By David Fleet
Editor
Ortonville —  From Down On Mainstreet to Against the Wind, legendary rocker and Michigan native Bob Seger’s iconic raspy voice remains on the blue-color landscape for more than 50 years.
From 6-7:30 p.m., July 11, the Brandon Township Public Library, 304 South St., will host “Turn the Page,” a biography of Bob Seger written by Edward Balian. Registration required.
The book follows Seger’s half-century music career, from his earliest days playing Detroit area high schools and gymnasiums (admissions of $2) up through and including his final 2019-20 national tour.
“Everybody I’ve met in Michigan has a Bob Seger story,” said Balian, a Ph.D, who grew up in Detroit and was in a local band at the same time as Seger. “We’ve done more than 50 shows on the book and the audiences have been excellent.”
A recording musician, Balian’s band the George-Edwards Group, opened for Seger’s band many times and even shared the same entertainment attorney for decades.
“Seger is a very strong Michigander, he has the resources to live anywhere he wants, but still chooses to live in the Middle Straits Lake area in the Bloomfield area,” he said. “Many of his songs have roots in Michigan.”
Balian discusses Seger’s work at the Grande Ballroom, a historic 1960 era music venue in Detroit which played a heavy influence on the instrumental side of his music. In addition, Bob’s lyrics written through his high school and college girlfriends also are reflected in his music.
“The hard rock in the mid-1960s sparked by the MC Five, the Frost, the Amboy Dukes (Ted Nugent and Steve Farmer) Grand Funk Railroad, a plethora of Detroit talent that all comes through his music,” he said. “I make a case for Detroit being the epicenter for hard rock in the 1960s.”
The book features inside stories, interviews, Bob’s composing, band personnel, recording sessions, tours, and his very private personal life.
Balian came to know Seger in the late 1960s when he was with his early band The Last Heard.
“Bob had no input into the book,” he said. “By his own choice, that’s the kind of person he is.”
A long-time motorcyclist, Seger incorporated his Michigan roots along with his long rides in the lyrics. Such as included in his song, Roll Me Away: “Twelve hours out of Mackinaw City, I stopped in a bar to have a brew. Met a girl and we had a few drinks, And I told her what I’d decided to do.”
“How much of the facts are fact or fiction he does not say, rather leaves it up to the audience to figure out,” said Balian. “To this day Seger takes some extremely long isolated, desolate road trips.”
“Turn the Page,” is available on Amazon and Kindle. A portion of the book proceeds support Children’s Village.