New at the Detroit Historical Museum: Top Ten Experiences Not to Miss!

After six months of renovations, the Detroit Historical Museum is set to re-open to the public Thanksgiving weekend with free admission. More than 70 percent of the museum’s exhibitions have been reimagined, marking the first major renovations to the facility since the 1960s.

The renovations and technology upgrades were made possible by the Detroit Historical Society’s $20.1 million Past&Forward campaign to support new and expanded exhibits at the Detroit Historical Museum, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum and the Detroit Historical Society’s Collection.

Among the new exhibits are The Allesee Gallery of Culture, the Kid Rock Music Lab, Detroit: The “Arsenal of Democracy,” and The Gallery of Innovation. Among the revamped and enhanced offerings are the Streets of Old Detroit, Doorway to Freedom – Detroit and the Underground Railroad and America’s Motor City exhibits.

Be sure not to miss these exciting interactive elements of the newly renovated Detroit Historical Museum:

· Visit the Innovation Station – Test your skills at mixing your own soda pop flavor in the Gallery of Innovation.

· Enjoy a “Rock” Concert – Take in the sights and sounds of Kid Rock’s 40th birthday concert at Ford Field in the Kid Rock Music Lab.

· Catch a Ball Game – Relive the Detroit Tigers’ 1984 World Championship Season in the Allesee Gallery of Culture.

· Hear the Call to Arms – Listen as President Franklin D. Roosevelt urges Detroit to become the “Arsenal of Democracy” in Detroit: The “Arsenal of Democracy.”

· Find Your Way to Freedom – Step across the Detroit River into Canada as you make your way along the Underground Railroad in the Doorway to Freedom – Detroit and the Underground Railroad.

· Enjoy a Taste of History - Step up to the counter at a replica of the first Sanders Confectionary store on Woodward Avenue during the 19th century in the Streets of Old Detroit.

· Go Hand to Hand with Gordie Howe – Match your handprints to that of more than 20 of Detroit’s cultural icons in the Detroit Legends Plaza.

· See the Motor City’s Finest – View a rotating display of some of our region’s most exceptional automobiles in our new Automotive Showplace in America’s Motor City.

· Become a Conductor – Control the model trains in the re-designed Glancy Trains exhibit.

Re-Discover Your Family – Visit the new Family Discovery Room and experience family life in 19th century Detroit with hands-on activities in the Streets of Old Detroit.

More information: detroithistorical.org.

Kid Rock Donates $250K To The Historical Society For An Interactive Music Lab

Detroit’s own Kid Rock is partnering with the Detroit Historical Society to help share the story of the city’s musical past and inspire its future.

The Kid Rock Foundation is donating $250,000 to the Society to establish what will be known as the Kid Rock Music Lab, an interactive gallery that covers more than 100 years of Detroit’s musical history. It will span a myriad of genres from jazz and blues to gospel, funk, rock, pop, techno and hip hop ­– all of which have defined Detroit in song.

The donation was derived from Bob “Kid Rock” Ritchie’s own love for the City of Detroit. As a result, everyone from Motown legends like Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson to rock gods like Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper and the MC5 will be represented in the gallery, as will Kid Rock himself. The performer’s music has evolved since his early days. As Kid Rock rose to international prominence, his own music has transcended boundaries. Known for experimentation, he fuses multiple musical genres that resonate with Detroit audiences to create a distinct sound all his own.

The Kid Rock Music Lab will offer more than a solid education in the history of these amazing artists. It will grant visitors a glimpse at the concert-going experience itself, a reminder of venues of past and present where musicians made their way to stardom, including the Grande Ballroom and Baker’s Keyboard Lounge. The Kid Rock Music Lab will explore the way in which song has inspired generations to demand R.E.S.P.E.C.T. and reflect the struggles of the era, including the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War.

“We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Kid Rock for making this lab a reality,” said Bob Bury, executive director and chief executive officer of the Detroit Historical Society. “Our intention from the beginning of this partnership was to showcase Detroit as a city with a rich musical history. We believe that is the sentiment that will emanate from the Kid Rock Music Lab as all genres and aspects of the Detroit music scene are represented. Our challenge in creating it has been managing to fit in as much of the city’s exciting and important musical past as possible.”

