Bruce Springsteen Saxophonist Clarence Clemons Documentary Set For Release This Summer

A new documentary chronicling the life of Bruce Springsteen‘s longtime saxophonist Clarence Clemons is set to arrive this summer.

Springsteen fans were heartbroken in 2011, when Clemons passed away after complications from a stroke. Clemons joined The E Street Band in 1972 and remained a vital component of Springsteen’s sound up until his 2011 death. Directed by friend and filmmaker Nick Mead, Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am?  explores Clemons’ life and musical career, as well as a “transcendent awakening” the saxophonist experienced with Mead while on a trip to Northeast China in 2005 .

According to the documentary’s Indiegogo page, “Clemons had something he wanted to share with the world. And he had planned to do it through this documentary film, which he was working on up until his death. In 2005, after a long tour with Bruce and the E Street Band, Clarence wanted to go someplace he had never been, to the other side of the world….China. ‘Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am?’ shows the profound effect of a trip to Northeast China, a place where no one knew who he was.”

The film features interviews with President Bill Clinton, Jake Clemons, Joe Walsh, Willie Nile, Nils Lofgren, Vini Lopez, Norman Seldin, Michael Narada Walden, Gayle Morrison, Danny Clinch, Don Reo, and additional family and friends who knew him well.

Director Nick Mead shared some insightful thoughts. He explained,

One of the most touching moments was when a childhood friend spoke of the race divide where they were growing up. And how they’d go to separate schools and separate churches, but when they got home they meet at the tree they both used to climb. The tree isn’t so big no more, but the foundations are still there. And we got the tree in our film.

The Tree (Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am?)

[Video: backstreetsmagazine]

Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? will hit select theaters across the country in July and will be released on digital platforms on August 17th via Virgil Films & Entertainment, Deadline reports.

[H/T Rolling Stone]