Art&Seek presents This Week in Texas Music History. Every week, we’ll spotlight a different moment and the musician who made it. This week, Texas music scholar Gary Hartman recalls a special evening when the “Boss” showed up early for work.

You can also hear This Week in Texas Music History on Sunday at precisely 6:04 p.m. on KERA radio. But subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss an episode. And our thanks to KUT public radio in Austin for helping us bring this segment to you. And if you’re a music lover, be sure to check out Track by Track, the bi-weekly podcast from Paul Slavens, host of KXT’s The Paul Slavens Show, heard Sunday night’s at 8.

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On March 14, 1974, Austin music fans got a pleasant surprise. A young New Jersey rocker named Bruce Springsteen arrived a day early for his two-night stint at the Armadillo World Headquarters. Local fiddle player Alvin Crow was performing that evening, and he invited the somewhat anxious Springsteen out on stage to perform. Springsteen quickly overcame his nervousness and gave a blistering performance that helped fill the large music hall for the next two nights.

Tickets to the 1974 Alvin Crow concert at which Bruce Springsteen performed were only $1. However, according to some of those lucky enough to attend, the experience was priceless.

Next time on This Week in Texas History, we’ll meet a musician whose legacy quite literally helped leave a trail for others to follow.