Visitors will not only see and hear stories of Detroit music – they will experience it for themselves. The music lab stays true to its name by offering this array of interactive activities meant to educate, entertain and inspire:

· Name That Artist – sample Detroit’s Greatest Hits and guess the singer.
· Kid Rock Picture Stop – Play in Kid Rock’s band and have your picture taken.
· Concert Stage – Feel what it’s like to be on stage, in concert with Kid Rock, Aretha Franklin, Bob Seger or The Supremes. · Mix Your Own Music Station – Experiment with sounds and vocals to create your own song.
· Detroit Music Trivia – Test your knowledge.

 “We believe the Kid Rock Music Lab will be an inspiring new exhibit for museum-goers,” said Bury. “We envision our school groups will try out the interactive stations and leave with the notion that they not only understand the music of artists like Aretha Franklin and Kid Rock that much better, but that they will feel empowered enough to make their own music. The intention behind the new Kid Rock Music Lab is to help usher in the next generation of Detroit’s great musical artists.”

The quarter-million dollar donation supporting the Kid Rock Music Lab marks the Kid Rock Foundation’s largest outright charitable contribution to date. The lab, 1,400 square feet, will be located adjacent to one of the Detroit Historical Museum’s brand new galleries, the Allesee Gallery of Culture, which highlights the past century in Detroit pop culture.

These additions are part of the Detroit Historical Society’s $20.1 million Past>Forward campaign, an effort to renovate the Detroit Historical Museum, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum and the Detroit Historical Society collections. The upgrades represent the first major renovations to the museum since the 1960s.

On Nov. 23rd, the Detroit Historical Museum will reopen to the public, allowing visitors to explore new and expanded exhibits, enjoy technology upgrades and experience new educational offerings.

Kid Rock With A Cause: Detroit Symphony Concert Raises $1M

Performing a benefit concert with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on Saturday night (May 12) at the Fox Theatre, according to Kid Rock, was "the best drunk move I ever made," have received the call while he was enjoying some post-show libation backstage in Louisville during the spring of 2011.

On paper it certainly looked a little...screwy. The likes of "Bawitdaba," "Devil Without a Cause" and "You Never Met a Mother****** Quite Like Me" hardly seem like orchestral fare, and the DSO has surely never before worked with vocalists who drop liberal F-bombs and sing about prostitute, pimps, drugs and debauchery. The orchestra may play Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man," but the terrain of Rock's song is little more, well, common in the rawest sense of the word.

And it's highly unlikely any previous DSO guest has ever referred to music director Leonard Slatkin as "badass," as Rock did on Saturday.

But the pairing, which raised $1 million for the DSO -- still feeling the after-effects of a six-month 2010-11 musicians' strike as well as a challenging economy in general -- worked well. The two-hour and five-minute show, during which Rock and his Twisted Brown Trucker band performed 11 of his songs with the DSO as well as a three-song encore set on their own, added layers of orchestral bombast and spice to a repertoire more stylistically diverse than, say, Metallica's "S&M" set list and proving that the orchestra could rock and that Rock's songs, at least those played with the DSO, were sturdy enough to support a little bit of sophistication. Rob Mathes' complementary arrangements gave the DSO a prominent place in the music without trying to upstage the songs, making a batch of familiar sound richer, fuller and fresher.

"I think the good idea is to let the audience hear the band rock and use the orchestra to enhance what the band is doing," Mathes, whose voluminous credits include musical director for the Kennedy Center Honors, told Billboard.com. "I want to use the orchestra as another member of the band -- albeit an extraordinary one -- and let them shine in their glory at times but not just let them be this carpet over everything." Mathes, who had worked with the DSO's Slatkin on previous projects, studied a number of live tapes from concerts by Rock and his Twisted Brown Trucker band and also attended a concert in Tampa "so I could really write the orchestra to the way they play live, not just on record."

