The Blue Collar Country Rock of Clint Vines & The Hard Times
Music for those who take a shower *after* work
The music of Clint Vines & The Hard Times is not easy to quantify by genre. You could call it hard country, but that doesn’t quite cover it. There are elements of outlaw, red dirt, and traditional country rock. Similarly, Vines knows his image doesn’t necessarily match his sound. He recently described himself as looking more like “someone’s fishing guide on Lake Texoma,” than a musician.
After checking out Clint and his band The Hard Times at the Iron Horse Pub, I can assure you, Clint Vines is the real deal. The genuine article. A gifted musician who relates the life of the working man through his words and music.
Vines weaves his lyrical tales with such authenticity, some might be surprised to find, as I was, that Vines hasn’t always experienced the things he sings about. In his song “Oil City Hell,” Vines’ lyrics relate the predicament of an oil field worker who likes to smoke a joint with his buddies but has to take a drug test at work. Clint told me via DM “Oil City Hell took me about 15 minutes. I just wanted to write a song about the oil field. Although I've never been in it, most of my family has.”
I was stunned. One listen to Oil City Hell and I had been convinced that Vines experienced it himself.
It’s with that kind of songwriting skill that Vines approaches all of his work, and it makes for a really entertaining show — country that rocks, and feels like the work of an undiscovered genius toiling away for the love of it.
For The Hard Times, Mackey Divine is an asset on the bass. I watched Mackey at length during the show. He has a fluidity to his playing which imparts a smooth locomotion to the music, and compliments the rhythmic, sometimes almost boogie-woogie attitude of Clint Vines & The Hard Times. Mackey also plays bass for Blank Labels and the Zack Crow band.
Jacksboro lead guitarist Anthony Montes lays down lines that give Vines’ music a rock nastiness that comes as a pleasant surprise. While Vines accompanies himself on his bright, clean Fender Telecaster, Montes lays down distorted, fat riffs on his Gibson Les Paul and adds weight. Where another country band might have a steel guitar or fiddle player, Vines just turns Montes loose to do what he does — rock.
One of the most entertaining parts of the show was the amazing drumming of Billy Pennington, who is not only an expert timekeeper, but he makes the best faces when he performs.
Billy hits ‘em hard enough that I remember thinking “he must go through a lot of drum heads.” Regardless, Billy Pennington, who also drums for Wichita Falls hardcore band The Fleeting Romance, is a phenomenal drummer.
The next time you have a chance to catch Clint Vines & The Hard Times, pay particular attention to the lyrics and the way they compliment the music and paint a vivid picture of the red dirt lifestyle. Clint Vines & The Hard Times is hard country music for people who take a shower after work.
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