- 4/23/2025
Karen Newman Interview with Meltdown on WRIF
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00:00Karen, good to see you again.
00:01Awesome to see you always.
00:03Now, the last time I saw you, it was really a shocker.
00:06I pulled in on my Harley Davidson looking like an American badass.
00:10You were a badass.
00:11And I saw you from like 30 feet.
00:13I'm thinking, there's no way she's going to recognize me.
00:15And you looked over and said, melt down.
00:17I ran across the street into the parking lot.
00:19Right.
00:19Yeah.
00:20You were with all your big, tough guys with other leathers and their fringe and their hogs.
00:25Yeah.
00:25That's right.
00:26Yeah, that was during the summertime out there in South Lyon.
00:28And you get around the town a little bit, don't you?
00:30I do.
00:31You know, I spend a lot of time out in that area because we've got horses.
00:34So, you know, that's kind of horse country out there.
00:36A lot of great barns and stuff.
00:37So, but I also, I love downtown South Lyon.
00:40I kind of fell in love with it.
00:42Great little hometown feel.
00:43Salem is darling.
00:45Yeah.
00:45I, I, I've been exploring that area for a while now.
00:48It's really, I like it because it's untouched, you know, at least for now.
00:52I'm sure they're going to start clearing all those beautiful woods and I won't recognize
00:55a place on a drive in one day, but I hope not.
00:58Yeah.
00:58Cause that's the charm.
00:59So you got a bunch of things coming up here, which we'll talk about.
01:02You got your, uh, uh, the, the rocks you're playing in Rochester on December 9th.
01:05You also have an Andiamo showroom that's coming up on December 17th and a TV show, which we're
01:10going to talk about here, uh, coming up in a little bit.
01:12But the last time we talked to you, it was a, it was about this time last year, wasn't
01:16it?
01:16It was like, I think near the beginning of the hockey season and fans were wondering where
01:22you were that you weren't singing the national anthem.
01:24And you did get a call to, you did sing at least once last year.
01:28I sang at three different games.
01:29Three.
01:29Okay.
01:29Three of them.
01:30Okay.
01:30Very special games.
01:32You know, there was like Alex DelVecchio's birthday.
01:34Okay.
01:34So we did that.
01:35That was always kind of fun.
01:36I can say, I sang happy birthday to Alex as well as Gordie Howe.
01:39Oh, is that right?
01:40Yeah.
01:40That's kind of, it's kind of highlight for me, you know?
01:42That's great.
01:43You know what?
01:43One time we were in the Olympia room and you introduced me to, um, to Ted, Ted Lindsay.
01:49Yeah.
01:51I don't, I didn't want to say it, but I had met him a couple of times and he was so nice.
01:57And then we were, we were, he was leaving and he came back and said goodbye to you.
02:01He started walking out and he turned around and came back and said goodbye to me.
02:04And it's like, which was not necessary at all.
02:06He's what you call a real mensch.
02:08You know, he was, he was always, he was, you know, not very tall, but man was he, he was
02:13mighty and, and his heart was the same way.
02:16He huge heart.
02:17I mean, the Ted Lindsay foundation lives on and is going stronger than ever.
02:21I just, I just, uh, sang at a charity hockey game, which, you know, the Ted Lindsay foundation
02:26for autism is always involved in everything I do.
02:29Which one did you do over the weekend?
02:31I was at the one USA.
02:31The one I did over the weekend was the heroes, heroes, um, oh my gosh, how'd they call it?
02:36It was for the Livingston Learning Center.
02:38And where was that game at?
02:39That was at CompuWear.
02:41Do they still call it CompuWear?
02:41Okay, I was there, but I got there late.
02:43So I missed you.
02:43Yeah.
02:44Oh, you missed the Anthems?
02:46I was running late.
02:47It was Metallica weekend.
02:48Okay.
02:49Have some, you know, have some mercy.
02:50I'm going to give you a pass.
02:51I'm going to give you a pass.
02:52But what they call it, heroes, hockey town.
02:55And I forget what it's called.
02:56Yeah.
02:56I saw Dave Cooley and Drew and D-Mac and all those guys.
03:00That's right.
03:00They had D-Mac.
03:01Who else was out there?
03:02Johnny O.
03:03Yep.
03:03Johnny O.
03:04Joey got hurt early.
03:06Had to leave.
03:06Oh, he did?
03:07Yeah.
03:07He didn't play very long, but.
03:08I was at the game.
03:09I didn't notice that.
03:10I was bidding on all the silent auction.
03:13Oh, there you go.
03:14Good.
03:14Do you know what I got?
03:15Oh, my God.
03:15I literally had to, like, fight, friendly fight with a gal who really wanted the signed
03:21Fedorov jersey.