Rock sported a tuxedo while Slatkin and the orchestra musicians donned his trademark black fedoras for the opening "Devil Without a Cause," which included the late Joe C. rapping via tape about his 10-foot you-know-what while a scrim featuring his photo hung over the DSO. Rock changed garb quickly -- "You didn't really think I was wearing a tuxedo all night, did you?" he said -- a ran through a repertoire during which the orchestra added bold, Mahler-esque stabs marked "Bawitdaba" and "Rock N Roll Jesus" and bulked up the main riffs of "You Never Met...," "All Summer Long," "Born Free" and "Cowboy," with the latter mixing tastes of Americana fiddle flare with Gershwinesque grandeur. Mathes borrowed from Al Green's Memphis soul on the ballad "Rock On," while melodic counterpoints enriched "Purple Sky" (a favorite of Rock's mom, which he dedicated to her for Mother's Day) and "Picture." The DSO also introduced songs such as pro-Detroit paean "Times Like These" and "Born Free" with specially created intros.

Click HERE to read the full article on Billboard (dot) com! 

There's a New Kid On The Block: Kid Rock Buys Home in Detroit!

Except from The Detroit Free Press:

Heads-up, Detroit: It looks as if you’ve got a new Kid on the block.

Neighbors say Michigan music star Kid Rock has purchased a house on the east side of Detroit, and they’re welcoming him with open arms.

 The 6,000-square-foot colonial-style home was sold earlier this year, said neighbor Tom Barrow, an accountant and onetime Detroit mayoral candidate. Barrow said his wife and children met the red-hatted Rock in the driveway earlier this month. Rock — raised Robert Ritchie in Romeo — has lived for more than a decade on a rustic property in Clarkston, where he also maintains a studio and some business operations.

It’s not clear if the Detroit house will be a full- or part-time residence for the 40-year-old star. A spokesman for Rock was unavailable for comment late Thursday.

“We’re happy to have him as a neighbor,” said Barrow. “We’re hoping his private life is calming and can have a positive influence on my young children. We’re confident he’ll be a good neighbor. I know he’s very pro-Detroit.”

Neighbor Diane Linn said she’s already got a housewarming gift in mind: a batch of chocolate chip cookies. “It’s really an old-fashioned kind of neighborhood,” she said. “Everyone looks out for each other. Everyone is friendly and warm. I’m sure he’ll be very pleased here.”

Click HERE to read the rest of this article from The Detroit Free Press!

Kid Rock, Alice In Chains, Skynyrd Rock Detroit

Gary Graff

http://billboard.com

A pair of home town stadium concerts over the weekend gave Kid Rock and a couple of his support acts an opportunity to showcase new material for the 40,000 fans who attended each show.

In Rock's case it was a reflective song called "In Times Like These" that he performed as the first encore on Saturday and Sunday at Comerica Park, the usual home of the Detroit Tigers.

Explaining that he usually doesn't play new work until it's been released, Rock told the crowd he felt this was "an important song" inspired by the economic times the country, and especially his home state of Michigan, were experiencing.

"It's the truth, and we hope it's more inspirational than anything," Rock said before performing an acoustic version of the song, whose lyrics contain sentiments such as "I heard them say they're shutting Detroit down/But I won't leave 'cause this is my home town" and "Even though it's bittersweet and brings us to our knees/It makes us who were are in times like these."

Rock was planning to follow-up 2007's triple-platinum "Rock N Roll Jesus" this fall but, as previously reported, has decided to take the project to producer Rick Rubin, which will likely mean a 2010 release. The two are currently reviewing what Rock has in hand, including collaborations with rapper Lil Wayne and T.I., and plan to start recording after Rock and his Twisted Brown Trucker band wrap up their summer tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Rock also rolled out a variety of covers during the homestand, including the Rolling Stones' "Tumbling Dice," Dobie Gray's "Drift Away" (accompanied by video screen images of a selection of deceased music heroes), the Jackson 5's "ABC" in tribute to Michael Jackson, snippets of the Georgia Satellites' "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" and Sly & the Family Stone's "Everyday People" incorporated into other songs, and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A.," which closed each night's show. The concerts were filmed and recorded, but Rock told Billboard.com that he has not made any definite plans for any sort of official release.

Alice in Chains, which played on Saturday's bill in its only U.S. show of the summer, debuted "A Looking in View" from "Black Gives Way to Blue," the group's first album of new material in 14 years. Prior to the show all four band members joined Virgin/EMI executives at Detroit's Fox Theatre to preview the entire album for a gathering of music industry professionals.

