Bob Cheevers goes down a storm at Greyfriars Bar

Dec 1 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

BOB CHEEVERS is on record as stating that his last visit to Perth was the most memorable gig of his 2008 tour.

And it looks like Greyfriars Bar may have earned another accolade after the reception the multi-award winning US singer/songwriter was given by fans at the South Street venue on his return.

Cheevers, who is halfway through his current 40-date tour of the UK and Denmark, starts his shows before a note is played or a word is sung.

With the help of a few introductions from old friends, he works the room like a true professional with his easy smile, natural warmth and unassuming manner.

Here, perhaps, is part of the secret of Cheevers' remarkable song-writing talent. He is genuinely interested in people.

He appears to take something from every encounter that later informs his work in ways that even he cannot really explain.

In a more trivial context this might be called “people skills”, but it’s a crucial facet of Bob Cheevers’ art.

It may also be one of the reasons why he is able to attract leading musicians to tag along with him on these hard-slogging tours.

On this occasion, support and accompaniment is provided by Preston’s Dominic Finley, who has been building a solid reputation for himself over the past couple of decades as a versatile session musician and, latterly, as an accomplished singer/songwriter in his own right.

Finley’s bio reads like the prospectus for a course on how to become one of the world’s most highly regarded musicians.

He has embraced every style of music from Motown through prog-rock to jazz and his credits include work with the Yes-inspired Combination Head and reformed (I Just) Died In Your Arms hit-makers Cutting Crew.

The harmonica player, who has written two highly regarded bass tutorial books, played a scattering of pop covers laced with limericks and one-liners, plus self-penned songs from his recently released CD, Monkey Puzzle.

Dom Finley has been compared with the likes of David Gray and Damien Rice and the melancholy melodies and sentimental, reflective lyrics of songs such as Love And Farewells certainly provide justification.

But the subtle allusions to diverse musical styles that pepper numbers like Harvest Time and Salt Lake City, as well as the wry humour evident in I’ll Be Home For Six And Back In Time For Tea, lends distinctiveness.

With Finley on bass, Cheevers launched into a set which highlighted songs from his new Tall Texas Tales CD, a collection of characteristically observational and conversational songs which sees the acknowledged master songsmith at the top of his game.

The songs, as the album's title suggests, are inspired by the great state of Texas, its places and characters.

It's all filtered through Cheevers' creative imagination, so straightforward stories are out. If this was a Texas travelogue, it would be directed by David Lynch.

Cheevers' song Mushroom Cloud Lil was inspired by the suicidal daughter of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who developed the atom bomb at Los Alamos in Texas.

He takes the tragic tale and gives it love, passion and violence in the mould of Frankie and Johnny, the fear and fatalism of the Cold War era and an allusion to the disintegration of the nuclear family. Who says Americans don't do irony?

Not all of the songs are complicated. Luckenbach is just a pleasingly vivid paean to a little place in mid-Texas with strong connections to the world of country music through its association with Jerry Jeff Walker.

Not all of his songs are about Texas. That Budget Motel could be anywhere. And the simple lyricism of Grown Up People, with its pleasing bass intro, will resonate with older people in mature relationships wherever they may be.

Cheevers is not just a great poet, but a great musician and a great entertainer. Hopefully, we’ll see him back next year. Book your ticket now!