New Bob Seger Album – But It’s A Bluegrass Tribute. Wait, What?

This caught our attention: A new Bob Seger album (technically a tribute to Bob from some amazing bluegrass artists). Over the years we’ve talked about a lot of folks covering Bob Seger songs (Metallica’s “Turn The Page” for example). But we’ve never heard Bob Seger music like this…a Bob Seger bluegrass tribute album? Oh it’s real. 

Lonesome Day Records out of Nashville is releasing an all-star Bluegrass tribute to BOB SEGER, SILVER BULLET BLUEGRASS, on July 12 via Sony/The Orchard. The new Bob Seger album features 13 tracks of tribute to his greatness, including Bo Bice, Carson Peters, Gary Nichols, Jeff Parker, Josh Shilling, Keith Garrett, Larry Cordle, Robert Hale,Shonna Tucker, Tim Shelton, Tim Stafford, Bill Taylor, and Ward Hayden, will be available on vinyl, disc, and all streaming platforms. 

If you love Seger, clear your mind and just enjoy that a VERY talented group of bluegrass musicians are celebrating his music. Here’s a couple of examples to check out:

The Bob Seger Bluegrass project (Silver Bullet Bluegrass) started back in 2012 with a couple of tracks being cut with producer Randall Deaton - but then other commitments got in the way and life moved on. How Michigan is this? Deaton acquired a business called Lake Fanny Hooe Resort and Campground located in the Copper Harbor area of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (anyone who’s been to Michigan Tech knows that 10 hour drive from Detroit)...so of course that kept the album on the back burner. Several years later, Deaton’s commitment to the tribute was reignited in part by the enthusiasm of engineer Jimmy Nutt (Jason Isbell, The Dead South, The Blind Boys of Alabama) and Grammy award-winning artist/songwriter Gary Nichols (The SteelDrivers). “Seger’s songs are timeless and the vocal performances by these artists were too good to stay hidden any longer,” Deaton notes. “I am incredibly proud of this record.” (He should be - how cool is it to release a new Bob Seger album?)

SILVER BULLET BLUEGRASS also showcases vocal performances by Grammy-award winner, Kentucky Music Hall of Famer singer/songwriter Larry Cordle; IBMA award winner and member of The Boxcars and Blue Moon Rising Keith Garrett; multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and member of Wildfire Robert Hale; singer/songwriter/guitarist Ward Hayden (The Outliers formerly known as Girls Guns & Glory); Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter/guitarist Gary Nichols; singer/mandolinist, Jeff Parker (founding member of Dailey & Vincent and former member of The Lonesome River Band); The Voice alumnus and young Bluegrass fiddler Carson Peters; Tim Shelton, Bluegrass fan favorite and founder of The Tim Shelton Syndicate; Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter Josh Shilling; Grammy award-winning guitarist/singer/songwriter, and two-time IBMA Songwriter of the Year Tim Stafford; popular Eastern Kentucky newcomers, The Appalachian Heatherns, vocalist/bassist, Bill Taylor; and singer/songwriter/bassist and former member of the Drive-By Truckers Shonna Tucker. 

Long Twin Silver Line (Carson Peters)

Turn The Page (Gary Nichols)  

Hollywood Nights (Shonna Tucker)

Against The Wind (Tim Shelton)

You’ll Accompany Me (Keith Garrett)

We’ve Got Tonight (Jeff Parker)

Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man (Bo Bice)

Betty Lou’s Gettin’ Out Tonight (Ward Hayden)

Main Street (Josh Shilling)

Even Now (Tim Stafford)

Feel Like A Number (Robert Hale)

Roll Me Away (Bill Taylor)

Night Moves (Larry Cordle)

SILVER BULLET BLUEGRASS has broad appeal and should charm Seger fans and Bluegrass lovers alike. For engineer Jimmy Nutt, the recordings offered a chance to reunite

in the studio with several players and singers. “I am so grateful to Randall for letting me work on this. It was an incredible experience.” For Deaton, “capturing the power and essence of these classic Rock songs in a Bluegrass presentation was a challenge. But the result goes to prove that the skills of top-tier Bluegrass musicians and vocalists are unmatched. I hope folks enjoy listening to it as much as we all enjoyed making it.” 

