Mr. Bear is Jack Bishop. Jack Bishop is Mr. Bear. Hailing from Little Rock, Arkansas, Bishop is a multi-instrumentalist bundle of talent. His lyrics are fascinating, and his melodies are both creative and catchy. On These Machines, his second self-released full length, Bishop plays every instrument on the album with some back up vocals thrown in by fellow Little Rock musician Taylor Galloway. But this isn’t just a vocal-guitar-bass-drum type of outing; Bishop even decided to dust off a few trumpet solos. He also made good use of his banjo, the instrument from which he learned guitar. Beginning as almost samples of instrumental noise rock, These Machines evolved into something much more, each song being a musical gem. After relocating to Chicago, IL to attend school, Bishop was picked up as the first artist on the new Thru & Thru Records. Together, they have planned for a re-release of These Machines for early 2009.