This objective of making this record was to accommodate the question many folks ask when they see me play as a solo: "Do you have an album that sounds like what we just heard?". Toward the end of 2013, I went thru a creative burst and wrote 30 songs in about 6 weeks. I chose 15 of them to record just guitar/vocal and then got the idea to add 15 of Austins's most celebrated musicians playing one one song each. At the bottom of this page is a list of the songs and the musicians who played on each one. My guitar/vocal tracks were recorded live at EAR Studio in Austin engineered by James Stevens in January 2014. A few of the additional musicians recorded their parts at their home studios, and the rest added their parts were added during Jan/Feb 2014 at MoonHouse Studios engineered by Chris Gage. These songs, like the songs on recording projects, have lots of characters some of whom "may" have similarities to my own self. As with all of the songs I write, I like to say "I don't know if these stories are true...but they happened to me". BobCheevers Bio      “I don’t know if these stories are true...but they happened to me.”   Approaching a half century of songwriting excellence, Bob Cheevers is at the top of his game and in high gear on his journeyman’s road as a dedicated composer/author/musician who is an Emmy winning songwriter and a Kerrville Festival winner also. His Austin pal Ray Wylie Hubbard says “Bob Cheevers is one cool scarecrow gypsy poet who writes and sings the romantic, beautiful truth. When he releases a record, I listen”.    His last three releases burst into the UK Americana top 10 and several other CDs found their way into the US Americana top 20 and 30. Bob did tours of Europe (mostly the UK) at least once a year for 10 years in a row, then took 3 years off and during that time won the 2011 Texas Music Award for Singer/Songwriter Of The Year and is nominated this year for “Singer/Songwriter Of The Year” AND “Album Of The Year”. This new record continues Bob's quest to keep up with his own creativity. His last UK tour in 2012 was playing 23 packed houses in 32 nights promoting his his “Smoke And Mirrors” CD that is the one he’s nominated for “Record Of The Year”. It debuted on the EuroAmerican Chart at #14. “Smoke And Mirrors” is Bob’ 9th CD (not including the “Cheeversongs Archive Series” 9 CD set) and is a seminal double album with one disc being full band songs and the other having a more acoustic flavor.  Bob’s CDs are a walk with Bob thru the lives of characters he’s made up as well as insights into his personal history. The recordings feature on his CDs feature performances of musicians in Austin, Nashville, Idaho, Arkansas, California and England. The album he is in the process of making right now called “On Earth As It Is In Austin” is yet another leap forward for this renaissance artist who continues to write from a mystically deep well of  creativity.   Bob grew up in Memphis and got a soul full of music not only from the icons of his youth such as Elvis and Johnny Cash but also from his Grandmother and Aunt both of whom were musicians as well as from his Mother, who was a radio star during the big band era of the Great Depression. After college came 25 years in the pop field in L.A. followed by 16 years writing for the country market in Nashville before moving to Austin, Texas in 2009 where he found his place among peers like Ray Wylie, Kevin Welch, Walt Wilkins and others who write and perform because its what they do and a big part of who they are.    Bob plays constantly in and around Austin and thru-out Texas and the US as well as his Europe/UK tours. You can see it on his face when he plays and sings. His joy of music runs soul deep, and you can hear it in his voice as he spins his rootsy, blues-flavored tales of life in a conversational language of the heart. Critics and Peers Comments On Bob Cheevers Music                                         ''Bob Cheevers is one cool scarecrow gypsy poet who writes and sings the romantic beautiful truth. When he releases a record, I listen.'' Ray Wylie Hubbard On Bob’s “Tall Texas Tales” CD ———————————————————————————- “This time my friend Bob turns his eagle eye on Texas, and turns in a beautiful collection of expertly produced pieces of life down here. Well done bro. This thing kicks a**.”  Kevin Welch On Bob’s “Tall Texas Tales” CD ——————————————————————————— "Bob Cheevers is an American treasure and a true tunesmith-troubadour. His new album defines his spirit and is a wonderful addition to any Americana playlist" Rick Star Pres Homegrown Americana Radio Consulting ———————————————————————————- “What a pleasure to hear about Texas thru the words of Bob Cheevers... brilliant, believable artist and total entertainer”. Lee Duffy...Texas Songwriter’s Association, Austin Songwriters Group (Executive Director), Singer/songwriter                              ————————————————————————————— "Smoke & Mirrors" continues my friend Bob Cheevers' life's work of looking at life with a keen eye & deep feel for the human experience.  