Bob Wire
Raised on the hard twang of Johnny, Hank, Buck and Merle, Bob Wire has developed his personal brand of rockin' country that has been filling dance floors for more than a dozen years. A singer and guitar slinger out of Missoula, Montana, Bob writes songs for adults who have a sense of humor, and aren't afraid to think for themselves. His vocal stylings have earned him the nickname, "The Burlap Fog."
Fans of Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam, the Bottle Rockets, and other hard-rocking country artists have come to love the Bob Wire sound. It's a rootsy stew of traditional country, blues, rockabilly and swampy folk that drives a highly entertaining mix of lyrical subjects. Fourteen of these original nuggets comprise Bob's first solo album, "American Piehole." A self-recorded, self-released effort, the album features Bob's current band, the Magnificent Bastards. David Colledge plays lead guitar, Jack Barnings plays drums, and Ron Setzer is on bass. Setzer also helped produce "Piehole" with Bob, and served as the album's engineer and tuning sheriff.
Bob Wire and his orginal band, the Fencemenders made the rounds in Western Montana for ten years from the mid-90's to 2004, during which time they were voted "Best Local Band" three times by the readers of the Missoula Independent. They pinned back ears with their firebrand honky tonk, opening for the Old 97's, James McMurtry, and Brad Paisley. In 2000 they released one CD, the rollicking "Waiting for Dark." In 2004 Bob left the Fencemenders to pursue a solo career that would allow him to record and promote his own material.
Songs like "Laundromat," "She Took a Powder," and "White Trash Paradise" have the energy and drive to make it impossible to sit still, while the lyrics will have you cracking up while you dance. Other tunes, like "Tucson," "As For Me," and "Saigon" are more ruminative, yet still have that fresh, rhythmic drive of a band firing on all cylinders.
"Too Tired to Cheat" received a Special Award of Merit from Paramount Publishing in Nashville. Songwriting has become a true passion for Bob, and he strives to avoid the clichés that litter the popular music landscape of today. He performs solo occasionally, peppering his show with jokes and bawdy comments. But the full force is in play when he performs with the Bastards at some Montana watering hole like Missoula's Union Club, or the Bitterroot Brewing Co. in Hamilton. While not the road warrior he was in his early career, Bob is still enjoying a steady calendar of gigs, bringing his loopy, tequila-tinged show to appreciative crowds all over western Montana. He's currently working with the Magnificent Bastards on the as-yet-untitled follow up to "American Piehole."