Bob Seger on Climate Outrage, His Internet-Free Life and Hanging With Eminem
Bob Seger does things at his own pace. The Detroit icon’s new disc, Ride Out – a country-flavored collection that mixes originals with covers of songs by Steve Earle and John Hiatt – is only his second LP in nearly two decades. But it also includes his most politically outraged song ever, “It’s Your World,” marking Seger’s coming-out as a climate-change activist. “I’m sure this will alienate some fans,” says Seger, who’s about to launch an arena tour. “But I’m 69. What the heck can they do to me now?”
Most of your peers tour all the time, but you only go out every few years. Do you just naturally crave the spotlight less than they do?
It’s never been important for me to be a public figure. I just read a book by Susan Cain [Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking]. I said, “Oh, my God, that’s me.”
You’re an introvert about to go on a huge arena tour.
It’s very strange. The road, to me, is a way to expose my songs and nothing more.
Are you going to play a lot of new songs?
We’ll probably start with just five or six per show. I’ll keep playing ones that people really want to hear, like “Mainstreet,” “Night Moves,” “The Fire Down Below.” But by January, I’d like half the show to be new songs.
How do you get in shape for a tour?
Well, right now I’m 10 pounds overweight. I do a TV spot in Los Angeles in 11 days, and by then I’ll be down to my tour weight. I do a hundred-plus miles a month outside on a bike with big, fat tires that make it hard to pedal. I do weight lifts and sit-ups for 90 minutes every other day.
Do you still smoke?
Oh, yeah.
Are you trying to quit?
No. [Big laugh] Some old people never change.
Have your kids tried to make you?
I don’t smoke around them. and I don’t when I work out. I don’t smoke nearly as much as people think, because a lot of them just burn down to nothing.
What made you decide it was time to write about political issues?
There’s a [recent] U.N. report saying that climate change isn’t coming – it’s here right now. It stuns me that people like Marco Rubio, who seems fairly bright, would say climate change isn’t caused by humans.
A lot of your fans probably agree with Rubio.
I’ve been told a good deal of my fan base is Republican. But I don’t think they all deny global warming. I think with a lot of them, cash is king and they want the jobs. I can understand that, but not if it’s gonna wreck the future for our kids.
You cover Steve Earle’s “The Devil’s Right Hand” on this album. Do you see that as an anti-gun song?
I would say that it’s anti-violence. I’ve always liked that song. I saw Waylon Jennings play it at the end of that movie Betrayed. I thought, “Wow, does that ever sum up this movie?” It’s a movie with horrific violence. This extremely radical, anti-government groups are killing black people. It’s a tough movie to watch.
It’s not a country album, but there’s definitely elements of country music sprinkled in there.
Well, I listen to a lot of country music because my wife loves it. It’s permeating the house and there’s some really good songwriting in country. They really work hard at songwriting. If it’s a song you really like, I don’t want to change it. I don’t want to do “Adam and Eve” with an electric guitar. I wrote “Fireman’s Talkin’,” which is another one. You could say that’s country-sounding, but I just called it crazed-bluegrass myself.
You cut Ride Out with session pros in Nashville. Did the guys in the Silver Bullet Band mind that they weren’t invited to play on the album?
They understand. It would have taken longer to work with them, because they’re not used to the studio. It’s so quick to record down in Nashville. It reminds me of Muscle Shoals back in the Seventies. They plug in and sound like a record. I was able to fly down there in 90 minutes, cut two songs and then fly home the same day.
What’s your goal for this album? It’s nearly impossible for veteran artists to get music on the radio these days. Top 40 is just dominated by really young pop stars.
You’ve got that right. I listen to what my daughter plays, and it’s all really young artists. You know, I just try and write good songs. If people play them, that’s great. I still think people buy records, maybe for an artist they still care about.
You make it hard to get your albums though. This new one is on iTunes, but let’s say I want to buy Against the Wind or Night Moves. There are no more record stores.
Well, there’s Walmart, Target and Best Buy. Then there’s Borders…Wait, that’s gone. But there’s Barnes and Noble. There are places you can get it. Of course, you can just buy it from Amazon. There are ways to get it if you really like.