Our friends at Ultimate Classic Rock recently sat down with heartland rock icon Bob Seger to update his fans about his next record and the tour that will follow…

[photogallerylink id=41671 align=left][mp3com-artist]Bob Seger[/mp3com-artist] has announced plans to release a new studio album, and to support that record with a tour. “I will write from January 1 through March 31. I will finish the next record and right now, yes, I will tour with the next record,” Seger tells Ultimate Classic Rock.

Seger, who has sold more than 50 million albums, with 11 platinum and seven multi-platinum titles, also revealed what convinced him to release a studio album for the first time since ‘Face the Promise’ in 1996.

“It just comes and goes. I think I picked [the writing bug] up about a year and a half ago and started writing songs again slowly and surely. Then I said I ‘Yeah, I want to do one more.’ I have written a couple of songs that I really, really, really, really like and that was kind of the driving thing. I want people to hear them!”

Just before starting the next leg of his tour behind his Nov. 21 release ‘Ultimate Hits: Rock And Roll Never Forgets,’ Seger gave a wide-ranging press conference where he answered a host of questions about his music, his friends, and what the future holds for him musically. Here are some of the high points:

Read the entire interview over at UltimateClassicRock.com