Scialfa: Life Put Rock 'n' Roll On Back Burner

By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY

If you can't recall Patti Scialfa's big hit single, you're not suffering from cultural amnesia. When the singer/songwriter released her first album, Rumble Doll, in 1993, she was six months pregnant with her third child. So even though the CD earned enthusiastic reviews, a big promotional blitz was out of the question.

Nor was going on the road an option after Scialfa gave birth to a son. "When I brought Sam home, I had three children in diapers," she says. "We had them back to back."

"We" would include Scialfa's husband, Bruce Springsteen, whom she came to know as the first female member of his storied E Street Band. Scialfa originally landed a record deal after Springsteen's Born in the USA tour in the mid-'80s, and she was set to enter the studio when her future spouse called and asked whether she could take part in 1987's Tunnel of Love tour. "Then we got together, and that was enough to handle."

The 11-year gap between Rumble Doll and Scialfa's second album, 23rd Street Lullaby, which arrived Tuesday, also owes to a combination of personal and career choices. Scialfa had completed an album before joining the E Street Band for its reunion tour in 1999. "I liked the material, but back to back, it just didn't sound right. So I shelved that. Then after the reunion tour, I couldn't go to work right away, because my kids were in school and the tour had been disruptive."

Eventually, Scialfa ran into drummer Steve Jordan, one of several musician pals she had met in her 20s, while living in Manhattan's Chelsea district. "We both lived on 24th Street, between Ninth and 10th (avenues). A lot of really creative people lived on that street, and they became close friends, and very supportive of my music. So when I bumped into Steve, he was like, 'Where's your record?' "

Jordan called Scialfa the next day, and they began working together. "I had the songs fully formed, but couldn't get the right rhythms. When I write, I think more in terms of putting emotions in order. Steve could put a nice, delicate but funky rhythm behind it. He's very joyous and outward, so he would stop me from pulling back."

Scialfa, 50, recruited more buddies from the old neighborhood for 23rd Street, among them keyboardist Cliff Carterand singer Soozie Tyrell. The songs, accordingly, draw on a wider array of experiences than those on Rumble Doll. "This is a broader, more populated record. It was good to be surrounded by people who saw me very clearly."

Having recorded 23rd Street during breaks on the E Street Band's 2002-03 tour, Scialfa would like to support her new CD with a series of concerts, though logistical factors and family obligations could limit her time on the road.

"It's every working mother's dilemma," Scialfa says, though she is not disingenuous about the particulars of her situation. "Our kids understand the implications of Bruce's fame. But when they see their mother and dad working together on stage every night, well, you realize it's taking you away from them."

Not that Scialfa is complaining about her job. "It's a young ideal to be able to make a living doing something you love. But there's not a time when you don't get up on stage, look around and think, 'This is great.' "