Kid Rock bares his 'Rebel Soul'

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121116/ENT04/211160323#ixzz2CQp7sSDC

November 16, 2012 at 11:05 am

Kid Rock bares his 'Rebel Soul'

New album reflects his more balanced place in life

By Adam Graham
Detroit News Pop Music Writer
3 Comments

Kid Rock will perform his new hometown anthem, “Detroit, Michigan,” at halftime of the Detroit Lions’ game on Thanksgiving Day. (Photographer: Eric Ogden)

During an appearance on "The Howard Stern Show" this week to promote his new album "Rebel Soul," Kid Rock talked openly about politics, his marriage to Pamela Anderson and his years as a hard-partying rocker.

But there were no bombshell revelations, no fires that needed to be put out afterwards. With Kid Rock, what you see is what you get, and what you see these days is a guy who's found stability between the public persona of Kid Rock and the private life of Bob Ritchie.

"At 40, I kind of figured out a very good balance in life," says Rock, on the phone Wednesday from New York, a few hours after the Stern interview and shortly before boarding a plane headed toward Alabama. "I'm in a real good spot."

That good spot comes with a soundtrack. "Rebel Soul," Rock's ninth album, is due out Monday, and is steeped in the country-blues-southern-rock-hip-hop sound he's made his own for years. The album will be available on iTunes, ending Rock's long standoff with the digital retailer — his full catalog is likely to follow at the top of the year, he says — and Rock will promote the album by playing a NASCAR event on Sunday and on "Good Morning America" Monday.

He'll follow with a performance of his new hometown anthem, "Detroit, Michigan," at halftime of the Detroit Lions' game on Thanksgiving.

At this point, Rock is pretty much an open book. You know what he's about — rock and roll, supporting the troops and a civic pride that makes him an international symbol of Detroit — and he's only strengthening those footholds as he gets older. Especially the civic pride part: He's donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Metro Detroit charities over the last several years; and, in May, he helped raise $1 million for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra by performing with them during a one-night-only concert at the Fox Theatre. For the third year in a row, he's giving out thousands of dollars in Meijer gift cards to area families in need.

Philanthropy aside, first and foremost he's an artist, and he's really looking forward to taking "Rebel Soul" on the road. He'll launch his tour in February, starting in the South or Midwest before wrapping around and hitting Detroit in the summertime. Detroit is used to blockbuster Kid Rock shows — he performed two nights at Comerica Park in 2010 and 2011 — and he says next year he's looking to even outshine those extravaganzas.

"I'm not ready to talk about it yet," he says, "but if the stars align, we're gonna take it to even the next level in the Detroit area."

"Rebel Soul" was built to be played live, and Rock says it will translate to the stage better than any album he's ever made. Tour rehearsals started two weeks ago, and Rock says he and his band are in the zone on the new songs.

"We're really fine tuning this souped-up Hemi," he says. "We're gonna celebrate every night on this tour like it's New Year's Eve." (Not coincidentally, one of the songs on the album is titled "New Year's Eve.")

Rock's last album, "Born Free," wasn't conceived in the same fashion. Producer Rick Rubin pushed for poignancy, and Rock says some of the fun was squeezed out in the process. The new album features songs like "Chickens in the Pen" and "Cucci Galore" that show off Rock's goof-off side and harken back to his "Devil Without a Cause" days, as well as songs like "The Mirror" and "Rebel Soul" that reveal his more reflective side. Overall, he says "Rebel Soul" is his best body of work since "Devil."

"It just brings the whole vision together," says Rock, adding it captures his continued growth as an artist. "It feels like I've learned so much and become so much better in so many areas. I feel like that with the shows now: There's so many good hits in there that I know people that dig my music have come to love. And then we're taking them on this other journey with the new stuff and seeing if they dig it. And if people aren't responding to it, we'll just keep playing old (songs). I'm there to entertain people, nothing else. I'm not gonna go out there and try to get all artistic on them."

Rock, who turns 42 in January, is in an optimistic spot. He campaigned for Mitt Romney during the election; but in a short film released last month where he co-starred with Sean Penn, he stressed the importance of coming together despite our political differences.

"I worry about our county at times, like a lot of people do," he says. "But I've got my fingers crossed that the next four years we're gonna get back on track."

At the Lions' game on Thanksgiving, he's got a suite for friends and family, and after the game he'll head home "and then do what everybody does, be thankful for what we've got, cook some turkey and celebrate with some friends and family."

No bombshell revelations. What you see is what you get.

agraham@detnews.com

twitter.com/grahamorama

Kid Rock

"Rebel Soul"
Atlantic Records
In stores Monday
Kid Rock’s ‘Detroit, Michigan’ halftime

Kid Rock is set to pay homage to Detroit during halftime of the Detroit Lions’ Thanksgiving game with a performance of his new Detroit anthem, "Detroit, Michigan."
The song, which borrows from Ronnie Love’s 1965 original, includes shout-outs to Eminem, Bob Seger, Aretha Franklin and others.
It’s the latest in a string of songs Rock has performed that give props to the Motor City.
Rock became aware of Love’s original when Rock’s bassist, Aaron Juilson, played it for him at rehearsal one day.
"The song just works so well," Rock says. "You know, I’ve been trying to nail that Detroit song for years, and I’ve had some OK ones, but I don’t think I’ve nailed them on the head with ‘Son of Detroit’ or ‘In Detroit.’ Of all the stuff I’ve done, I think this one just nails it on the head."
Rock originally toyed with performing the song at the game with some of the people named in it, but he decided to go in a different direction.
"Trying to throw other people in the mix would have just thrown a wrench into it, so we’re gonna do this ourselves," he says. "What we have planned is something they’ve never seen at a Thanksgiving game; this is more like a one-song performance at the Super Bowl kind-of-thing for me.
"And, of course, since it’s Detroit, it’s that much more important to me."

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121116/ENT04/211160323#ixzz2CR0SKuss