Self-proclaimed master of Frunk, Bob Schneider, wowed Stars Over Wimberley audiences in a pair of performances last week at the Wimberley Playhouse. Frunk is Schneider’s term for his musical amalgam of folk, rock, rap, funk, bluegrass, reggae and country with the more traditional singer- songwriter aesthetic.
During his concert, Schneider showed Wimberley two sides of his prodigious talent and songwriting prowess: the trickster and dreamer.
He led off Thursday’s performance with the lament “Big Blue Sea,” and other songs of disappointment and regret from his album “Lonelyland.”
Within minutes, though, he took his hands off the wheel, and dared us to keep up. He sang, he fasttalked stories and rapped. He littered the air with indelible images. He chided us for not cheering loud enough when our name was called and he brought forth a street walking, smarmy-talking lothario in search of lust. The trickster was out and he wanted to play.
He had us smirking and singing with him and disbelieving the wilder elements of his schtick. At one point, he laid down a vocal and looped it, put a beat behind it and scooped it into a track on his piano. It was so capricious, that some people didn’t even notice. We were intoxicated.
As his performance drew to a close, Bob Schneider, the dreamer, returned us to earth and set us down gently. He ended the two-hour set with a song of soft lament for the plight of dreamers everywhere.
Bob Schneider’s performance was part of the 2025 Stars Over Wimberley Concert Series presented by WimberleyArts. org, the former Wimberley Valley Arts and Cultural Alliance or WVACA. The series is created in conjunction with the Wimberley Players. Proceeds go towards the Robert Moreman Memorial Scholarships for aspiring artists and young people interested in the building trades.
