Bob Seger has never been the flashiest of rock stars, especially considering that he came up in the Detroit scene of the 1960s. He was surrounded by the likes of The Stooges, MC5, Ted Nugent, Brownsville Station and Alice Cooper, none of whom thought twice about going over the top, sonically or visually.
But Seger was the guy in jeans and a T-shirt, raised on rhythm & blues as much as rock ’n’ roll, and his music has always boasted a vivid everyman quality. Songs such as “Beautiful Loser,” “Night Moves” and “Feel Like a Number” feature blue-collar protagonists dealing with relatable concerns who often turn to music for escape, or solace.
Not surprisingly, Seger is just as down-to-earth in conversation. During a recent phone interview with journalists from across the country, done to promote his latest arena tour, Seger never once mentioned his art or his place in the rock ’n’ roll firmament.
Instead, he was as straightforward as an oil change, low-key and ready for another winter on the road. His show comes to Louisville Thursday at the KFC Yum! Center, where he and the Silver Bullet Band are expected to knock out 25 songs in a little more than two hours.
Seger has been performing for 50 years, starting with his high school band, The Decibels, but the man who wrote the famously road-weary anthem “Turn the Page” still likes touring.
“Well, I think I really enjoy being with the people I play with. That’s a big part of it. I enjoy their company,” said Seger, 66. “I love my crew, the band. It’s like, we just move through the country like an army, sort of. It’s fun, just being with everybody.”
Seger has a new greatest-hits collection coming out Nov. 21 called “Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets.” The 26 songs collected, including new covers of Tom Waits’ “Downtown Train” and Little Richard’s “Hey Hey Hey Hey (Going Back to Birmingham),” reads like a set-list.
Classic rockers such as “Katmandu” and “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man,” which dates to 1968, are alongside more introspective songs such as “Mainstreet,” a tribute to an unrequited crush on an Ann Arbor, Mich., stripper. “Night Moves” also touches on decades-old memories. Continue Article>>>