Kid Rock opens up about the sound and direction of his new album

Kid Rock performs during the Cheap Date Tour 2015 at Aaron's Amphitheatre on Sunday, July 19, 2015, in Atlanta. (Photo by Robb D. Cohen/Invision/AP)

He’s a cowboy, baby and it sounds like Kid Rock is about to conquer the wild west with his upcoming 11th album.

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The Detroit-based singer-songwriter is releasing his first album in years at some point in 2017 and he tells “Billboard” magazine that it’s a virtual smorgasbord of sounds. “It’s kind of going back to ‘Rock ’n’ Roll Jesus,’ ‘Devil Without a Cause’,” he says. “I’ve got a lot of different things on there—big rock songs, roots-sounding stuff, some hard-core rap stuff, kind of all over the board. I do have a lot of songs, but I’m not sure what I’m going to put on the record or how I’m going to release it yet. It’s like the wild west right now, so we’ll see.”

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While no official release date has been announced yet, his plan is to release the album prior to his four-night run at the still-under-construction Little Caesars Arena in Detroit where Kid will be the opening act for the new venue. He says, “It means a lot to me to be the first act—bigger than me just playing a show. After touring for 30 years, proximity becomes kind of a big selling point. And also having a home right down the street here in Detroit makes it very interesting.”

Currently those September shows in Detroit, along with a handful of others, including an April 4 cruise, are the only concerts on his schedule.

That doesn’t mean Kid Rock isn’t working, though. He has to get that album finished for those of us that can’t make it to Detroit, but he’s also been in Nashville and Alabama planning and working on his set.

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This will be the rocker-rapper-country music aficionado’s first record since 2015’s “First Kiss” album. The iconic entertainer has been a repeat visitor on the country charts with songs like “Picture” with Sheryl Crow, “Lean on Me” with Sheryl and Keith Urban, and one of our favorite odes to warm weather, “All Summer Long.”

We love having him in Nashville. You just never know where he’s going to pop up!

What do you think?

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