Q&A Scene: Bob Evans - Whats My Scene

Tell us about your new single/ album/ tour?

My new tour is called the Lonesome Highway Tour and it is happening through April, May and June in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, ACT and Adelaide. Sorry to everyone else but my car just can’t handle the Nullarbor or the desert or the Bass Strait either. It is a solo tour in intimate venues so will be a little different to my previous tours since releasing Car Boot Sale, because I will be able to go off script every night and play different songs and be spontaneous.

How would you describe your sound in food form and why?

Well it’s definitely more sweet than savoury but I’m not sure if it’s sweet enough to be a dessert. It would have to be something of substance that wasn’t fast food. Perhaps an elegant sea food linguine with a sprinkling of cheese on top.

Which of your songs resonate most strongly and why?

Well I can’t speak for other people and they all resonate deeply with me otherwise I couldn’t get up on stage every night and perform them over and over. Certainly the song that most people seem to know is “Don’t You Think it’s Time?” It almost always gets the loudest cheer anyway.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Well I’ve drawn inspiration from so many things over the many years that I’ve been writing and it changes over time as I change as a person. I have always written about relationships and I expect I always will as it’s a theme that never becomes uninteresting to me. Politics and the state of the world inspire me as does the music that I’m getting in to at the time and which again is always changing year to year. A glass or two of wine is often quite inspiring aswell.

Which song do you wish you wrote?

Oh my god there are thousands! I would have loved to have written “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green or “God Only Knows” by Brian Wilson among many many others.

What’s next for you?

Well I’m touring as Bob Evans til June then after that I will be playing more Jebediah shows. We are supporting Midnight Oil on a couple of dates of their Australian tour which will be amazing. There are other Jebediah dates happening that haven’t been announced yet. Of course I’m always writing new stuff and thinking about the next record which I hope isn’t too far away. I am also trying to regularly put out new episodes of my podcast, “Good Evans, it’s a Bobcast!”

What’s your scene?

These days it’s family and the road. When I’m not working I am at home looking after my two little daughters and when I’m not being a dad the only other place I want to be is on the road, playing shows, hanging out in pubs surrounded by wacky weirdo’s and beautiful people.

Bob Evans, the ARIA winning alter ego of Jebediah frontman Kevin Mitchell, has today announced an extensive national Australian tour, hitting up capital cities and regional towns across April, May and June, letting fans know he’ll be treating them to a complimentary six track EP, Zeroes To Heroes, of unreleased material for all tickets purchased from his website and online outlets. After the release of his critically acclaimed LP Car Boot Sale, and following a packed out co-headline tour alongside Josh Pyke in late 2016, the Lonesome Highways Tour will kick off at Front Bar in Canberra on April 20, before moving through Newcastle, Central Coast, Katoomba, Sydney, Cronulla, Bulli, Toowoomba, Bellingen, Brisbane, Rye, Melbourne, Geelong, Adelaide, and wrapping in Castlemaine at the Bridge Hotel on June 9.

Gracing the Australian music scene for more than two decades, Mitchell is a self-confessed romantic who has written some of the country’s most beloved songs. Under the alias of Bob Evans, Mitchell has released five albums, all of which showcase the versatility and skill of this talented songsmith. Gentle, acoustic melodies prevail, enveloping the classic folk storytelling and strong emotional pull that charactises Mitchells’ substantial body of work. Reflecting on his remarkable career, the ever-humble Mitchell says, “I never could have forseen where all of this was going to lead way back when I was a teenager just starting out, making an almighty racket with Jebediah. I have been gifted a pretty amazing life and career and I still get such a huge buzz out of it. Knowing there are people out there who have been supporting me for years and years just blows me away and makes me want to be better.”

To give fans a taste of what’s coming, Mitchell has today released a live acoustic video of My Matilda, a track from this exclusive package of unreleased material. “The Golden Age of Showbiz” and “My Matilda” are both songs that just missed out on being recorded for ‘Goodnight, Bull Creek!’ back in 2008 and ‘Car Boot Sale’ just last year. I just like ’em and wanted to give them their moment.” Speaking on the complimentary six track EP for online ticket buyers, Mitchell generously offers, “I have so many songs that have almost made it on to records in the past but have just missed out for one reason or another and I’ve always wanted to share them with people and I thought this would just be a good way to say thank you to the people who support me.”

Continuing to champion young female artists, Mitchell will name an all-female cast of main supports across each leg of the tour. Thrilled to embark on such a wide-ranging tour, Mitchell still cherishes the special connection experienced between the performer and the audience, enthusing, “I’m still really drawn to getting up on stage in front of a room full of strangers and giving myself over to that experience, and trying to create something out of nothing for us all to share. I’ve honestly been doing it for such a long time now that I wouldn’t know what else to do with myself. A lot of the time, I feel more comfortable and more myself when I’m onstage than off of it and the feeling of statisfaction I get from playing a good show is unbeatable.”

And what is to be expected from this run of shows? Mitchell hints at what’s in store for excited audiences, “These are all going to be intimate shows so it will be very up close and personal. I’ll be playing songs from across all of my records, a few covers too… I’ll take requests and then screw them up. We’ll all be firm friends by the end of the night.”

Tickets to the Lonesome Highways Tour are on sale now and all ticket purchases from www.bobevans.com.au and other online outlets will receive an exclusive six track EP of unreleased material.

Buy tickets: Lonesome Highways Tour