03:22Okay.
03:23I shouldn't.
03:23Well, hopefully my son doesn't hear this because it's a surprise for him for Christmas.
03:27So I got the signed autograph, the autographed Fedorov jersey.
03:31Super exciting.
03:32Yeah.
03:32My son wore number 99 for the first few years of his hockey career because of Fedorov, who
03:36he'd never seen actually play, but he saw highlights of him.
03:39And he's like, this guy.
03:40He was, he, Sergei was poetic to watch.
03:43He was just, it was like, almost like watching a figure skater, a dancer.
03:47You know, he was so amazing.
03:49Some guys, you know, it's like, it's like dancing or the way people play ball or whatever.
03:55Everyone's got their own style.
03:56I loved Sergei's style.
03:58Yeah.
03:58What was your relationship like with, with some of the players?
04:02You know what?
04:02Um, I mean, back in the day, I was the same age as they, as they were.
04:07Now I could be their grandmother.
04:09Right.
04:09Right.
04:09You know, or at least their mother, I shouldn't say grandmother.
04:12That's not nice to me.
04:13Um, but, uh, but we were all pretty much the same age.
04:16So they were peers, if you could say like, you know, in terms of age, but they were really
04:21great.
04:22Some of the nicest athletes I've ever met in my life.
04:24I, I still, I still believe that the nicest athletes are hockey players.
04:28And I think a lot of that has to do that.
04:30They start out young.
04:31They're coming from other countries.
04:33They're Canadian.
04:34So there you go.
04:35I mean, it doesn't get any nicer than that.
04:37Um, and I think that they just really appreciate where they've, where they've landed, what, where,
04:42what they're doing.
04:43And they appreciate everything that's happened to get them to the point where they're superstar
04:47status.
04:48And, you know, you know, uh, in, in the national hockey league, um, I had great friends, great
04:54friends like Bob Probert.
04:55Um, Sheldon Kennedy was super, just a great guy.
04:58I loved him so much.
04:59Chris Draper, Ozzy, um, you know, of course, Joey Coaster, I still see for a lot of, he's
05:06so charitable and everything, you know, everything that he does is I try to get out to as much
05:10as I can.
05:11DMACC, come on.
05:12Yeah.
05:12You know, I actually sang background for Darren's band, for Grindr.
05:17I did.
05:18You were the highlight of the band.
05:20No, I was, it was kind of scary actually.
05:23Really?
05:23Yeah.
05:23A little bit more intense.
05:25Yeah.
05:25It was intense, but he was great.
05:26So yeah, I, I had some very good friendships back then and I can still say that we're friends
05:31today as well.
05:32So when you would go to sing the national anthem for these games, so like kind of run us
05:37through like, you know, that like half hour or whatever, would you go down there and you
05:41talk to Ale or whatever, you go out there, sing the national anthem, of course you got
05:44to do your lower harmonica and then, and then you would come back and then you'd have certain
05:48seats.
05:48You could sit in and watch the game, right?
05:49Well, my season tickets for all those years, uh, uh, with the exception of LCA, cause I
05:55didn't get season tickets when they moved over.
05:57Okay.
05:58Um, it didn't matter.
05:59You know, I, I'd either not stay because I had something else to do or I would stay and
06:03get great seats myself.
06:05Um, but my season tickets were up in the nosebleed section.
06:10Oh really?
06:10So you always thought you were down below.
06:12No, listen, I'm not complaining because it was awesome because the people that sat up,
06:18I mean, when you sat up there, you were really more part of the game than you ever could be
06:23in a suite.
06:24And I got to know a lot of the people in that section and we just, it was a blast.
06:29You know, I stopped sitting in my seat when I got pregnant with my twins because by the
06:35time I got halfway up the stairs, I was huffing and puffing.
06:37I'm like, I really don't feel like having these kids right here.
06:39So, so that's, but it was great.
06:43And what year did you start singing the National Anthropology?
06:45I want to say, I should know the answer to this like that.
06:48Right.
06:48But I think it was like 98.
06:51Is that right?
06:52After they already won a cup.
06:53No, no, I'm sorry.
06:55That's when I released my first album.
06:56Okay.
06:56Sorry.
06:57Okay.
06:58Um, wrong highlight.
06:59Um, no, it was, uh, it was, oh my God.
07:03No, it was 89, 90.
07:05That, okay.
07:05You were off by that line.
07:06They were off by that far.
07:07So, so, so, so fact check.
07:09Trust me on this, but the piss, I was singing for the Pistons during their two years that
07:15they went.
07:15So the bad boy era, wasn't that 89 and 90?
07:19Yeah.
07:19Yeah.
07:19Yeah.
