Above right: The cover of the first issue of Bealmear’s magazine Rebel Route from 1997. Above left: A review of the September 1997 Yo La tengo concert at the Blind Pig from Rebel Route Issue #1, 1997.

Abstract: Bart Bealmear is an archivist, music journalist, musician, and DSC Board member. His oral history and supplemental physical collection cover his work as a musician and journalist in Detroit in the 1990s and early 2000s. Making up the bulk of the collection are 24 cassette tape recordings of Bealmear’s radio show which was broadcast on CJAM, Windsor’s campus radio station. The shows featured a number of local Detroit bands as well as popular rock musicians. Also of interest are four issues of Rebel Route magazine, a music periodical edited and owned by Bealmear. Rebel Route sought to offer in-depth reporting on rock music through features, interviews, retrospectives, and scholarly writings on the genre. Although not strictly Detroit-focused, each issue contained a feature called “Lost Scenes” which examined little-known music scenes through the lens of those who were there. Covered in the collection is the East Lansing punk scene of 1985, early Motown and Detroit’s Fortune Records in 1963, and the second wave of Detroit punk from 1976-1980 as told by The Ramrods drummer Bootsey X. Each issue of Rebel Route also features album and book reviews, as well as write-ups of shows at local venues such as the I-Rock Night Club, the Magic Stick, and the State Theatre. 

Donor(s): Bart Bealmear

Dates: 1997-2015, bulk 1997-2001

Extent: .5 Linear Feet, 7 GB

Collection Type: Physical, Digital

Subjects: Rock-n-Roll, Windsor, radio, CJAM, punk rock, music journalism, Lansing, Motown, The Ramrods, Bootsey X

Related Collections and Artifacts: