Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder covered Bruce Springsteen’s 1973 track “Growin’ Up” as part of an EP release benefitting Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) research. The EP bundles his two recent songs “Matter of Time” and “Say Hi” with live acoustic home recordings of “Growin’ Up” and three Pearl Jam songs, “Just Breathe,” “Future Days” and “Porch.”

The acoustic rendition offers a different take on the original song, which came out on Springsteen’s debut album Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. as a full band effort. Although stripped back to guitar and vocals, Vedder plays the song with gusto, flying through the chords at full speed after playing his fingerpicked transposition of the piano intro part. He has covered the song before, at least once at Reading in 2004.

Vedder has been working hard to fundraise for EB research and also organized a Venture Into Cures livestream for the cause in November. EB is a family of rare genetic skin disorders where skin layers painfully separate and often disfigure those afflicted.

The singer/songwriter has been busy with music this year as well. Asides from releasing “Matter of Time” and “Say Hi” in November, performing “Future Days” for 2020’s The Game Awards and releasing these songs as part of the new EP, he also shared a song called “Cartography” from the documentary Return to Mount Kennedy. He also made appearances at a Tom Petty tribute concert and the One World Together at-home broadcast in April, and was one of the many artists calling for police reform over the summer as well. In March, Pearl Jam dropped their first new album in seven years, Gigaton. 

Photo credit: Stephen Hoffmeister