07:19End of the eighties.
07:20Okay.
07:21So start, then the start of that was I would go down and I sang for the Red Wings a couple
07:26of games.
07:27I got invited to do that.
07:28And then a ton of silage came to me and said, you know what?
07:31We talked about it and my family and I would like to have you be our exclusive anthem singer.
07:35We'd like to create some tradition, you know, behind what we do pregame and throughout the
07:40game.
07:40And you'd be a big part of that.
07:42Would you like to do that?
07:43I'm like, yeah.
07:44And I had no idea at the time that that would go 34 years.
07:48I was going to say, that's exactly what they did.
07:50Yeah.
07:51They created a tradition.
07:52They created a tradition.
07:53And you know what?
07:54They had no idea who they were even asking because I grew up on Red Wing hockey.
07:58My dad was funny.
08:00My dad, who used to play in the minor leagues in baseball, he was a catcher.
08:04And he didn't like Detroit teams very much.
08:08He really didn't.
08:09You know, football, it was always Minnesota Vikings or the Pittsburgh Pirates.
08:14For baseball, it was the Cincinnati Reds during the Sparky Anderson era.
08:17Pittsburgh Steelers or Pittsburgh Pirates?
08:19So Pittsburgh Steelers?
08:19No, no, no.
08:20For football, it was the Steelers and the Vikings.
08:23Okay.
08:23Yeah.
08:24For baseball, it was the Cincinnati Reds.
08:27Okay.
08:27Johnny Bench.
08:28You kind of remind me of Johnny Bench a little bit.
08:31I do?
08:31Yeah.
08:32It's okay.
08:32I had a crush on Johnny Bench.
08:34Yeah.
08:34I'll have to go home and get my catchers.
08:36But the one Detroit team that he was, like, totally loyal to and watched without fail
08:42was the Detroit Red Wings.
08:44So I grew up on hockey, you know?
08:47And so when Atanas asked me to take on that role, he had no idea how exciting that was for
08:54me and for my family, too.
08:55I was going to say, so your father got to watch you sing many national anthem, I'm sure.
08:59Yes.
08:59Yeah.
09:00Yeah.
09:00He's very proud.
09:01Now, I don't know if you saw this clip or not the other day.
09:03But the guy was singing the national anthem in Buffalo and singing the Canadian national
09:07anthem and kind of butchered it.
09:08Oh.
09:09It's an easy thing to do.
09:11Yeah.
09:11But when you were singing, though, the words were right there, right?
09:13Most of the time, weren't they?
09:14I never looked.
09:15I was going to say, it didn't look like you ever looked.
09:17I didn't look because, honestly, there's like this muscle memory thing that happens.
09:21I don't know if you feel that way, like when you're playing hockey and, you know,
09:23a certain way you shoot or a certain way.
09:25Like, for me, the muscle memory would take effect.
09:30So if I looked up at the lyrics in any way, it would sort of mess up what was happening
09:36for me just naturally and organically.
09:38I couldn't do it.
09:40There were times where I'd go out there and I would sing the line.
09:43And I'd be still singing.
09:45The sound is coming out of my mouth.
09:47But I'm thinking, did I just sing the wrong lyric on that?
09:51So, like, I'm singing.
09:53Nobody else knows what's going on in my head.
09:55And I would just get through it and go like, did I sing the wrong thing?
09:58And people are like, no, you were right.
09:59I'm like, oh, okay.
10:00Yeah, sometimes when you're in the moment like that, I've done this on stage before.
10:03You get off stage, you don't even know what you just said.
10:05Because you're kind of, the adrenaline takes over.
10:07It's the adrenaline.
10:08And you're supposed to plug this and plug this.
10:09And then you're not even sure if you did.
10:11Yeah, you've got a hard job.
10:12I mean, you've got to spin plates all the time.
10:15Sometimes, yeah.
10:16I had one job for 90 seconds.
10:18I had it down to 90 seconds.
10:20A lot of people take a lot longer to do that.
10:22I don't know if you saw Flava Flav.
10:24I did not.
10:25For one of the NBA games recently.
10:28I'm afraid to ask, but go ahead.
10:30You know what?
10:31I'm actually, I want to compliment him, though.
10:33I do.
10:33So, yes, it took forever.
10:35This is obviously not his scene, really, right?
10:38But I give him a lot of credit.
10:40Because I've seen some singers go out there.
10:42Like, signed, national artists.
10:45You know, major artists go out there and just really botch it, like you say.
10:48Right.
10:49They try too hard.
10:51They try to do too much.
10:52But he went out there and he sang it from top to bottom.
10:54It did take a little while.
10:56But he hit all the big notes.
10:58It was a little odd because, like I say, he's not really, like, that kind of a singer.
