By Andrew Moser
Leader Staff Writer
Craigslist is more than just a place to buy and sell things. For 43-year-old Oxford resident Lonnie Fletcher, Craigslist meant a chance to become a lead singer of a band.
That band turned out to be Lookin? Back, a tribute band for Rock-and-roll Hall of Famer Bob Seger.
‘A lot of musicians are looking for gigs on Craigslist and musicians are looking for other musicians. It’s a great match-making tool,? said Commerce Twp. resident and band founder Todd Stoney.
Fletcher recently moved back from California, where for the past nine years he was building powerlines and living with his wife. After having his first child, they moved back to Michigan to be closer to their families. According to Fletcher, after seeing the ad he inquired about the position, but Stoney wasn’t sure how Flecther was going to make the practices because he thought that Fletcher still lived in California because his cell phone number was still registered under a California area code. Fletcher quickly reassured him that he lived in Michigan, and prepared for his audition.
His audition was held at Kennedy’s Irish Pub’s open mike night, which Fletcher thought was effective. ‘It’s a little more effective because whoever you are auditioning is put on the spot in front of audience, so they have to know what they are doing.?
Fletcher’s audition was part of an eight-month search that Stoney put on to find the right members for the band. The result was the formation of a six member band that included stay-at-home dads, laid-off automotive engineers and struggling professional musicians that, according to the band’s press release, is determined to preserve the legacy of Southeast Michigan’s favorite Rock-and-Roll son and breathing new life into some classic rock-and-roll favorites.
The idea came to Stoney after he didn’t perform well in an audition for a Pink Floyd tribute band.
‘When I started thinking about tribute bands, Bob Seger didn’t immediately come to mind right away except for having a guy from Bob Seger in my life,? said Stoney. He started looking around for Seger tribute bands and could only find one in the state of Michigan. He checked them out and didn’t like the way they were handling things.
‘They were trying to impersonate him. The music suffered and of course you never look like or sound exactly like Bob as much as they try. I thought I could do something different here. There are lots of tribute bands around…the biggest big names seem to be represented by tribute bands, but there was no Bob Seger tribute band (in southeast Michigan),? said Stoney.
According to Stoney, some of the reasons he thinks that people stayed away from a Seger band was the impression that they had to get a look-a-like to make it official. Stoney felt that he didn’t need to have a impersonator of Seger in order to have a successful band.
‘As long as you can sing in those keys and deliver on that passion that Bob used and protect his music and be true to the music, it wouldn’t matter who sang as long as they were true to themselves and delivered on the passion and hit on those keys and give me those grunts and hiccups and little vocal cues that were all Bob Seger’s style. If I could get that out of a lead singer, as long as he was good, I don’t think anyone would begrudge us the fact that we don’t have anyone out there looking like him; taking care of the music is what were all about,? said Stoney.
The shows are typically comprised of two sets. The first set is the entire Live Bullet Album minus the last song, while the second set covers about 25-30 years of Seger’s music.
The band made its Metro Detroit debut at New York New York in Chesterfield Twp on Saturday, Aug. 29 to a sold out venue. ‘It was very well received, we sold the place out. WCSX was there and they promoted the show and had a DJ there for the event. We got a great response,? said Fletcher.
The next event for the band is an Oct. 15 performance at Memphis Smoke in Royal Oak, which coincides with a Bob Seger book launch and signing. According to the press release, the book Travelin? Man: On the Road and Behind the Scenes with Bob Seger was written by syndicated music writer Gary Graff and celebrated musician photographer Tom Weschler.
‘We are going to be providing the entertainment for Graff’s book signing…which should be pretty interesting because most, if not all of the members of the Live Bullet Band are going to be present for that,? said Fletcher.
The event at Memphis Smoke will be free to the public with music beginning at 7 p.m.; however, there will be limited seating available. Memphis Smoke is located at 100 S. Main St. in Royal Oak.
They will also be performing at 59 West End Restaurant and Night Club in Highland, MI on Oct. 24 before returning to New York New York on Dec. 5.
For more information, visit www.tributetoseger.com.