North Texas Indie Rock Musicians Influenced by Springsteen

"One thing that has definitely influenced me is [his songwriting]," he says. "Especially around the time of Born to Run, from that point on, he really seemed to make sure that every song had this great apex or climax where the character and the narrative of the story hit its peak, and the realization was made. He made sure everything built up to that one moment. That's one thing a lot of artists forget, especially in pop music. They concentrate on writing a hook or a catchy chorus, and they forget that a song needs to have moments...That's what I try to take from him and put in my music."

This isn't to say that everything Springsteen does is golden, even to his biggest fans. Silvers says he doesn't care for his late-'80s or early-'90s output—a pretty common opinion among fans. And when asked for their least favorite Springsteen album, everyone interviewed for this article referred to 1992's Human Touch, with most picking out the song "57 Channels and Nothing On" as a particularly egregious low point.

But they also all love his recent material, particularly 2002's 9/11 response The Rising, and they're all supportive of Springsteen's latest, 2007's Magic.

"Boss is hands-down one of the best," Silvers says. "He's up there with Bob Dylan and Prince as the best [American] songwriters. I mean, shit, the last Boss record was good, and even the last one with the E Street Band...He's consistently put out some pretty kick-ass shit and kept up with the times."