11:03But I give him credit because he did a lot better than a lot of actual singers that I've heard.
11:08Yeah.
11:09Sometimes people try to, like, craft it to make it their own.
11:11And I think it should kind of stay somewhat traditional.
11:14Yeah.
11:14That's exactly right.
11:15I mean, the minute you put yourself into that and go, this is about me, this is about how I sound, this is how people perceive me, then it's not going to come off genuine.
11:25Yeah.
11:25You know?
11:26Yeah.
11:27You've got to sing about the war and the bombs bursting.
11:29That's right.
11:30What?
11:32What is that?
11:33Let's talk about the Canadian anthem.
11:35That's so pleasant.
11:36Was that a tough one to sing?
11:38No.
11:38No.
11:38It's so lovely.
11:40Yeah.
11:40My son recently sent me a little thing from online.
11:46And it was opera singer.
11:48Oh, my gosh.
11:49Jessie Norman?
11:50No, Jessie.
11:51Oh, gosh.
11:52How come I can't think of her name?
11:53Can you fact check that, Sarah?
11:55Great opera singer, great classical singer.
11:58And she was saying that, honestly, the U.S. National Anthem is an impossible song for any singer to do because it encompasses an octave and a fifth.
12:11So it's really, for most people, Joe Public, you know, for anybody to try to sing along, which is what you want to have people to be able to sing it, right?
12:22It's impossible.
12:23It's an impossible feat.
12:24Interesting.
12:25Okay.
12:25Yeah.
12:25Yeah, I've never attempted to sing it, nor will I ever.
12:28I have it timed.
12:29I know it's timed.
12:30I've got it dialed in.
12:32That's why I use my pitch pipe, my harmonica.
12:34Right, yeah.
12:36Because if I am even a half step too low or too high, I'm not going to be able to go the distance.
12:43So that's why, and over the years, I've only had to, I dropped it a half step over the years as your voice changes, you know, whatever.
12:49So as your career is going along and you're doing the National Anthem and stuff, somewhere along the line, you get hooked up with Kid Rock's band, correct?
12:57So, funny thing.
13:00Yeah.
13:00But I actually, I owe it all to Elto Reed.
13:03Okay.
13:04As you know.
13:04Love Elto, yeah.
13:06Great guy, yeah.
13:06God rest his soul.
13:08Amazing man.
13:09He, great Red Wing fan, right?
13:12One of the best, one of the biggest.
13:14He was down at one of the Red Wing games, heard me sing the anthem, it was a playoff game, and said, hey, Bob's looking, Bob Seger, is looking for another background vocalist.
13:26You should come in and audition.
13:28And he made that, he made that happen.
13:30Can you imagine, like, oh yeah, I'm just going to go and audition for Bob Seger.
13:34I wasn't nervous at all.
13:36Oh my God.
13:37So where did this take place?
13:39The audition?
13:41Yeah.
13:41Out in Ann Arbor, where they were practicing.
13:43Okay, gotcha.
13:44It was Hill, Hill Auditorium.
13:45Okay.
13:45And so, yeah.
13:47What year was this, we're talking here?
13:48What's that?
13:49What year?
13:49Oh, that was 96.
13:51Okay, 96.
13:52So 96, you're auditioning for Bob Seger.
13:54I'm auditioning for Bob Seger.
13:55The wings are on fire, right?
13:58And I end up getting that tour.
14:02I came off that tour.
14:02Well, Punch Andrews is Bob Seger's manager.
14:05Right, right.
14:05And at the time, was managing Kid Rock.
14:07But he hadn't really broke yet.
14:10Kid Rock?
14:10Not 96.
14:11It was a couple years later.
14:12No, no, no.
14:13So I didn't go out on tour with him, with Kid Rock, until 2004, 2005.
14:18So what happened with the Seger thing?
14:20You did?
14:20I had a great, great tour.
14:23And then they ended up getting somebody named Barb Payton, who's awesome.
14:28She's a great friend of mine.
14:29Great singer.
14:29I don't really know why I didn't get the call back.
14:33What was it like touring with Bob Seger?
14:36Unbelievable.
14:38I mean, they used to be like, Newman, cannot believe this is your first major tour.
14:43You know, we're on planes.
14:44We're getting picked up by limousines.
14:45All those things that you picture being a rock star were really happening.
14:50I mean, we had, we, the markets that we went to, we'd be on one day and then off the next.
14:56So I got to go around and check out the city.
14:58You know, it's how I fell in love with Boston and some of these other cities, San Francisco.
15:04Huge, huge venues, you know, stadiums and arenas.
15:09And I mean, to be walking up the steps after, and there's Bob Seger in the silhouette of things, right?
