Joking hits the right note for Evans Jebediah frontman Kevin Mitchell aka Bob Evans as a solo artist is a naturally funny bloke. IF THIS music caper doesn't work out, Bob Evans could consider a comedy sideline. Witness his star turn as the awkward, daggy Romeo in the video for new single Go - or the daggy characters he assumes in most of his music clips - and it is clear there beats the heart of a natural joker underneath that earnest singer-songwriter persona. Bob Evans, the solo alter ego of Kevin Mitchell, who also fronts Australian rockers Jebediah, is a funny bloke. Yet he admits he was almost trumped for laughs by the outstanding cameo of his mate Tim Rogers in Go. Mitchell and his wife concocted the concept of a couple of blokes battling for the affections of a Juliet and joked one of Home and Away's River boys would be perfect for the role. In the end, it was the threat they would engage one of the actors to play the role that got Rogers over the line to star in the beachside clip. "I think that clinched the deal," Mitchell says, laughing. Once he heard the River boys might get the gig, he made sure he was going to do it. His cameo was definitely the highlight for me, he was on fire. It's just a shame the song is only 3 1/2 minutes long because we had to cut so much gold. All jokes aside, his fourth Bob Evans record Familiar Stranger was inspired by the universal bookends of life and death. He and wife Kristen became parents to daughter Ella Jean, providing plenty of inspiration for celebrating the life side of the equation. The death of a member of his extended family in "tragic circumstances" would also influence his songwriting. Mitchell cites this record as the most personal collection of songs he has written and feels fiercely protective of it as he shares it with fans and critics. This record is really introspective. When you are thinking about life and death and you have close shaves with both, it can feel a little like heading down the rabbit hole," he says. I guess I am always trying to put myself on the line and with each record you are trying to set a standard while also trying to find new ways of doing it. While he has always drawn those pesky comparisons with The Beatles and Neil and Tim Finn, Familiar Stranger sounds like an album which could have been made by The Fab Four in their psychedelic phase. Mitchell is resigned to the fact those sonic signposts are always going to be attached to his work. That stuff comes up all the time. What I have decided now is The Beatles have become a part of my DNA. They created a template and even if I am not trying, it is going to be there. In the fine tradition of The Beatles' later albums, Familiar Stranger is an old-fashioned record. It has been carefully assembled to keep you engaged from beginning to end in the digital era where cherry-picking songs or assembling personal playlists is the accepted norm. Mitchell is defiantly pro-record, while not being anti-single. "I would think that now, because the LP format has become more and more redundant, there is a chance that some of the traditional artistry of LPs would be reclaimed," he says. The idea of getting married became cool again purely because you didn't have to do it, so the romanticism of it came back. I'm hopeful the romantic notion of the album will also come back. Bob Evans performs at the Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle on May 9; Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst on May 10; and Heritage Hotel, Wollongong on May 12