Music Notes Nick Brandon

Stewart ready to rock into town

It’s been a while since that sparkling intro to “Every Picture Tells a Story” faded into listeners ears for the first time — 33 years to be exact.

But Rod Stewart and his slew of hits (over 40 years worth of music) will rock back into town one again when he makes a much-anticipated appearance at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday, Feb. 21.

And, if Stewart was on a path to musical stardom, he may have been the last to know about it. As an apprentice on the Brentford Football Club in the early 1960s, it seemed a future as a soccer player was a better bet.

But, after spending some time perfecting his trademark wail with bands such as Jimmy Powell & the Five Dimensions and the Jeff Beck Group, Stewart was making a name for himself in both the United States and British rock ‘n’ roll scenes.

Stewart’s true break came when he took the job as head voice of The Faces (formerly The Small Faces) along with Ron Wood, future axe man for The Rolling Stones. This led to his first of many solo efforts to come, 1969’s “The Rod Stewart Album,” which featured the singer’s own take on The Stones’ hit “Street Fighting Man.”

Two years later, a classic was created with the before-mentioned “Every Picture Tells a Story” album, spawning the hits “Maggie May” and “Reason to Believe” and making Rod a rock superstar.

Stewart eventually left The Faces in the mid-70s, and closed the decade with 78’s “Blondes Have More Fun,” his first No. 1 album since “Every Picture …” on the strength of the smash “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”

The 80s brought a creative slump for the artist, as his sound too often lacked direction and (certainly) inspiration — but that all changed with 1991’s “Vagabond Heart,” the emotional record that signaled Stewart’s return to the mainstream.

Once again, he broke a hit right when he needed it with the “MTV Unplugged” session from 1993, which featured Wood and struck major gold with the cover of Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately?” His transformation from loose 70’s rocker to an adult contemporary icon into the new millennium was officially complete.

Stewart’s latest release is last year’s “As Time Goes By: The Great American Songbook, Vol. 2,” a collection of 14 classic pop songs redone by the artist and several guests.
Tickets for The Palace show range from $49.75 to $97.75.

Mushroomhead. The name sure congers up a variety of images, but so does its melodic heavy sounds. The eight-member, masked group’s new record, “VIII,” follows the trend of Slipknot and Mudvayne with powerful yet tuneful metal.

The band will play at The Machine Shop in Flint on Thursday, Feb. 19.

Tickets are $15. For more, check out www.themachineshop.info.

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