15:15And I'm like, I'm going on the same stage as Bob Seger and all of his amazing musicians who've been doing this for years.
15:24You know, it was, it was pretty incredible.
15:26How many shows you think you play with Bob?
15:28I was out with him for six months.
15:30His was a nice tidy tour.
15:32So it was six months.
15:34We did, we must've done, I think about 60 markets.
15:38Okay.
15:39You know?
15:39Yeah.
15:40And they say that, you know, in that situation, you play for free, but they pay you for the travel.
15:45I've never heard of it.
15:46Oh, you never heard of it?
15:47No, I'd love that.
15:49Say it again.
15:50They, they, you play for free.
15:51Play for free.
15:51And they pay you for your travel.
15:53God, that's so true.
15:55Yeah.
15:55Oh my God, I loved it.
15:56A lot of traveling.
15:56So then, so, so in this, in this, boy, the mid nineties were really, that was a crazy era for you, wasn't it?
16:03Yeah, it was crazy.
16:05And so then, so then you, you get off to Bob Seger thing.
16:07And in the meantime, were you still singing the national anthem or did you?
16:10I was, I had to take a leave of absence from the wings to go on tour with, with Bob, but then got back in time for the, for the finals.
16:19Okay.
16:19Oh, that's awesome.
16:20Yeah.
16:20It was really great.
16:21So then, so obviously punch was managing Bob Seger.
16:24Is that how you got hooked up with Kid Rock?
16:25It is.
16:26So, um, uh, Laura Kramer, who was also singing is, is still part of the silver bullet band.
16:32Um, so she and I were called to be background singers for Kid Rock and go out and tour very different tour.
16:39Yeah.
16:39I was going to say, so, okay.
16:41So let's back up a little bit.
16:42So Kid Rock breaks in 1999, pretty much.
16:45So you're talking 2004 now.
16:47So now he is really peak success right now.
16:49On fire.
16:50Yeah.
16:50Filling, filling stadiums and arenas the same way I saw happen with Seger.
16:55So same kind of crowds.
16:57And, and how many shows did you play with Rock?
16:59I was, I was on tour with him for nine months.
17:03Um, I, I don't know, a lot because we did a lot of repeats because we do like the, the sheds then in the summer and everything.
17:10So we repeat markets.
17:11There was a lot.
17:13That was a thick tour book.
17:14Yeah.
17:14And it was a, it was a bus tour.
17:16So I got to live on a bus with the Twisted Brown trucker boys and girls, girl, one girl, Stephanie.
17:25Um, but you know what?
17:27That was just as much fun and created just as many great memories working for, uh, Bob Ritchie.
17:34Kid Rock was really excellent.
17:36He's a great boss, great boss.
17:38I'll never forget my time with them.
17:40And people from the outside, uh, may look at Rock, you know, he's a rock star.
17:44And does his shows and stuff like that.
17:45Yes.
17:46He is a perfectionist and he practices and he works at his craft and he tries to perfect it.
17:53Yeah.
17:53You know that.
17:53Yeah.
17:54Right.
17:54You know him very well.
17:55Yeah.
17:55He doesn't just show up on stage.
17:57No, no.
17:58Right down to the final detail.
18:00Yeah.
18:01Everything for, because he's, you know, he's more of a showman too.
18:04Right.
18:05So, I mean, he's, he's a great artist, but his performance, his showmanship, it matters
18:10to him.
18:10So, every last detail was thought out very, very carefully.
18:15No, he's, he was, that was a great time.
18:18I loved being on stage with him.
18:20Yeah.
18:20It was liberating.
18:21You know, I'm kind of a rocker on the, on the inside anyway.
18:24People don't know that, but I really am.
18:26I mean, I'm thrilled that my daughter's a metal head and she's exposed me to a lot of great
18:32groups who I love now.
18:33So, and, um, and then I've got her twin brother who's more eclectic and very, very tasty with
18:41his music choices.
18:42Um, he introduced me to, um, the music of straw May.
18:45I don't know if you know that artist.
18:47He's from Belgium.
18:48No.
18:48Just, first of all, drop dead gorgeous.
18:50Like unbelievable.
18:52It's a girl.
18:53It's a guy.
18:53Okay.
18:54Straw May.
18:54And he's beautiful.
18:56And, um, but his music is so cool.
18:59You guys should look them up.
19:00Okay.
19:00Um, um, um, you know, the tiny desk concerts.
19:02Have you ever seen those online?
19:04Oh my gosh.
19:05You have to check that out.
19:06Okay.
19:06They're called the tiny desk concerts.
19:07I sat at a tiny desk growing up.
19:09So I'm a tiny person.
19:10It's because you're tiny.
