Every boy growing up asks the question: when will I become a man? A whole genre of self-help literature has tried to identify this hallowed demarcation. It?s the point that marks the emergence of the independent individual, leaving the vestiges of immature juvenile to the realm of skateboards, computer games and lad?s mags. I?ve heard it all.

?It?s when you get your first pay check.?

Hell no. I certainly didn?t feel the empowerment that comes with minimum wage.

?It?s when you first fall in love?

Don?t know. There?s a reason why I dance about architecture instead of, you know, engaging in a real relationship.

?It?s when you become a father?

Don?t want to know. I can barely look after myself.

Wherever you draw the boundaries, an artist making the transition to manhood is Bob Evans. This solo artist is better known in some circles as Kevin Mitchell, lead singer of pop/rock quartet Jebediah. These Australians experienced a wave of homeland popularity in the late 90s, releasing four albums of emo rockers (to make the kids jump around) and earnest ballads (to make the kids brood with angst). Jebediah?s bluster wasn?t exactly seminal, but back in the day every 15-year-old Australian would be screaming at their parents as ?Leaving Home? blasted from their CD player. Mitchell was barely older than the mosh pits in front of him and this leant his songs an authenticity where they perhaps lacked artistry and maturity.

However, the audience soon grew up and found jobs, married and began listening to Coldplay. Mitchell must have felt increasingly naff singing lyrics like ?What you see / Inside of me / Has been set free / When I’m wasted / Wasted,? because a few years ago he reinvented himself as the singer-songwriter Bob Evans. The first record, Suburban Kid, was a revelation: instead of electric guitars, there was a warm acoustic strum. Songs held a definite country twang?the antithesis to the moshpit-ready rockers of before. Mitchell affirmed his credentials as a talented songwriter, with addictive melodies and hooks in each song.

Most remarkable was his lyrical transformation. Opening track ?For Today? possessed the same lyrical earnestness of the Jebediah material, but there was honesty where before there was white noise. Lyrics were written with sincerity, rather than to fill the gap between the power chords and drum fills. Singing about ?girls who never called me back,? there was an effacement that could only come with maturity and, yes, being a man. Bob Evans/Kevin Mitchell no longer sings that ?I?m better off without you.? He now writes songs like ?Stevie?s Song,? singing that ?I?m really glad I?ve got you in my corner?.

So is the answer to the eternal question simply of unplugging your Stratocaster and picking up a Maton jumbo? Should I ditch ?Teenage Kicks? and listen to Gram Parsons? I don?t think so. When you?re a man, you just know. Despite what the music writer, critic, fan, in me would like to believe, you can?t find the answers to life in a pop song. However, Bob Evans/Kevin Mitchell?whatever the hell you want to call him?shows that nevertheless the proof is often in the music.

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