WAYNE STATE PRESS TO RELEASE ‘TRAVELIN’ MAN: ON THE ROAD AND BEHIND THE SCENES WITH BOB SEGER’

‘TRAVELIN’ MAN: ON THE ROAD AND BEHIND THE SCENES WITH BOB SEGER’

WAYNE STATE PRESS TO RELEASE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE
LOOK INTO THE LIFE AND TRAVELS OF
ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME
MEMBER BOB SEGER

BOB SEGER is a true American hero, an artist whose classic songs have given voice to a generation’s hopes and dreams. But the story behind his ascent to a stadium-filling rock star with sales over 50 million albums has never been presented before as it is in Travelin’ Man: On The Road And Behind The Scenes With Bob Seger.  Set for an October 15 release by Wayne State Press, the book is a treasure trove of never-before-seen intimate photos and an insider’s personal recollections. Tour manager/photographer Tom Wechsler was there from the very start in Detroit to capture SEGER’s remarkable journey—and he and got it all on film. The text, based on interviews with Weschler, was written by acclaimed music journalist Gary Graff.  John Mellencamp contributed the book’s foreword and Kid Rock, who inducted Seger into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, wrote the afterward.

Weschler’s photos of the man who wrote some of the biggest hits in rock music– including “Night Moves,” “Turn The Page,” “Hollywood Nights,” “Like A Rock,” “Against The Wind” and “You’ll Accomp’ny Me”–feature highlights like Seger’s show at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1976, his first gold record in 1977, the first meeting between Seger and Bruce Springsteen in 1978 and Seger’s induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.  The book features live shots from the very first Bob Seger System performances, backstage, on the road and at home having fun with the Silver Bullet Band, family and friends.  Travelin’ Man also contains art from eight Seger album covers that Weschler designed and a comprehensive discography. 

Graff interviewed Weschler extensively, who recounted being there when the stories behind the songs were actually happening: “’Turn The Page,’ Bob’s great road song, came along in ’72, while we were driving home from a gig.  I think we were in Dubuque, Iowa, in winter and stopped at a restaurant.  We stood out when we entered a store or a gas station or a restaurant en masse.  At this restaurant, it was particularly bright inside, so there weren’t any dark corners to hide in.  All these local guys were looking at us like, ‘What are these guys?  Is that a woman or a man?’–just like in the song…Bob was writing the song in the station wagon on the way to Chicago that night.  That was one incident, but there were so many others on the road that led Seger to write that song.  ‘Turn The Page’ is an accurate portrayal of our lives back then.”

Explaining the power and intimacy of Weschler’s work, Graff writes, “…Tom carried his camera with him, chronicling what transpired with a probing eye but also with an empathy that came from being a participant in the story.  The resulting images not only show what happened but convey the energy and emotion of the moment and a real feeling of being there, a rare achievement borne of both his talent and the circumstances in which he found himself.” 

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