19:11I sat right next to you.
19:15Yeah.
19:16We would have been cute together.
19:17Oh yeah.
19:18In elementary school.
19:19That's right.
19:19See, look at man.
19:20That would have been something.
19:21I'll tell you.
19:22You missed your chance.
19:23I missed my chance.
19:23So, uh, I grew up in, uh, Western New York.
19:26Oh, that's right.
19:27Out in the boonies.
19:28But, uh, yeah, with, uh, with, with, with Kid Rock and, and you're talking about, uh,
19:32Oh, for so far, by the way, were you singing with Herschel?
19:34No.
19:35Okay.
19:35It was after.
19:36It was before.
19:37Yeah.
19:37So Herschel came after.
19:38Yeah.
19:38Yeah.
19:39I gotcha.
19:39Yeah.
19:40Yeah.
19:40He's a great singer.
19:41Yeah.
19:41For those that don't know, Herschel's like a singing coach, a voice guy, and just a super
19:45great guy.
19:46Unbelievable.
19:47He's, he's got great energy on stage.
19:49Yeah.
19:49Yeah.
19:49I really like him.
19:51Yeah.
19:51So asking Alexandria, that's one of your daughter's bands that you really like.
19:54Oh my God.
19:55Yes.
19:55I, you know what?
19:56And I think they still, I think they still hold that spot for me for being my favorite.
20:00But that, and I, I love Amy Lee.
20:02Oh yeah.
20:03I think what Amy Lee does is just perfection.
20:05Yeah.
20:06I do.
20:06I think she mixes like her, her classical training with just this, like, I love her dark inner,
20:13just like, just raw kind of soul that she does.
20:17Did you talk to me about Brent Smith once from Shinedown?
20:21Uh, no.
20:21Oh, okay.
20:22I thought you, maybe you dropped, you dropped his name.
20:23No, but he's, he's another one that a lot of the singers bring up all the time.
20:27Because, because he's so talented, right?
20:29Yeah.
20:29He sang acapella in Ahmed Erdogan's office before they got signed.
20:34What?
20:34Yeah.
20:35It's a crazy story.
20:36You've got to be kidding.
20:37Yeah.
20:37That's how they got signed.
20:39He sang, just singing.
20:41That's how they used to do it, you know?
20:42Yeah.
20:43Well, this wasn't even that long ago.
20:44Back in the old days.
20:47Yeah.
20:48So you, so you guys, you, you go to a lot of concerts with your kids?
20:51I do.
20:52Yeah.
20:52Um, well, my son will let me go with him because he likes going to concerts alone and it would
20:57look just kind of bad to have his mom joining.
21:00But my daughter loves taking me because she knows, first of all, I love the music that
21:04she loves.
21:05Um, I sit up in the upper level with all the other parents.
21:08They're all sitting there like this and I'm just like, so it's so funny.
21:14You know, it reminds me of a story that kid rock told me one time we were sitting around
21:18drinking and doing whatever.
21:19And, um, and he said that he went to a movie theater with his son and his buddy and his
21:24son and his friend didn't want to sit next to him.
21:26And, and at the time he was pretty successful and he was kid rock, you know?
21:30And he goes, uh, he goes, I know I'm his dad and all, but I'm cooler than anybody in
21:34this theater.
21:37It was so funny.
21:38So funny.
21:39Yeah.
21:39Yeah.
21:39Junior was never all that impressed.
21:42No.
21:42He's a great kid too.
21:44Yeah.
21:44He's grown up.
21:45Yeah.
21:45Yeah.
21:46So, um, all right, well, let's talk about your, uh, your shows that you have coming
21:49up.
21:49You have a lot of stuff happening.
21:50So has Christmas kind of become now your thing?
21:53Well, yeah, I mean, over the years, I've, yeah, I've been doing my Christmas shows almost
21:57as long as I've been doing the national anthem.
22:00Oh, is that right?
22:01Okay.
22:01I didn't realize that.
22:02Um, the Christmas thing though, for me kind of spawned out of the Bob Seger tour.
22:07I came off that tour and then, uh, local producer and writer, Bob Stewart called me and
22:13said, Hey, you know, you're off tour.
22:15Can you come in and do some demos for me for some, cause he's a country writer.
22:19I said, sure.
22:20And he goes, Hey, I've got this cute little number.
22:22It's kind of like swingy called Christmas Eve on Woodward Avenue.
22:26What a great, put your voice on that.
22:28I just got chills.
22:28Yeah.
22:29It's awesome.
22:30So it was July.
22:30He had the, he had the string lights up in the, in the studio, tiny little studio over
22:36there in Birmingham.
22:37And, um, and we laid that thing down and little did I know that that was going to turn into what
22:43it did, you know, a lot of the radio stations in town really supported that.
