Chattanooga Times Free Press - ChattanoogaNow
Delbert McClinton coming to Walker Theatre at Memorial Auditorium
Artist brings new music to town Saturday
This is turning out to be a banner year for Grammy Award-winning artist Delbert McClinton.
His 19th album, ”Prick of the Litter,” was released in January, he is the subject of a new biography and he was nominated for Texas State Musician — the musical equivalent of being poet laureate.
The new album is a collection of jazz-influenced songs inspired by Johnny Mercer and Nat King Cole. The legendary Texas musician known for his ability to combine country, blues, soul and rock is backed by his band, Self-Made Men, on the album.
Fans attending his concert on Friday, Oct. 14, will hear some of that new music. McClinton’s show is in Walker Theatre of Memorial Auditorium at 8 p.m. Sam Lewis will open.
“I’m an acquired taste in that my kind of music’s not for little kids,” the Texas singer- songwriter has said.
“It’s adult rock ’n’ roll. I write from the sensibility of the people I knew growing up, and I grew up with all the heathens, the people who went too far before they changed and tried to make something out of their lives. There are a lot of beautiful colors, sad stories and much-deserved joy in that.”
All those colors and stories and joy were present in McClinton’s album “Acquired Taste.” It followed his 2005 Grammy Award-winning “Cost of Living,” which was named Best Contemporary Blues recording.
McClinton’s other Grammy was for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group, which he won with Bonnie Raitt for “Good Man, Good Woman.”
Reviewers have praised McClinton as being at the top of his game with this 19th studio album, “Prick Of The Litter.” It incorporates a variety of styles that are just enough to keep him comfortably outside traditional marketing categories and audiences on the edge of their seats.