Nils Lofgren Dedicated New Album To Clarence

Old School is released on 5 December and it features guest appearances by Paul Rodgers, Foreigner's Lou Gramm and Sam Moore.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone Lofgren reveals how his collaborations came about.

"The beauty of this is I was able to just call Paul, who's a dear friend, and there's no bigger Paul Rodgers fan than me, or Lou Gramm fan or Sam Moore fan. I sent everyone rough sketches of harmonies I had ideas for that I didn't need them to honor, but just as a courtesy. With Paul and Lou, I sent them a tape and explicit instructions to ignore my harmonies if they had any ideas. Being great singers, they came up with things I would've never heard and cannot sing."

He also reveals that, while Clarence's death did not influence the writing of the album, it has impacted on his performances of some of the songs on the record.

"The writing was almost complete when that happened. But for instance, there's a song called "Miss You Ray" about Ray Charles' passing, and it's a metaphor for saying goodbye to family and friends. I've been singing it as "I miss you, C," and I've rearranged the lyrics live to apply to my friend Clarence. But that concept is no stranger to all of us. Me and Clarence used to commiserate on and off the road about the loss of Danny Federici, about personal losses that might be in his life and mine. It's a part of life that's rough for anybody in or out of show business, no exceptions."

Read the full interview HERE