22:47I think it was just kind of a throwback.
22:49It's got kind of a retro feel.
22:50Very much.
22:51So it takes you back to a, a, a, a bygone past, for sure.
22:55A bygone past, you know, the Hudson's building.
22:57And it reminds you of something like the, the opening scene from like, uh, you know,
23:01the, uh, the, um, the Christmas movie, the, the Christmas story, you know, something like
23:05that.
23:06Where, you know, like the snows falling and people are shopping and being nice to each
23:10other on the street and the whole, very Rockwellian.
23:12Yes.
23:13Yes.
23:14So that's, that's kind of how it started.
23:16And then, um, and then Joe Vakiri out at Andiamo Celebrity Showroom said, you know,
23:21you ought to think about doing a live show.
23:23And immediately I, you know, like had a panic attack and I got really nervous.
23:27And then I, it just kind of said, okay, I'm, I'm going to do this.
23:32And so it's, it's evolved really wonderfully over the years.
23:35I'm super happy with where it's ended up.
23:38Michael King, um, unbelievable artist.
23:41He used to be in a group.
23:42I don't know if you remember these guys.
23:43They were called the press, Liz Lahren and Michael King.
23:46And they were signed to a major recording deal.
23:49And then they had to change their name because of course the press had that name.
23:54So they, they had to change it to rebels heel.
23:56Um, but I, uh, I have the great joy of working with Michael.
24:01He's writer, producer, music director, um, partner on stage.
24:06Like he's just, he's great.
24:07And, um, so he's, he's really kind of running the show for the Christmas, both the live as
24:13well as the TV special.
24:14I'll talk about TV special here in a second.
24:16So for December 17th with a Frankie Shinta, I've got to give a plug out for him.
24:19That's just like a one show.
24:21That's that's one show.
24:22So I've got two live shows.
24:24One is at the Roxy in Rochester, super excited to be going back there because Rochester is
24:28my hometown.
24:29So, Hey, all you Falcons, but, um, I was a Rochester Falcon and, um, some coming home
24:36for the holidays there on December 9th at the Roxy and then December 17th out at the
24:43showroom on the Yamo celebrity showroom in Warren and Frankie Shinta, who is such a dear
24:49man.
24:49He's such a sweetheart and so talented.
24:52He, uh, he just finished a show out there and that's where we kind of were kibitzing
24:56and we said, you know what, why don't you come up and do a couple of songs?
24:59So he's going to join me on stage on the 17th of December out there.
25:03Yeah.
25:03I know that.
25:04Um, I don't know this weekend as we record this, uh, John Waits playing, I love John
25:08Waits.
25:08Love John Waits.
25:09He's out there.
25:10Yeah.
25:10He's a great guy too.
25:11Is he?
25:12Super nice guy.
25:12Who haven't you met?
25:14Oh, uh, Pee Wee Herman.
25:15I talked about that this morning, the hockey locker room.
25:17And that's a, that's a little, another story.
25:19You know who, you know who I never met?
25:20Who?
25:21There's three guys I always regret never meeting.
25:23Who?
25:23Dale Earnhardt.
25:24Oh.
25:24Lemmy from Motorhead and Bob Probert.
25:27I never met Bob.
25:27You never met Bob Probert?
25:28Never met him.
25:29Bob Probert?
25:29And you know, Danny Probert obviously, right?
25:31Sure.
25:32Great friend of mine.
25:33Love her.
25:33And she, she asked me, she goes, how did you never meet Bob?
25:36I go, because he wasn't allowed in the country at the time.
25:40You know?
25:42So anyways, but I've done his motorcycle ride a bunch.
25:45Yes.
25:45And, uh, great people over there in Canada.
25:46I need to get back out there for that.
25:48That's, I used to be proud.
25:48Well, I don't know if they're doing it anymore, but, uh, I got to lead it one year with Scott
25:52Parker from the Colorado Avalanche, which was really great.
25:55If Danny's doing anything else like that, you let me know.
25:58For sure, yeah.
25:58Okay.
25:59Well, I want to talk to you before we wrap things up here about your TV show, because
26:02this sounds, I'm usually never home on Christmas Eve, but I am definitely going to set my DVR.
26:07Good.
26:087 p.m.
26:08It's right before It's a Wonderful Life, which everybody still loves watching.
26:12Yeah.
26:13Um, and, uh, it's on WDIV Channel 4.
26:17Um, I'm super, super thrilled to have the show coming back to where I feel comfortable
26:22and like it's home for me.
26:23Channel 4 is home for me after all those years of doing the parade and everything.
26:26Um, but it's called Motor City Christmas, which is actually featuring my new, my newest song.
