(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Austin-based artist Bob Schneider brings his singular brand of indie-pop to Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, May 6, at 9pm. Schneider stands out in Austin as not just another roots-music based artist, but as a kind of pop genius – a singer-songwriter who writes catchy, hook-laden melodies that connect the Beatles to soul music to New Wave to U2 to dream-pop to electronica. Think of him as Brian Wilson without the angst.

The Austin rock singer-songwriter was lead singer for Ugly Americans, who toured as opening act for Dave Matthews Band. Born in Michigan but raised mostly in Munich, Germany, to where his parents moved both seeking careers in opera, the six-time Austin Musician of the Year is known for his eclectic musical styles and as a startlingly entertaining performer.

Schneider’s first major-label solo album, 2001’s “Lonelyland,” garnered him critical attention and airplay. Since then, Schneider has been juggling a career as an artist – he dropped out of the University of Texas at El Paso where he studied art – and writing for and acting in TV and movies. (He appeared in “Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” starring Sandra Bullock, and had a role as a wedding singer in “Harmony and Me.”)

Last year Schneider released a curated collection of three thematically-linked 5-song EPs, collectively titled “King Kong.” The albums hearkened back to his earliest releases, “Lonelyland” and “I’m Good Now,” albums that were essential Bob Schneider, featuring good songs in a variety of genres that were alternately fun and harrowing, sharp and insightful. Fans who bought the physical albums were treated to prints of Schneider’s art wrapping the music.

Schneider proves that there’s more to Austin-based music than a hint of a twang and a hankering for Townes Van Zandt.
For reservations in The Restaurant or in the club call 518.828.4800.