Bruce Springsteen offered to help Zach Bryan with “impostor syndrome” when the two influential musicians recently sat down to chat.
The two had met before, when Springsteen contributed to Bryan’s powerful song “Sandpaper” on his latest album, “The Great American Bar Scene.” Earlier this year, Springsteen even appeared on stage during one of Bryan’s concerts to sing his collaboration.
But even a huge icon like “The Boss” featuring on one of your songs can’t seem to overcome Bryan’s admitted imposter syndrome – the feeling one has when one is unsure about his achievements. That’s something many of us can relate to.
In a conversation between the two musicians, part of Rolling Stone’s “Musicians on Musicians” series, Bryan admitted to Springsteen that he has “really bad imposter syndrome,” going on to say to the 75-year-old rocker, “I never in a million years thought I’d be sitting here with you. Because we’d be listening to your songs, they’re so beautiful and poetic and wonderful when I play. [my songs]I said, ‘There’s no way people enjoy this stuff like they enjoy a Dylan song or a Springsteen song or anything like that.'”
Bryan continued: “When it comes to your music, it’s ‘Oh, he wrote ‘Born to Run’. That’s what happened. He wrote ‘Dancing in the Dark,’ like, that’s what’s happening with Bruce Springsteen.’ To us, it was like all these random songs we just threw at a fan.”
However, “The Boss” objected to the singer’s self-deprecation, interjecting and assuring Bryan, “It doesn’t read like that, man. You’ve got ‘Open the Gate,’ you’ve got ‘Revival’ — that’s it.” the songs you’ll make sing until you’re old like me, you know?”
It was one of those moments where the two singers and songwriters clearly connected over their shared experiences and their fondness for each other.
“You have to listen to your inner voice,” Springsteen ultimately advised Bryan, suggesting that the singer’s feelings may have stemmed from his rapid rise to fame.
As Bryan recounts in the interview, he only performed his first public show in 2019. Now, he’s become a capacity-filling superstar just five short years later. By contrast, Springsteen’s admittedly colossal career has been somewhat sluggish since he began in the 1970s.
“I really moved up quickly,” admits Bryan. “But now, at this point, I can’t even catch my own headwind. It’s not that bad. It just feels like I’m putting so much music out there, people are reading into it a lot; but in reality, I’m just writing music and now I have to slow down and go home.”
During the conversation, Bryan also praised Springsteen for his 1982 album “Nebraska,” which he called his “favorite record ever written,” comparing the work to Springsteen’s biggest hits.
“When it comes to ‘Born in America’ [1984] and ‘Nebraska’, those two were seen as if they came from two different musicians. It’s crazy.”
Watch the video interview below.
Tags Bruce Springsteen, Zach Bryan, Music