26:32It's kind of the answer to Christmas Eve on Woodward Avenue.
26:35This is called Motor City Christmas, and it's just very positive and uplifting and, you know,
26:40definitely gets you in the spirit written and produced by Michael King.
26:43And this show is like a half hour long?
26:45It's an hour long.
26:46Hour long.
26:46Okay.
26:46And there's other guests and stuff?
26:48Uh, I've got Michael King.
26:49I've got Sonia Lee on violin.
26:51I've got big Greg Brown, who I love.
26:53And I've got Larry Callahan and the Selected of God Choir.
26:57And you've already recorded this?
26:58I'm still actually filming.
26:59Most of it is done, but I still have, I think, two or three more days of filming to do because
27:05the show is basically like our music videos.
27:08And then, and then we do a couple of things live.
27:10Gotcha.
27:11So, well, if you're looking for an elf, uh, you know where to go.
27:14So, no, I, I'm very fortunate that I've got a Feldman Automotive sponsoring that for me.
27:19Gardner White, who, of course, single-handedly is, has stepped into the Art Van shoes and
27:25Gardner White has brought back the Thanksgiving Day Parade, which looked, you know, kind of
27:29risky that it was going to go away for a minute, but thankfully they came back.
27:32They are a big sponsor of the show.
27:34Figer Law is a sponsor of the show.
27:36Um, yeah, I think that's, oh, and, and Beaumont Children's.
27:40Okay.
27:41And you're going to just talk about that.
27:42So on your socials and stuff, you're doing, you're doing all sorts of charitable stuff.
27:45Well, you know what, Melton, I got approached by, uh, by Beaumont Children's and in particular
27:50Children's Miracle, Children's Miracle Network.
27:52And they asked if I could be a sort of an ambassador for them and just help get the word
27:58out.
27:58You know, they have their annual fundraiser every year, right about this time.
28:02Um, the, the reason why I said yes was because I love what they do and I appreciate what they
28:08do for kids right here in Southeast Michigan.
28:10And Beaumont, Beaumont's Children is the only hospital that's affiliated with Children's
28:15Miracle Network.
28:16And they support all the programs at Beaumont.
28:19Everything from music therapy to art therapy, pet therapy, um, speech therapy, um, as well
28:25as other medical treatments and, uh, mental health programs for the family and for the patients.
28:31Um, they help our kids and our families right here in Southeast Michigan, which is really
28:36nice.
28:36I know right now, everybody's mind is on what's going on in the world.
28:39It's hectic, it's chaotic.
28:41It feels like hell's a coming, right?
28:43But this is the time of year where we start thinking about what's going on at home within
28:48our own homes.
28:49And, and, and this is right here in, in Southeast Michigan, you can donate, um, you can, so
28:56you can support that way.
28:57Um, monthly one time I've, I've got all the information on my social media platforms, Instagram
29:03and Facebook.
29:04I don't do Tik TOK or any Twitter's now what?
29:07Yeah.
29:07I don't do that.
29:08I don't do that.
29:09I got to keep it simple.
29:10I got you.
29:10But if you, if you do want to get more information, you can find it at, uh, beaumont.org slash miracles.
29:18And it's, uh, it's just incredible what they're doing.
29:20They're off to a great start for the season, but I'm just trying to help get the word out
29:24and expand their reach.
29:25My live shows will have creative opportunities for people who are attending to donate.
29:31And then I'm hoping to also get a segment in my, in my television special, um, where we
29:37can, we can actually kind of encourage people who are watching to use a QR code or whatever
29:42they have to do.
29:43Yeah.
29:43That's great.
29:44Uh, helping people always makes you, you feel good.
29:45And also for sure.
29:47Absolutely.
29:48No question about it.
29:49Well, uh, thank you so much for coming down, Karen.
29:51Of course, uh, the Roxy in Rochester, like you said, December 9th on Yama showroom on December
29:5517th and a Christmas Eve on channel four WDIV with your Christmas Eve special.
30:00It's, uh, it's better to talk to you.
30:01It's what?
30:02Grab your hot talk.
30:03Yeah, right.
30:03Yeah.
30:04Oh my God.
30:04I'll have a few of those for sure, but it's better to talk to you.
30:07It's better to talk to you in person than driving down M14 or whatever you're doing
30:09last time.
30:10So that's what I was doing, wasn't I?
30:11I was like, getting the sun.
30:14I'm like, Hey, stay right here.
30:15The sun looks good.
30:17Yeah.
30:17Right.
30:18Well, thank you again so much for coming in and sharing your story.
30:21We appreciate it.
30:21And Merry Christmas to you.
30:23Yeah.
30:24Merry Christmas, baby.
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