Having fun both offstage and with his music still matters to Kid Rock. But as he gets older, Rock gives much more thought to when it’s best to act like his younger self.

Thanks in part to his scaled-back partying, Rock says he’s been more consistent singing and playing on tour — and that should be a plus for fans who will be attending his fall club dates.

“I’ve never been this confident,” Rock said in a recent interview. “A lot of nights you used to go see Kid Rock, and it was hit or miss. People might say, ‘Yeah, he’s a great showman, but his voice…’ Well, they should have seen me the night before and they’d see why I looked like that and sounded like that. Now, I’m, well, picking my battles… so I can give it all onstage.”

And while he’s thankful that ‘Born Free’ was a big seller, Rock admits that he missed including “some of the funner stuff” he’s known for on the album.

“Recently Eminem was over, and we were playing each other some stuff, and I played him some rap rock tracks I had been working on,” said Rock. “He said, ‘I miss this from you.’ I said, ‘You know, I kinda miss doing it.’”

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