He's never afraid to look under the skin, behind the eyes, and deep in the shadows of his own story, and others and then describing it with exacting detail of emotion.  cool, spacey, unhurried production that underscores his soul & depth, too. Cheevers is always a dependable badass." Walt Wilkins Austin, Texas --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are intrigued by lines such as “living on the tip of this spear” and “flames felt like a ball and chain”, “walls of granite crawl to the sky” and “a sweet bedtime story with a lime on the rim” then you are in for a very nice ride through Bob Cheevers latest release, Smoke and Mirrors. Don’t let this one pass you by. Just get it, you’ll be glad you did. Keith Sykes Memphis, Tennessee --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "This is an amazing body of work from Bob Cheevers. It was a record of the week here in London in November”.  Barry Everett Marshall...House Of Mercy Radio Show London and former czar of London’s Borderline Music venue.  London, England QUOTES ON BOB CHEEVERS’ MUSIC Shelby Foote, famous Civil War historian, said Bob’s Southern songs “show an understanding of war as a thing of shame as well as glory”. Bill Ellis of The Memphis Commercial Appeal said “Bob Cheevers has a Delta heart and an acerbic tounge giving his music an honesty about the South rarely touched on by any other artist in the contemporary music scene”. Rick de Yampert of The Nashville Tennessean said “Cheevers speaks from the heart as he explores the contradictions of being a white Southerner...of the ways pride and tradition and love of the land butt heads with sin and guilt”. Rick de Yampert of The Nashville Tennessean said “Cheevers’ songs take unflinching looks at the psychic demons that still haunt the South”. Acoustic Musician Magazine said about Bob’s songs : “Borowing from some, but stealing from none, you can dub him one of those forgotton or unknown American originals like, say a James Talley”. Neil Fagan of Performing Songwriter Magazine said “Think of Bob Cheevers’ performances and music as a book of short stories, bound together flawlessly by a natural born story teller”. John Titta, head of publishing at Polygram Music New York called Bob “The new Mark Twain and The Great American Writer”. John Hill...Creator and Former Host of 91.9 /WBRB;s Acoustic Sunrise, Charlottesville, Va.: Bob Cheevers is one of the best songwriters I've ever heard.  The heart of America is imprinted on every song he writes.  When I first interviewed him on the radio, within 5 minutes, I felt like I was interviewing an icon of music. I felt like I was in the presence of someone like an Elvis or a Roy Orbison. I started the interview not knowing a thing about Bob or his music, and finished it with so much repect that words don't do it justice. Of the hundreds and hundreds of live radio interviews that I've done, I think Bob's is my favorite.  Give yourself a little time to get to know the music of Bob Cheevers.  None of his CDs that you buy will ever end up in the used bin of your local record store. ROB IN THE UK PERFORMANCE QUOTE FROM A THREADGILLS AUDIENCE MEMBER: Bob Cheevers - Pure swamp-drenched reality. Just a man and a guitar. As Southern as fried pig ears with okra. Really good, funky, mud on your feet music, sung by sandpaper scrubbed vocal cords. Great stories, great storytelling, great songwriting. This guy redefines the overused term "Americana." ............................................................................................................... The guys who played on each of the songs are: WALT WILKINS 1-“THE SOUND OF A DOOR” ACOUSTIC GUITAR VAN WILKS 2-“ONE MORE NAIL” ACOUSTIC 12 STRING SLIDE  STEPHEN DOSTER 3-“MY GUITAR THE MAN IN THE  MOON AND MY HEART” ACOUSTIC GUITAR SLIM BAWB 4-“MY FIRST RODEO” PEDAL STEEL WILL SEXTON 5-“MADE IN MISSISSIPPI” ACOUSTIC GUITAR CHRIS GAGE 6-“YOU SOUND JUST LIKE WILLIE” ACOUSTIC GUITAR DUSTIN WELCH 7-“SNAKE OIL MAN” BANJO BRADLEY KOPP 8-“ON EARTH AS IT IS IN AUSTIN” ANDRE MORAN 9-“FALLING HARD ON EASY STREET” ELECTRIC GUITAR CHIP DOLAN 10-“CREAKY OLD BONES” ACCORDION WARREN HOOD 11-“HEY HEY BILLY” FIDDLE JEFF TVERAAS 12-“WEST TEXAS SUNDOWN” ACOUSTIC GUITAR GREG WHITFIELD 13-“BLUE EYES ALWAYS ON MY MIND” ACOUSTIC GUITAR MARVIN DYKHUIS 14-“I DON’T NEED A THING” CHARLIE WHITE 15-“PARADISE LOST” ELECTRIC GUITAR