For years, Bob Schneider has been packing houses and winning over audiences in Austin, Texas, firmly claiming his place as one of the most sought-after entertainers in the live music capitol and across the country. Next month, he will again grace the stage at the 30A Songwriters Festival, performing from his extensive repertoire of original songs.

As one of the more prolific writers of his generation, Schneider has released about 20 albums and is constantly working new material into his live shows, most of which are recorded and released on his website. Schneider’s live shows are playful and raw, on stage he clearly knows how to command the room. Offstage, he told 30A, is a different story.

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Q. Storytelling is a big part of your live shows. How did you become such a great and funny storyteller?

I watched my dad perform in our living room my whole life. He would tell stories and make jokes and keep people laughing along with my mom. I was always very quiet and shy and wanted to blend in and not be noticed. I still feel that way to this day.

One of my biggest fears is being put on the spot in front of a lot of people, but for some reason, when I’m performing my show, I have this feeling that whatever I want to do or say is okay.

No matter how crazy or risqué or bizarre it is, it all goes into the category of entertainment or art and it’s okay. I’m not that way in my real life at all, and I think some folks think I conduct myself in my daily life the way I do onstage, but that’s just not the case. I’m courteous and thoughtful and well-mannered offstage and pretty scared most of the time, so I’m sure that’s one of the reasons I love to perform so much.

Q. You grew up in Michigan and Germany, but moved to Texas at a young age and have stayed there, primarily in Austin. How has the American south influenced you as a performer and songwriter?

It’s hard to say really. Austin is a pretty liberal city and very different from the rest of Texas, especially the smaller towns in Texas. I have the feeling I can pretty much get away with anything in Austin because of that, both musically and with the content. I think if I lived in a smaller town I’d end up hearing a lot more Texas country music, which has a life of its own in Texas. It’s pretty much everywhere you go and has it’s own sound. It’s weird because when I was growing up my parents pretty much listened to nothing but country music in the car, so I heard a lot of that when I was growing up in Germany. It was never my thing though, and I gravitated to more experimental types of music in my teens. Still to this day I prefer a synthesizer to the sound of a guitar. Not a lot of synthesizer in country music. I wish there was though, because the songs are pretty great.

Q. What most excites you about your music today?

I love writing and performing new music. They go hand in hand. If I haven’t written anything that excites me in a few weeks, I start getting antsy and nervous. I have the feeling that I’m never going to write anything good again and start getting depressed and freaked out. Then I’ll write something that I like and that feeling goes away, and I’m excited to play it for people. If I couldn’t write and play new material that I found interesting I would eventually stop playing music. I enjoy playing the ‘hits’ for people as long as I get to play the new stuff as well. It keeps the whole set fresh and different, and hopefully the fans feel the same way.

Q. What most excites you about songwriting today?

I’m pretty jaded when it comes to songwriting. I don’t like most of it. Not even because it’s bad, but because I know how easy it is to write songs, and so much of what I hear is uninspired and workaday. It sounds like it’s written to make money or appeal to its audience. It sounds just fine, and it kind of drives me crazy.

Then I’ll hear something different that I haven’t come across before, some lyric that makes me feel something, some instrumentation that takes me aback, and I’ll have that feeling, that magic feeling that I had as a kid, and I realize how much I love music again.

It’s so powerful and can totally move you and make you afraid and remind you that we have the ability as humans to express ourselves in a way that transcends our humanity. It’s incredible, and it happens so rarely, but when it does, I love it.

Q. What interested you in being a part of the 30A Songwriters Festival?

I heard about it through a songwriter friend of mine and came last year and had such a wonderful time. I love the area and the beach and I heard some great music, saw some songwriter friends of mine that I don’t get to see all the time. It’s great. It’s a great environment for people to sit and listen, which is maybe something that is harder and harder to find.

See and hear Schneider perform at the 30A Songwriters Festival January 16-18, 2015. Buy your tickets now before they sell out, and stay tuned to 30A.com and 30A Radio for a full schedule and more coverage in the weeks to come!

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