Rock Volunteers: Tennessee's UnCountry Music Review
by Jed Jensen, Jr.
SAT May 15/1999
It's a dull, gray day but the members of Flint are still energized. The reason for their joy is a new R.V. Because Flint is his most successful act to date, Overlord Records founder and chairman, Harrison Lee Wingate rewarded Flint with a brand spankin' new R.V. to tour in. Equipped with a fridge, bar, television, VCR and most importantly, a Playstation, Flint is more than pleased with their record company. Flint keyboardist Doug Cherokee,24, summed it up by saying, "If this R.V. only had strippers, I'd assume I'd be in heaven."
Overlord Record chairman Harrison Lee Wingate hands the keys to a state of the art R.V. over to Flint's Cody Jackson.
You would think that it doesn't take much to keep Flint happy. On the contrary, Flint has had their run-ins with the law, with papparazzi, with controversy that most of the Southern public are familiar with. Probably the most loved band in the states around the Gulf of Mexico, Flint are making inroads on a national level having seduced celebrities and critics alike with their brash brand of alternative Top 40 rock. Singles from their album White Trash Folklore like Apocalypse 2000 and I'm Not Chinese helped the band reach entire new audiences and a success is starting that is living up to the hype developed by their loyal regional following over the past few years.
"The next album will be harder to write I think", Flint frontman Cody Jackson, 24, reasons. "We've had years to play these songs live to get them to a point where we like them. The next album needs to be done in a matter of months and it needs to be good."
Jackson is thoughtful and sociable and nothing like he was on stage last night in front of two thousand fans in Dallas, Texas. He has been known to bait a crowd at every show and critics attack him for it, saying he does this to draw attention from his less-than-stellar voice. "I consider myself more an entertainer than a singer", Jackson concedes. "That goes back to my days on the national motocross circuit. I tore my Achilles tendon racing on dirt roads out in the country and that kind of ended that career. Even then to my fans, I was more of an entertainer, a showboat, then a techincal rider. It's just who I am."
Cody is also Flint's chief lyricist. "I find a lot of my songs have the same theme: boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets shot by the psycho girl who has been stalking him. It's stuff I used to be able to relate to." Not any more however. The boys in Flint have had their names dangled in the tabloids linked to a virtual who's who of starlets in Hollywood. "Harrison Lee doesn't let us talk about that." Flint guitarist Juwan Pilgrim, 24, states matter-of-factly. "The theory is young girls are supposed to think Flint are available to be with them. My girlfriend isn't in the entertainment business, thank god. It's mostly Cody and Doug who make the tabloids. We've got a hip factor right now so a lot of the starlets as you call them want the name recognition or status that our band can provide. It's really sort of sick really".
Harrison Lee and Cody pose in front of a sign promoting a Texas gig at a Mobile Home convention.
These Flint boys aren't really the "angry, young hicks" that their detractors have described them to be. Sure, they love their new R.V. but can you tell me what young man wouldn't want a shaggin' wagon like that for their very own. Flint's Tennessee shows with opening act Senor Throwdown are slated for Memphis - May 19th, Nashville - May 20th, Knoxville - May 21st and Dollywood - May 22nd.