Austin Music Magazine
January 2007
by Patrick Cosgrove
Like the sons of Texas stars Jerry Jeff Walker and Waylon Jennings, Clay McClinton is following in the huge boot prints of his legendary father, Delbert, to pursue a career in Texas roots. The Fort Worth native, who has been honing his songwriting chops in Nashville for the last few years and plans to relocate to Austin, won’t be mistaken for pop, but there is no denying what’s in the blood.
With Son of a Gun, the follow-up to his fine debut Out of the Blue, McClinton demonstrates his stellar honky-tonk credentials on songs like “One of Those Guys” (a personal manifesto, perhaps) and “Dig Deep”. His R&B genetics shine through impressively on “Howlin’ at the Moon”, a tune with a distinctive Delbert-style groove – not surprising since it’s a collaborative effort with dad. A confident songwriter (he wrote or co-wrote all but one track), the fiddle driven “Missing You”, is a heartbreak tale that might be the record’s best track.
Escaping the long shadow cast by a music icon can be tough going, but with Son of a Gun, this chip off the old block is wasting little time carving out a name for himself.