| By Big Radio News Staff |

A big name in Janesville-area music is dead after a motorcycle crash this week in Palm Springs, California.

Riverside county authorities have named Back Bar operator Bob Kerman, 71, of Janesville and Palm Desert, California, as the man killed after his motorcycle struck a car that was turning at an intersection Wednesday night in Palm Springs.

The Back Bar is a longtime music venue on Janesville’s south side that has booked a broad range of music acts from local rock bands to hip-hop legend Coolio.

Kerman’s exuberant, and sometimes loud, music shows a few times landed the local music promoter on the hot seat in front of Janesville’s city council and the city’s liquor board.

As a local entrepreneur, Kerman is also known for bringing Janesville one of its first internet services.

The sheriff’s office in Riverside County confirms Kerman was killed in the crash, which happened about 9:20 p.m. Wednesday. He was pronounced dead a half hour later at a Palm Springs hospital. Police say the accident shut down an intersection near downtown Palm Springs for hours.

Authorities say they do not suspect alcohol was involved.

In posts on the Back Bar’s Facebook page, local musicians have been mourning and eulogizing Kerman.

The Back Bar says on its Facebook page a planned show featuring multiple hard rock bands Friday night will roll on as scheduled, “as this is what Bob would have wanted.”

One commenter wrote of Kerman: “Glad to have met this amazing man and seen some of the things he did for the music scene as a whole here in Wisconsin. I don’t think I ever heard him not give someone a chance to play at the Back Bar. A tremendous soul.”