Bob Seger has a career that many artists only dream of, from selling millions of records to being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

While Seger bid touring farewell in 2019, legions of fans still adore this "Beautiful Loser" and always will. In honor of his birthday on May 6, we take a brief look at 10 interesting Bob Seger statistics that might surprise you.

In June 2021, Seger spoke with David Fricke and reflected on his life in music and the December 2020 passing of longtime Silver Bullet Band saxophonist Alto Reed.

Seger said Reed phoned him to tell him about his colon cancer diagnosis and said, "I listened really hard to him, and he said 'how grateful I am for my wonderful life.' ... I thought that was so beautiful, and I thought he was so brave. I don't think I could go out (on tour) without him."

As far as the touring part of his career goes, Seger said, "You know, I've had a great life, oh my goodness. I loved what I did. Never worked a day in my life, really. The hard parts were in sleeping in hotels, having rotten food."

However, it seems as though Seger isn't completely retired from music. He touched on his experience during the pandemic and how Bruce Springsteen offered some supportive words saying, "I was getting kind of down on myself, down on the world and down on everything. [Springsteen] said, 'Bob, go out there and start writing, start singing, start playing, start recording."

If you ever feel like getting lost in the wonder that is Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, you might want to wander over to the Seger YouTube Channel. Not only does the channel feature official music videos, but there's also various live clips of Seger over the years, which are real gems.

Much like with streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify, Seger was one of the last few major artists to not have an official channel on the platform.

When the channel was first unveiled in January 2020, president and CEO of Universal Music Enterprises (parent company of Capitol Records) Bruce Resnikoff said, "What’s really important is that Bob is first and foremost a storyteller, and we now live in a world where artists are able to tell their stories and give their message to old fans and new fans in way that goes well beyond touring and live appearances. In the world of YouTube and videos, we get a chance for Bob to tell his story in way that’s very real to people, and to reach a much broader and younger audience."

Only one Seger album has topped the Billboard 200 Album Chart, and that was 1980's Against the Wind. And Seger's lone number one hit? That was 1987's "Shakedown" from the Beverly Hills Cop II soundtrack.

Seger's been nominated for seven Grammy Awards and has won only one, which came in 1981 when he won Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal for "Against the Wind."

Seger's catalog boasts 10 platinum studio/live albums, and they are:

Ample could be said about the amount of time it took for Seger to get inducted into the Rock Hall, but that rant could take a long time. However, we still think it's a massive oversight the Silver Bullet Band were snubbed.

Rolling Stone has an interesting piece on the history of the "Like a Rock" ad campaign for Chevy trucks, which ran from 1991 until 2004, and its impact on advertising during sporting events. He would tell Ultimate Classic Rock, "When Chevy asked for it, for a long time I turned it down, because I just didn’t want it to be in an ad. I’m really glad I did it now, because it sold a lot of trucks to save a lot of jobs, and, you know, this is my home state. So it’s a good thing. And people keep hearing it, so that’s great!"

Seger covered a diverse selection of tunes including Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son," Ike & Tina Turner's "Nutbush City Limits" and an absolutely beautiful rendition of the Christmas classic "The Little Drummer Boy."

According to IMDb.com, "Old Time Rock & Roll" has been featured in a wide variety of films/TV shows including WKRP in Cincinnati, Scrubs, Glee and more. Often, the use of "Old Time Rock & Roll" post-Risky Business was to reference the iconic scene of a young Tom Cruise in his underwear, as evident by this scene from ALF.

Seger would appear in season 32, episode 17 of the iconic animated series. It's pretty amazing it took so long for this to happen considering Homer Simpson's love of classic rock, especially fellow Michigan natives Grand Funk Railroad.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Seger's Greatest Hits was certified Diamond (selling 10 million copies) on May 30, 2017. Sure would be interesting how many units the compilation has moved since then.

Per Pollstar, Seger's farewell tour was the 3rd highest-grossing tour in North America in 2019 bringing in $97 million. The two artists that out-grossed him that year were Elton John ($157.4 million) and The Rolling Stones ($177.8 million.)