About my song "Doin' Time"--

“I'd swear I could hear Eric Clapton singing the last cut [from your demo] on his next album. . .  I wanted to commend you on some excellent songwriting.”
         
                           --Frank Sardella
                           Producer, Material Worth Publishing
                           March, 2007

While I would be thrilled to have Eric Clapton record one of my songs on his next album, there are some significant differences between us, not the least of which is that I perform and record all the instrumental and vocal tracks both on my demos and on the background tracks I use while performing on stage.

Since my solo act is unusual, I’ve included a Behind The Sound page to demonstrate how the music makes it from my fingers onto a recording to serve as my back-up band on stage. I have also included a schedule of my upcoming performances, a page where you can hear sample cuts from the CDs of original and cover music that I've performed and produced, a list of the many gigs I've played over the last few decades, and a song list of the tunes I play on stage, including some audio samples of live performances. In addition, you'll find a page devoted to my work with renowned educator Carol Cummings for her series of children's books.

The Sonuvabish name refers, as I mentioned on the homepage, to my father, Bob Bishop. (See the section below for a brief bio of him.) I learned from my dad some very valuable lessons, and not just about music theory. Like him, I enjoy playing at small venues so I can interact with people one on one. As a kid watching him play, both with a band and on his own, and then later playing behind him on drums, I learned from a dedicated pro what it takes to make a living at music. It’s more than simply showing up on time and taking breaks only in lulls. It means turning hecklers to your advantage, dropping your problems at the edge of the stage, striving for perfection but not letting the unexpected rattle you. For me it’s not just a matter of experience. It’s a family tradition.    

My dad was the original Bish, of which I am the "sonuva." Bob played piano as a teenager and learned music theory at a conservatory in Chicago, his home town. (For an extensive pictorial biography of his parents, Louis and Louise Poltevecque, click here.) He traveled with several big bands, most notably the Edgar Drake Orchestra, and learned to play accordion for a cross-country gig aboard a train. Once the wife and kids came along, he settled into the more routine life of a day job as a banker, but always supplemented his income with a wide variety of music jobs. He and his buddies would play such diverse styles as German polka jobs, stolling Italian music, cowboy songs, and society tunes, often at the world-famous Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. In fact, he was the first person to perform the now-famous Oscar Mayer Weiner Song. He played honky tonk piano Sunday nights at the Broadmoor's Golden Bee, an English-style sing-along pub, for nearly three decades, from its opening until shortly before his death. To hear a (poor quality) live recording of him playing "The Wiffenpoof Song" at the Golden Bee, click here.

Bob Bishop
1919-1995