Bruce Springsteen's sidekick Steven Van Zandt has confirmed reports suggesting late sax man Clarence Clemons' nephew has joined the E Street Band.
The Boss and his bandmates have asked Jake Clemons to tour with them this summer (12), and guitarist Van Zandt can't wait to share a stage with the new member.
He tells Rolling Stone magazine, "We had a lot of discussion. It was a tough thing to try and figure out. But in the end we felt it's not going to be possible to replace Clarence, and it wouldn't really be fair to the person. So we decided to have a horn section. In this case, we're going to have two saxes.
"Whoever plays the sax part will emerge from the horn section, then they go back to the horn section, so it takes the pressure off that spotlight of suggesting that he's replacing Clarence, which is just impossible to do.
"So we thought that was a good solution, and, at the same time, it's going to be fun for me, because as you know I'm a horn guy. So I'll be able to have some fun with our soul and R&B roots and emphasise some of that during that tour.
"And then we have the added bonus of keeping it somewhat in the family with Jake being the nephew. And I think that helps us emotionally, and I think it'll maybe help the audience emotionally to make that transition by keeping it in the family."