On Friday night, meanwhile, Lynyrd Skynyrd offered a pair of songs from its upcoming "God & Guns," which, as previously reported, is also coming out Sept. 29. The group opened its set with "Skynyrd Nation," an uptempo ode to its fans, and also performed the album's first single, "Still Unbroken," a heavy rocker that singer Johnny Van Zant dedicated to deceased Skynyrd members Leon Wilkeson, Hughie Thomasson, Billy Powell and Ean Evans and accompanied with historical photos of the group and its album covers on the video screen.

While at MIS, Kid Rock, Lions Coach Jim Schwartz Express Optimism For Michigan

Mike Pryson
Jackson Citizen Patriot

New Detroit Lions football coach Jim Schwartz was asked Sunday before the LifeLock 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn if he had a favorite Kid Rock song.

With the artist sitting next to him and the pressure on, the coach didn't fumble.
"'Cocky,' " Schwartz said without hesitation.

Then he went the extra mile.

"It ain't bragging if you can back it up," Schwartz said.

Kid Rock was impressed.

"He even knows the lyrics," Kid Rock said. "Best coach we've ever had in Detroit."

Kid Rock was the grand marshal for the LifeLock 400, while Schwartz was at the speedway as the honorary starter in the flag tower.

The prerace meeting between the two quickly turned into a pep talk for the state of Michigan and the economy.

"I see hope every day. I still live in Clarkston," Kid Rock said.

"One thing I know about this town and why I stay here, I could live anywhere I want in the world, is the people and who they are. It's a hard-working town with hard-working people. It's not the first time we've been down. We'll get back up and dust ourselves off."

Schwartz, too, said he sees hope throughout Michigan.

"There's a sign on my refrigerator that says, 'Tough times don't last. Tough people do,' " Schwartz said. "That's what we're all about."

Schwartz also leaked his rooting interest in the race.

"It's hard to root against (Joe Gibbs Racing owner) Joe Gibbs and his affiliation with the NFL and the respect that I have for him," Schwartz said. "But I know where my bread is buttered.

I'm employed by the Ford family, so I'm behind all the Ford drivers today."

KID ROCK BEER: Hundreds of Jobs on Tap

http://www.wxyz.com/

A brewer headquartered southeast of Lansing is getting a tax credit to produce a new line of beer for Kid Rock.

The tax credit for the Webberville-based Michigan Brewing Company was approved by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority. It's valued at $722,957.

The company plans to invest $7 million in the project, which is expected to create about 400 jobs in the state. In order to help with the project, the village of Webberville is also considering an abatement.

The Michigan Brewing Company is owned by Bobby Mason. He says he hopes to have the Kid Rock branded beer in stores sometime in the spring.

The beer's name, style and pricing have yet to be determined, and Kid Rock is working closely with the company to make those decisions.

The brewery currently employs about eight people, and produces about 100,000 barrels a bear a year.

Mason says he hopes to double production because of the new Kid Rock beer, and hopes to hire more than 150 employees over the next five year.

Those jobs are expected to be in the sales packaging and production department.

Positive Detroit Editor's Note: I will donate my taste buds for the greater good of ensuring the best tasting beer is made in Michigan. Please click the tiny envelope below if you would like me to partake in any taste tests. My liver is at your service.

Kid Rock to have his banner raised at the Palace

www.mlive.com

Hometown rap-rocker Kid Rock will have a banner raised in his honor Friday night during the Piston game against the Boston Celtics.

January 30, Detroit Free Press: [Kid Rock]... will be honored with a permanent banner at the Auburn Hills arena, a tribute to his 18 sold-out shows between the Palace and sister venue DTE Energy Music Theatre.

Rock will be on hand as the banner is raised to the rafters during a second-quarter timeout at tonight's NBA game between the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics. (The game starts at 7 p.m. and will be aired on Fox Sports Net Detroit.)

Rock's banner will join those honoring fellow entertainers Neil Diamond, Bon Jovi and Alan Jackson, all of whom have been concert staples at the 20-year-old venue. He'll also be among retired Pistons jerseys for players such as Bill Laimbeer, Isiah Thomas and Vinnie Johnson.

Kid Rock(Bob Ritchie) was a local performer in the metro-Detroit area for years before he hit it big and became a rap-metal music scene icon in the music industry.