Kid Rock

Kid Rock’s “Born Free” album will have to wait a little longer to come to life:  the artist announced at his sold-out Aug. 14 show in his Detroit home town that the set had been shifted from Sept. 7 to Nov. 16. No reason for the delay was given.

However, the move didn’t stop him from giving the fans a taste of the new music during his three shows at the DTE Energy Music Theater over the weekend. Most popular was the Bob Seger-styled title track, according to Billboard. (Seger also joined him at Sunday night’s show for “Turn the Page.”) The patriotic anthem celebrates, Rock told the audience, “how lucky each and every one of us are…to be born in a country that’s free.” Given that Rock’s audience comes just as much from country fans as rock fans (a transition that started with “Picture” and was fully realized with “All Summer Long”), that’s a sentiment that should go over well.

Speaking of country, Rock also played the up-tempo “Feels Good to Me,” which features Trace Adkins on the album. (Adkins has his own new album out this week). “Born Free” also includes a tune with Martina McBride and T.I.

Rock also previewed “Slow My Roll,” which Billboard described as a “Rolling Stones-flavored rocker,” as well as a “somber” “Rock On,” about a relationship’s end; rave-up “God Bless Saturday,” and topical ballad, “Times like These,” a song he first previewed at shows last summer.

The new material seemed to herald a perhaps more reflective Kid Rock, wrote a reviewer for the Detroit Free Press. One who is staring down 40. “You could call this the start of a new era,” Rock told the audience before “Times like These.”