TAKE FIVE: JOHN EDDIE

Friday, Nov. 30, 2007 | 7:15 a.m.

His 2004 album's title poses the question, "Who the Hell Is John Eddie?"

Short answer: Eddie is a 48-year-old blue-collar rocker who was born in Richmond, Va., but grew up in the New Jersey stomping grounds of Bruce Springsteen and who has been known to join him onstage at the Stone Pony nightclub in Asbury Park.

"When I first started performing in New Jersey he showed up and jumped up onstage and played with us one night," Eddie said by phone from Nashville, Tenn. "We were a struggling young band. The following week 300 people came to see us just because they thought he might show up again. It's just been off and on like that over the years.

"If he has time he'll jump up and play. We're not the only ones. He jumps up and plays with a lot of local bands, but not as much as he used to. Now he's got a wife and kid who keep him busy."

You can find out who the heck Eddie is and what Springsteen sees in him at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill at Harrah's Sunday through next Friday.

Eddie has been burning up the road for almost 30 years, playing 200 or more engagements a year. So far, fame and fortune have eluded him. But that may change - Kid Rock plucked Eddie's "Low Life" and included it on his latest release, "Rock 'n' Roll Jesus."

So who the heck is John Eddie? He gives some answers:

1. Why the heck aren't you a big-time rock 'n' roll star?

A lot of people say I should be bigger, I should be this or that. I've had a very interesting life. I've been able to be strictly a musician since I was 19 years old. To me that's success, being able to make a living at it. There are peaks and valleys. Right now things are probably the best they've ever been. I've surrounded myself with good people. Kid Rock just covered one of my songs, and that's something I've never had happen before, an artist of that stature who felt strong enough about my song to put it on a record. I feel really good about it. I'm down here in Nashville meeting with people because of the Kid Rock thing. There seems to be some renewed interest in me. But we're definitely a working-class band. We work hard all yearround. If people come to see us I can pretty much guarantee if they don't like me they'll love the band. I have a great band and we put our all into it. We would all like the mansion on the hill but I'm happy with the little house at the bottom of the hill, too.

2. Who influenced you?

First and foremost, I was a huge Elvis fan growing up. When I was a kid my mom and grandmother were big fans. He was always a presence in my formative years. I had three older sisters, so I basically had the pick of their record collection. But there were a lot of influences. I'm a big Rolling Stones fan. When I was kind of like making a statement of my own I was into David Bowie and New York Dolls and all those, like, glam rock bands of the early '70s. David Bowie had recorded a song by Bruce Springsteen. I was a huge Bowie fan but I didn't know who Bruce Springsteen was. So I picked up Bruce's first record, and when I first heard it, it sounded like Van Morrison. I wasn't really that into it but I spent a week with it. By the end of the week, listening to his lyrics and stuff, I just sort of came to this realization that you can be theatrical and dramatic and you don't have to wear your sister's clothes, you know. I can just wear my jeans and T-shirt. It had the same drama and theatricality Bowie had, but coming from an urban type of thing that I could more relate to. From that I got into (Bob) Dylan. Right now I'd say Dylan and Tom Waits are my favorite songwriters.

3. What is the band like?

We're an original band. We don't often do covers. We'll do covers every now and then just to throw it in. I do a Bruce song, "She's the One," off the "Born to Run" record. We kind of do our own take on it, so it's not like a cover band thing. Bruce, he's always been supportive of original bands in that area of New Jersey. He's a real sweet guy. He's been giving me advice over the years. He knows he casts a big shadow. I think he's sometimes held back from jumping up onstage for fear of it taking away the spotlight from the band. He's a very gracious man.

4. What's next?

We're actually working on a new album right now. That's part of the reason I'm down here in Nashville. We've been touring a lot the last three years off the last record, "Lost Highway." That record took us to another place in terms of respectability and playing different parts of the country where we didn't play a lot before, including Vegas and Southern California and the Midwest. So now it's pretty much we go all around the country, nonstop. My band's been on salary for the past 15 years. We don't have the luxury of taking six months or nine months off to make a record. We have to make a record while we're still playing.

5. What are you doing in Las Vegas?

We're coming to Vegas to have fun. Truthfully, when Toby gives us a gig in Vegas I kind of go, OK, we'll put some dates around it because we have a great time there, and then maybe we'll go play Los Angeles and Phoenix while we're out there. But we'll be there during the rodeo, and the rodeo takes it from like a level 10 to a level 20. We've definitely got a rowdy side. We're rock 'n' roll, but there's a definite twang there. Nowadays when you listen to country music you realize it's rock 'n' roll with a fiddle and a pedal steel (guitar). Keith Urban showed that recently. He makes John Cougar (Mellencamp) records, but he puts a pedal steel to it. It's not that big a leap from what Bruce or I do. There are so many subgenres of country music. There's a slick pop, there's the outlaw stuff. You can definitely find your niche.