The clue is in the name, Silver Bullet, yes? Silver Bullet as in the Silver Bullet Band, or, more specifically, Bob Seger, whose band it was and whose songs he, and they, played. Bluegrass, in that these are all interpretations flecked with bluegrass tropes, at least instrumentally, so fiddle, mandolin, banjo, all that stuff. I’m uncertain whether the Kentucky purists would concede the legitimacy of the performances, but, hey, maybe it’s not for them. At least, they’re welcome, but Silver Bullet Bluegrass is aimed at lovers of blue collar heartland rock, of which Seger was a rightly celebrated king.
Seger’s commercial heyday largely happened in the ’80s, his big-lunged anthems emerging from Detroit. If this raises some eyebrows as to why, where and how these good ol’ country boys should be celebrating him, think again. His raw and emotive songs, a little like the songs of New Jersey native Bruce Springsteen, transcend any simple classification. There is rock and roll, there is blues, and there is country running through their veins. (A little-realized fact is that Seger’s last live appearance was actually in Nashville, as he helped Patty Loveless be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. If he has no issues with country music, hell, why would we?)
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