Lonesome Bob

Things Change

(Leap Records) Things Change is one of the most intriguing and challenging recordings that's come along in quite some time. Lonesome Bob takes the listener on a journey that twists and turns between hard core country and hard edged rock, one minute eliciting a chuckle, and the next, making them squirm with discomfort. There's a lot going on within Things Change, and Lonesome Bob assaults the senses from all sides.

 

Lonesome Bob, who's given name is Bob Chaney, is an imposing figure at 6'4" and more than 200 lbs. He possesses a big, deep baritone, that's been described as "Waylon-with-a-day-job-and-pissed-about-it." Not exactly a man to get lost in the crowd to begin with. According to Bob, when he writes a song, it comes out one of two ways- either country or no nonsense rock. He also says it's his intention at times, to raise the listener's discomfort level with his songs, otherwise he feels it becomes boring.

 

Bob was born and raised in New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia. He grew up a huge Springsteen fan, and a (now) "self- deprogrammed" Deadhead. He also grew up with country music, due to his father's Virginia tobacco farm upbringing. In his teens with high school friends Ben Vaughn, and Fitz, he played in a country band called the Gertz Mountain  Budguzzlers. Given they were a country band, Bob went out and bought a cowboy hat. When he walked into practice  wearing it, one of the others cracked a remark saying "Look, it's Lonesome Cowboy Bob." The "Lonesome" part stuck, and "Lonesome Bob" it was from then on.

 

After the Budguzzlers broke up, Bob's life became a dizzying rollercoaster ride. He went on with Ben Vaughn and became a member of the Ben Vaughn Combo, they traveled the East coast picking up a following. He got married, had a son Zach, divorced, the Combo eventually broke up after a disastrous trip to the West coast, and Bob wound up in New York City. There he worked a series of jobs to pay the bills, and entered into another doomed relationship with a woman that wrote for The Village Voice. She did however, have a profound effect on him, and while he'd been writing songs all along, he began writing more and pushed himself to another level. He became a well known figure on the music scene, and people were impressed by not only his vocal talent, but by his songwriting and urged him to go to Nashville.

 

In 1994, Bob finally did just that, and headed to Nashville. Things didn't go quite as he expected, and the rollercoaster ride continued. His third relationship, which produced his second son, hit the skids before they made it to the altar. He realized the publishers that urged him to go to Nashville to begin with, couldn't do much for him or his career after all. He took a string of crummy jobs to pay the bills. He found a place in Nashville called "Coolsville," a place where many struggling musicians took up residence and soon made several friends including Allison Moorer (before she got her deal with MCA), Pat Gallagher, Amy Rigby, Tim Carroll, and Mark Horn. Bob blew all these people away with his songs and they rallied behind him and this ultimately resulted in the release of his first CD, Things Fall Apart, in 1997. Things Fall Apart received rave reviews, and the optimistic Bob quit his job in August, prepared to hit the road in support of the CD. However, critical acclaim didn't translate into sales. Things Fall Apart sold 1000 copies, and by November, Bob took a job as a window washer.

 

In December, Bob was out of work with a back injury suffered on the job. While flat on his back, he received a phone call from his ex-wife informing him that his 18 year old son Zach was being released from a rehab center after an addiction to heroin, and he was on his way to Nashville- he'd now be staying with Bob. Zach stayed with Bob in his tiny one bedroom apartment, the two healed old wounds from the past- primarily the reason as to why Bob wasn't around much while Zach was growing up, and they formed a close relationship. Zach began hanging out with some of Bob's friends, and began dabbling in music himself. Once Bob got back on his feet, he went back to working jobs to support them, while trying to get his music career off the ground. However, Zach became ill, with what was at first thought to be the flu. His condition deteriorated rapidly, and it was found he had actually contracted hepatitis from a dirty needle used in the past. His liver failed quickly, and 4 short months after father and son were reunited, they were separated again, this time forever, when Zach tragically died from his illness.

 

Which leads us to Things Change. Lonesome Bob recorded this CD as his outlet to express his grief. It's part grieving anguish, part exorcism, and part out and out defiance- that no matter how hard or bad things get, you just have to suck it up, pick up the pieces, and keep going on.

