WHILE playing in a club one day, Bob Cheevers noticed a young lady working intently on a drawing pad.
She kept glancing up and then looking back at her pencil as it raced across the paper.
At the end of the show, the two were introduced and Bob asked to see what it was that had kept her so busy.
It was a sketch of him in the spotlight.
The artist, was Fiona Long and her sketch found its way onto the latest album by Bob.
But it is more than that. The drawing became a springboard for a creative session which was unequalled by Bob - a tall order for someone who lays claim to have written 1,500 songs in his time.
The new album is called Fiona's World and contains just some of the work which came from what Bob describes as a 'mystical journey and symbiotic relationship' that inspired him to compose forty poems and 16 new songs in the space of just a few months.
The resulting Fiona's World is a collection of deeply personal songs, ranging from the stunning Pictures Of Strangers, containing a spoken word intro from muse Fiona to Only Roses.
Other guests on the album include two of the best exponents of British folk and roots music, Dan Britton and Chris Conway and US guitarist extraordinaire David MacNeill who will also be accompanying Bob on his up coming tour of the UK.
It is all brought together by Bob's distinctive vocals which recall the tones of Willie Nelson.
Austin, Texas-based Bob is back in the UK to promote the album in a country-wide tour, which visits Sheffield this weekend.
He grew up in Memphis and has lived in both Los Angeles and Nashville but now calls Austin home.
It is no coincidence that they are four of America's premier music cities, for his music shows a wide understanding and influence-laden journey across the American landscape.
He has earned a place in the Americana Music scene after charting Top 20 in that genre with his last two CDs.
After starting his first band during college, he migrated west following a dream that took him from the pop field in Hollywood to country and roots music in Nashville with stops between to gather the tools and trophies of his career. Among his statues and certificates of accomplishment is an Emmy for Big City Gambler which was voted Best Musical Composition of 1986.
Bob has found his own voice spinning rootsy, blues-flavoured tales of the Delta in a conversational language of n Bob Cheevers appears at The Grapes,Trippett Lane, Sheffield on Sunday (July 6). Tickets available on 0114 2490909.
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