A little homework before a Clint Black concert Friday night

By Karen Bernick, March 23, 2017

Clint Black was one of my favorite 90s country artists. I saw him squarely up against that other guy Garth Brooks. Garth is great but I liked Clint.

I was a sucker for the romantic hopefulness of Better Man (I wonder if Taylor Swift ever heard his take.). And who didn’t melt when he sang When I Said I Do, that lovely duet with his wife Lisa Hartman Black, at the 2000 ACMs? He was an excellent leading man.

But what separated Clint Black from other 90s male singers like Garth or George or Ronnie, was his bluesy side. When you hear his growl on Killing Time or Like the Rain, you know it comes from deep within him. That is belly singing.  Add the harmonica and, bam, he delivers the blues. Love it.

I saw him a couple times back in the day…at the Mississippi Valley Fair about 1990 and once at the San Antonio Rodeo. I  was always impressed by the musicianship. Not only from him. He had an awesome band that my brother Tim and sister-in-law Pat will love. (They invited me out for a visit to coincide with the Clint concert. )

Clint is an independent guy. He ran his own label Equity for several years which launched Little Big Town but closed after they went to a larger label. According to his website, he passed on lots of offers to also join with big labels. He wanted to assure he could release what he wrote and produced himself so he hooked up with Thirty Tigers instead. That impresses the heck out me  me today.  I love their roster including Surgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, The Avett Brothers, Marty Stuart, Bruce Robison and a bunch more including one of my favorite new artists Elise Davis who I wrote about a few weeks ago. See that post  here.

Clint’s a guy with a heart. I have been very interested in his work as honorary chair of the International Rett Syndrome Foundation. I know from my daughter’s pal Ariel just how important that work is. Good for him.

My shuttle to Fort Collins is stopping. I have to go. But before I do, here’s Mr. Black by the numbers:

• More than 20 million albums sold worldwide;
• 57 charted singles;
• 31 top-10 hits;
• 22 number-one hits.

Of his monster hits, such as A Better Man, Killin’ Time, Like the Rain, When I Said I Do and Nothin’ But the Taillights, my favorite was Better Man. I am hopeless.

Clint Black has also won a slew of honors from from the Country Music Association, The Academy of Country Music, The Grammys, and the American Music Awards. And he is a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Looking forward to the show – I will report back!

Learn more about country music lover and blogger Karen Bernick here. Please feel free to share this article or others. But please use photos with permission only – just email me with any requests. If you like this post, please consider following me here, liking my Facebook page Karen Loves Country or following me at Twitter. Thanks for reading! #KarenLovesCountry #killingtime #clintblack #thirtytigers