Singer-songwriter Bob Schneider finds his spring in ‘Lovely Creatures’

As his loyal fan base knows, Schneider is touring behind “Lovely Creatures,” an album packed full of love songs that was released last fall. “I ended up going into the studio with Dwight Baker, the producer with the idea that we wanted to make a polished and beautiful sounding record, which I believe is what we ended up with,” Schneider said. “Because the songs are all love songs, for the most part, I ended up calling the record ‘Lovely Creatures,’ referring both to the collection of songs and to people in general.”

On “Lovely Creatures,” Schneider focuses on songs about love while keeping the musical styles quintessentially diverse moving from Americana-pop on “40 Dogs” to dance-influenced in “Tarantula.” The album is a bit of a departure from much of Schneider’s other work that ranges from acoustic blues to rap with many genres in between.

Those who know Schneider understand he’s musically insatiable enjoying many formats. In fact, he enjoys making music so much that he has an OK from his record label to release music on his own once he’s fulfilled his contracts’ obligations. One reason his fan base is so solid is that he refuses to be pigeonholed musically.

“I don’t know why that is,” Schneider said. “I guess what I find interesting always changes. Usually when I’m writing something there are elements of what I’ve listened to.”

Switching musical directions is likely one of the reasons Schneider has found a comfort zone in playing small clubs before his loyal fan base, interweaving personal stories with an array of songs from his catalog. He has such a wide musical berth, that even some critics scramble for words with which to describe it.

“His scruffy good looks and strong, husky voice provide a good complement to his semiconfessional songwriting,” wrote Mary Grady of All Music Guide. “His music is redolent of singer/songwriters of the 1970s from Neil Young to Paul Simon, with a slightly more modern musical sensibility reminiscent of Beck.”

It’s difficult to classify “Lovely Creatures” without sounding redundant since each new album is generally called “his best to date.” Like past works, the songs on this album feature majestically woven melodies and introspective, personal lyrics.

“My fans are really hard core,” he said. “The same group comes every time. Their friends invite other friends. Then those people invite other friends. It’s a really slow, organic process, which is great because you can stay loyal to what you do. My fans will be fans for my entire career; I’m not this flavor of the month.”