'Detroit's Springsteen' grows as songwriter
FLINT JOURNAL COLUMN
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Friday, March 31, 2006
By Doug Pullen
JOURNAL COLUMNIST
A friend of mine once described Royal Oak singer-songwriter John D. Lamb as "the Bruce Springsteen of Detroit."
Lamb, who headlines the Flint Folk Music Society's concert series at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Greater Flint Arts Council, laughs at the comparison, obviously inspired by his heartland roots rock sound and sharpened song craft.
"Even when I fronted a rock 'n' roll band, I was a songwriter," he says. "It all starts with the guitar and yourself."
He's had a love for the written word for some time. Lamb was studying journalism at Central Michigan University when he got serious about playing music.
"I remember being a young rocker who didn't have many reference points," he says, but that changed the more he studied other songwriters.
Songwriting - and writing in general - play even bigger roles in his career today. He hosts the Lamb's Songwriters Showcase on the last Sunday of each month at Memphis Smoke in his hometown of Royal Oak. He also created the nonprofit Springfed Arts (www.springfed.org) to produce two annual events - Lamb's Retreat for Songwriters in Harbor Springs and the Walloon Writers Retreat in Walloon Lake.
The songwriters retreat teams aspiring writers with professional faculty. This year's 12th annual workshops and performances will be spread over two weekends with Jack Williams (Nov. 2-5) and Dana Cooper and Amilia K. Spicer (Nov. 9-12) on the faculty. The retreats are getting a national rep in songwriting circles, which, he notes, is "raising awareness of the good musicians in Michigan."
The Walloon retreat, which enters its eighth year Sept. 28-Oct. 1, has a broader focus, including poets, short stories writers, novelists and others. It has been supported by contributions from the likes of former Flint filmmaker Michael Moore and his wife, Kathleen Glynn.
Though Lamb has been described as a "tireless" performer who definitely leans to the rock side of music, his performance Saturday is the first in Flint in many years - not, he thinks, since his band used to play at Rube's a long time ago.
The connection is FFMS member Steve LaCrosse, who attended one of Lamb's workshops. LaCrosse described him in a recent society newsletter as "an impressive songwriter who focuses on unusual themes."
For more on Lamb and his retreats, go to www.jdlamb.com. Admission to Saturday's solo performance is $10 for folk society and Greater Flint Arts Council members, $12 for everyone else, at the door. Details: (810) 238-4096, www.flintfolkmusic.org.