DELBERT MCCLINTON HEADLINES THE WILBUR THEATRE ON JUNE 14TH

Boston, MA- Delbert McClinton is coming to The Wilbur Theatre on Thursday June 14th, 2013 at 8:00pm

“I’m an acquired taste in that my kind of music’s not for little kids,” Texas singer songwriter Delbert McClinton says. “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 and sad stories and much-deserved joy in that.”

All those colors and stories, and all that joy, are richly present in McClinton’s New West album Acquired Taste. The collection is the musician’s fourth studio set for the label, and it succeeds his Grammy Award-winning Cost of Living (2005), which was  named best contemporary blues recording by the Recording Academy.

Born in Lubbock (hometown of such other musical notables as Buddy Holly and Joe Ely), McClinton came of age in the Fort Worth joints. He first appeared on a hit record in 1962, when his distinctive harmonica playing graced Bruce Channel’s No. 1 single “Hey Baby” (which inspired the harp work of a young John Lennon). He backed such blues legends as Jimmy Reed and Sonny Boy Williamson, and honed his chops in local acts like the Ron-Dels, the Straightjackets, and Bobby Crown and the Kapers. In the early ‘70s, McClinton and keyboardist-vocalist Glen Clark relocated to Los Angeles, where they cut a pair of prophetic roots-rock albums as Delbert & Glen.

Beginning in 1975, McClinton recorded a series of brawny LPs for ABC, Capricorn, and Capitol that seamlessly melded blues, R&B, and country into a uniquely soulful blend. At the latter label in 1980, McClinton scored the top 10 hit “Giving It Up For Your Love,” which pushed the accompanying album The Jealous Kind into the national top 40.

After spending the late ‘80s and ‘90s cutting consistently powerful albums for Alligator, Curb, Mercury, and MCA, McClinton arrived at New West in 2001 with the wildly received Nothing Personal, which won him his first solo Grammy, for best contemporary blues album. Room to Breathe followed in 2002. His high-temperature show was captured on the two-CD set Live (2003).

McClinton wrote or co-authored the 14 songs on Acquired Taste; his co-writers included his longtime musical collaborator and producer Gary Nicholson, his keyboardist Kevin McKendree and guitarist Rob McNelley, Texas songsmith Guy Clark, Nashville  ace and ex-NRBQ axe man Al Anderson, and Benmont Tench of Tom Petty’s  Heartbreakers. The album was tracked at East Isis Studios in Nashville and Henson Studios in Hollywood by McClinton and his working band – McKendree, McNelley,  drummer Lynn Williams, and bassist Steve Mackey.

Bill Blumenreich presents Delbert McClinton

June 14th 2013 at 8:00pm

Tickets: $35-$65

The Wilbur is located at 246 Tremont St. in Boston’s Historic Theatre District

For more information on Delbert McClinton visit https://www.delbert.com 

For more information about the Wilbur and other great events visit https://wilburboston.wpengine.com