 

That being said, Things Change is not the complete downer you'd expect, and is filled with humor and clever metaphors. The lead off track, "Got Away With It" is a raucous, howling rocker that uses crime metaphors to describe love. Bob then shifts gears with a shuffling honky tonk number, "Heather's All Bummed Out," a slightly goofball look at a thirty-something woman who feels her life's become too predictable and longs for some thrills. 

 

Next up is a gorgeous country-blues ballad, "In The Time That I have Left," wherein Bob sings of a life dreamed of, the persuit of that dream, and all the battles fought, which have left him "alive but alone." "I Get Smarter Every Drink,"  a honky tonking drinking song, infused with a few Haggard guitar riffs, provides a different slant on someone's reasons for indulging.

 

On "Weight Of The World," Bob moves back over to his rock side, which hints at his Jersey/Springsteen influence. The song is largely autobiographical, however, instead of hanging tough and sucking it up, the story ends with a far different outcome. Things Change then moves on to a bluesy instrumental interlude, "2 Drinks On An Empty Stomach." He rocks again with "It'd Be Sad If It Weren't So Funny," poking fun at our get ahead culture of credit card debt, mortgages, and materialism in general. The title track, "Things Change," is a hauntingly beautiful country-rock ballad, as he wistfully recalls a love he had and lost. The CD closes with a hidden track, a soulful and very well done cover of "Patches."

 

Sandwiched in the middle of these songs, is a trilogy of songs that will raise the discomfort level. They are the ones that address Zach's death, and Bob's grief and anguish, and are undeniably a difficult listen. The first is the Moorer/Primm penned "Dying Breed," a high lonesome, haunting, slow bluegrass inflected song, that deals with addiction that runs through a family. Bob has stated that addiction runs rampant through his family's history, and the song is particularly chilling, as that's what ultimately claimed his son's life..."I take after my family, my fate's the blood in me, no one grows old in this household, we are a dying breed..."

 

The next song is "Where Are You Tonight," the anguished cries of a grieving father. This song is powerful, undiluted, hard edged rock, where the guitars slash and tear throughout the song. Things Change was recorded in Steve Allen's home studio. As drummer Rick Schell tells it, when they were recording this track, Bob's vocals turned to howls of pain, and he sang them so loud, his vocals were bleeding into the mics for the instruments. So they put Bob outside with headphones to sing, while they played in the studio. He says to picture the scene: Steve lives in a residential neighborhood in the valley where sound carries. Then imagine the neighbors hearing Bob outside screaming the lyrics- without hearing any music.  "Where Are You" is disturbing, uncomfortable, and even painful to listen to. However, at the same time the listener is transfixed and can't turn away, almost as when passing a car wreck, and no matter how hard you try not to, you have to look.

 

The third song, "Dreaming The Lie," is an echoing country-rock ballad, where Bob, still grieving, reigns in his emotions, after putting them all out there. He still has dreams Zach is still here, and still struggles with the thought he's gone forever, and while he will always think of his son, he also knows that he has to find a way to accept it, and move on with his life.

 

Things Change includes stellar harmony vocals by Allison Moorer (throughout the CD) and Amy Rigby (on Things Change) and first rate musical backing by Rick Shell, Paul Griffith, Dave Jacques, Paul Silvinka, Tim Carroll, Bill Dwyer, Steve Allen, Eric Holt, Phil Madeira, Fats Kaplan, Pete Finney, Byron House, Ken Coomer, Lorne Rall, Dave Francis, Mark Horn and Kevin Carlson, in varying combinations.

 

Things Change is not a disc to be played as background music, there's too much going on between words, melody and instrumentation, and even on the lighter material, Lonesome Bob's songs command the listener's full attention. For those undaunted by shifts in musical styles, smart, witty and thought provoking lyrics- as well as the occasional painful flinch, Bob provides the meat and potatoes to sink your teeth into. For those that have a low threshold for discomfort, the three song trilogy in the middle of Things Change are easy enough to skip- and there's plenty of first rate music to enjoy within the other eight songs, that makes this disc a worthy addition to your music collection.

AnnMarie Harrington Take Country Back June 2002