benefit concert] Light of Day [in January 2020]. Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers were pioneers, and Joe and I have become very good friends. He says, “Will you come over tonight?” I said “Yes” and he said “you must bring your harp”. So I show up and I go backstage and he's got his whole setlist there, and he had four Houserockers songs, and then there was Bruce [songs] for the rest of the show. And he finds a song to play, and shows the Bruce part. I was like, “Oh, God, okay.” So he's like, “Let's do 'Murder Inc.' and we're going to do it in E,” or whatever it was. I'm like, “Oh my gosh.”

I walk out the back, listening to a live version of “Murder Inc.” and I'm trying to figure out where I fit in with that. Then, during the performance, I was waved off. And they say, “We're doing 'Pink Cadillac' in G.” I was like, “Okay!” I had the right harmonica, thank God. And as I walk out, I hear Bruce address the crowd, and I didn't understand what he was saying until I listened to the bootleg later: “I'm going to bring out our friend Danny Clints. He's a fantastic photographer, but I can't vouch for his harmonica playing.” [Laughs.] Thank God I didn't hear it.

So anyway, the band starts and Bruce gives me the nod. I'm basically telling myself, well, I'm either going to pee my pants or I'm going to lean over this thing and play my ass. So I just leaned into it. And we did a nine-minute version of “Pink Cadillac,” and he threw a bunch of solos at me and was just having the time of his life. Was very funny.

If you had a dream song for Trey to date Bruce, what would it be?
Trey wants to bring his big band to Asbury Park, complete with a full horn section and a percussionist. And I know Trey loves “Kitty's Back.”

As it happens, this is also my choice.
So let's put it in the universe.