There's an old expression that says if you want to play the blues, you have to pay your dues. Maybe that's why Delbert McClinton's always sound so authentic. In a knock-around career that's now spanned four decades, Delbert McClinton has been signed and dropped by labels, written hits and stopped recording, collaborated with some of the industry's most esteemed players, and fallen victim to the usual temptations that are available to musicians living on the road.

Still, in an industry that increasingly caters to adolescent consumers, McClinton has steadfastly continued to make real music for adults, blending elements of R&B, gospel, blues, honky-tonk, country and rock into a soulful musical gumbo stirred by his powerfully distinctive, gritty voice.

The son of a railroad switchman father and beautician mother, McClinton has a history filled with proverbial highs and lows. One of his earliest groups was a Ft. Worth, Texas house band that shared the stage with blues greats such as Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson. In the early 1960s, while on tour in England, McClinton, a formidable blues harp player, provided some harmonica tips to a young John Lennon, whose up-and-coming band, The Beatles, was the opening act for some of the shows.

During the next three decades, McClinton garnered strong critical praise and a growing, loyal following of fans. His albums recorded for Capricorn during the 1970s were plagued by the label's financial problems, but a Muscle Shoals Sound release, The Jealous Kind -- distributed by Capitol -- yielded a Top Ten hit, "Giving It Up For Your Love," in 1980. However, after releasing his next album a year later, McClinton took a hiatus from recording until 1988's Live From Austin, which he recorded for Alligator Records. That record earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album the following year.

McClinton moved to Curb Records in 1990. His first album for the label, I'm With You, was well received, but the following release, 1992's Never Been Rocked Enough, hit pay dirt. Featuring guests such as Bonnie Raitt, Tom Petty and Melissa Etheridge, the album yielded a duet with Raitt called "Good Man, Good Woman," which won the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Duo. McClinton added another Grammy nomination - Best Country Vocal Collaboration -- in 1993 for "Tell Me About It," a duet with Tanya Tucker.

Despite his commercial success, McClinton's association with Curb Records in the '90s was ultimately frustrating and disappointing. In 1997 he moved to Rising Tide and released One of the Fortunate Few, filled with songs written or co-written by McClinton. Unfortunately, that label imploded just five months after the album's release. During this period, McClinton relocated from Ft. Worth to Nashville, where he - and partner Gary Nicholson -- quickly established themselves as sought-after songwriters whose tunes have been recorded by the likes of Wynonna, Vince Gill, Lee Roy Parnell and Martina McBride, among others.

After another self-imposed hiatus - this time three years -- McClinton is now back with his new album, Nothing Personal, a confident, self-financed work that allowed him to deliver the album he wanted to make, not one dictated by a record label's marketing department. In control of his career for perhaps the first time, McClinton owns the masters to the album, released by indie label New West Records, which licensed the work.

The approach seems to have worked: the album, which features members of Bonnie Raitt's and Tom Petty's bands, Delbert's road ensemble, and vocalists Iris DeMent and Bekka Bramlett, broke the record for number of weeks #1 at Americana radio and helped spawn guest appearances on "Saturday Night Live," "Letterman" and "Austin City Limits." If things go according to plan, McClinton will soon be just singing, rather than living, the blues.

During a promotional tour in support of Nothing Personal, McClinton invited StarPolish editorial director James K. Willcox to his hotel to discuss his career, the problems with record labels, and hosting the annual Delbert McClinton & Friends Sandy Beaches Cruise every winter.