By Eric Czarnik
C & G Staff Writer

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — A local artist, musician and entrepreneur is making sure that the Woodward Dream Cruise will have a soundtrack to go along with the roaring engines.

As the creator of the Detroit Rocks! merchandising brand, Robert Dempster has unveiled his latest product: a CD called “Drive On!”

Cruise organizers are endorsing the tunes as “Official Dream Cruisin’ Music,” and Executive Director Don Tanner said this soundtrack is different from the ones that the cruise previously adopted.

“In the past, they have been kind of compilations of cruising music that already existed,” he said. “This is really the first time we really have almost all original music and original recordings.”

The CD, which is on sale at the Dream Cruise Web site, mixes cover songs and original music. Dempster thinks some of his songs could become hits.

“They have enough ‘oldies but goodies,’” he said. “What we’re doing is creating new classics.”

Dempster, of Bloomfield Hills, said he sought cruise organizers’ support a couple of months ago. Then he tapped his contacts from the music industry. As a musician since the 1960s, Dempster said he has performed before musicians such as the Yardbirds and MC5.

Some of his helpers for “Drive On!” include Motown guitarist Dennis Coffey as well as engineer Richard Becker, who has worked with legends like Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross.

“It’s an all-star cast of Detroit people,” Dempster said. “I have about 30 people on this CD helping me out. It’s everything from rock to kind of soulful pop and Motown … and a little country.”

He said he was trying to start a positive city anthem through the lyrics of his original song, “I am Detroit.”

Rock musician Anita Davis of Bloomfield Hills did backup on a few “Drive On!” songs and said she liked the themes and lyrics behind “I am Detroit” and another song, “Big Wheels.”

“It’s just got a great hook and really epitomizes what Detroit embodies as a town: hard workers, dedicated,” she said.

James Kosty of Redford sang lead vocals on those two songs, adding that it was fantastic to work in the studio, and everyone “laid it down.”  He also said he agreed with the songs’ themes, particularly that of “I am Detroit.”

“He talks about Corktown, Greektown,” Kosty said. “It’s simplistic, but I feel it’s a good thing too. … We’ve been through some good times and some bad too, but we never give up.”

Besides Dempster’s background in music, he also is an artist and designer who makes signs, logos and T-shirts through his Royal Oak businesses, Detroit Rocks! and Dempster Designs. “I’m just a busybody,” he said.

He said he hopes to eventually market the “Drive On!” CD across the country. But for now, he is starting at the Dream Cruise because it’s an international event, he said.

“It’s a love affair with Detroit and the cars and the people,” he said.

The 14th annual Woodward Dream Cruise is on Aug. 16 along Woodward Avenue in Oakland County. For more information on the cruise and the CD, visit http://www.woodwarddreamcruise.com.

You can reach Staff Writer Eric Czarnik at eczarnik@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1058.