THE sports equipment has long left the York Barbican – and it has left Nils Lofgren’s live show too. The Chicago-born guitarist, pianist and songwriter will not be bouncing around on his trademark trampoline tonight.

“Sorry, no. Sadly two and a half years ago, I had both my hips replaced,” says Nils, who turns 60 on June 21.

Don’t blame the trampoline, however. “It was playing basketball on city courts, and if you play aggressive basketball it’s bad for your hips, especially if you’re short like me. But when you’re 5ft 3, you have to be aggressive!

“And if you jump off drum risers as well, like I have since 1969, that doesn’t help. So two years ago, I had the operation and the doctor said I could no longer do any jumps or somersault rolls.”

Nils may be considered a very uninhibited performer, but it was not always so.

“I wasn’t when I was 17, opening for J Geils, who had this fantastic visual show,” he says. “So I was thinking about something I could do, and as I was a gymnast at junior level, from 13 to 15, I went to my old coach and he showed me how to do a roll with a guitar.”

Move forward to 2011, past his playing on Neil Young’s After The Goldrush album and many years in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, and Nils Lofgren is touring in an acoustic duo with Greg Varlotta.

“I started doing acoustic shows in the Eighties; I’ve done them alone, but with Greg, he’s a multi-instrumentalist, so he’s a great trumpet player and he’s a great tap dancer,” says Nils, who is happy to share the spotlight.

“I like to sit at the piano for half an hour, and what happens in an acoustic duo show like this is that it puts pressure on the songs. I can do a lot of lead improv guitar, and without a band it lets me have a very focused show with Greg.”

The format allows for variety too in the set list. “I like to put five or six different songs in each night in a set of 24-25 songs, and we’ll be doing 50-55 songs over the next few weeks,” says Nils.

He has plenty more songs in his repertoire. “I’ll have been on the road for 43 years in September and I have 350 songs or more that I’ve recorded, as I’ve been at it since ’68.”

Goodbye somersault rolls, but hello tap dancing in Lofgren’s 2011 show. “We’ve found a couple of spots that Greg can do his tap and I do my amateur tap. It’s a hoot,” he says.

“One of the rules of the new hips is that everything must only have low impact, but tapping is good therapy and I’ve got nerve enough to do it.”

Always a team player as much as a leader, Nils is happy to pass on tips to other musicians, grateful that he was introduced to playing the accordion when only six.

“I’ve got a guitar beginner’s school on my website, not just for people who want to play guitar but for people who don’t think they have the talent or the rhythm – though you do need that to be a professional musician… and a lot of luck,” he says.

“It has to be a lot to do with that. I guess on one level, you can say I’ve been unlucky never to have had a hit record, but I’ve been very lucky to play with some of the great bands: Ringo Starr’s All Stars, Neil Young’s band and the E Street Band.”

Lucky? Maybe, but talented too. Why else would Neil Young have invited him to play on the After The Goldrush sessions at only 18 and give Nils his guitar as a gift afterwards? “It’s certainly my most treasured guitar,” he says.

• Nils Lofgren Acoustic Duo, York Barbican, tonight, 8pm. Tickets: £24.50 to £28.50 on 0844 854 2757 or on the door.