Rob Leines: Blood, Sweat and Beers
Rob Leines is no stranger to the blue-collar way of life. Before becoming a full-time touring musician who spends over 200-nights a year on stage, he was a welder in the oil and gas industries along the Pacific Coast, eventually traveling the world repairing components of turbine engines at power plants. So, the roll-up-your-sleeves and get-your-hands-dirty work ethic and long days are something Rob knows all too well. His in-your-face lyrics are the product of perseverance and dedication to the pride of a hard-earned paycheck. His Blood, Sweat and Beers follow-up to Bad Seed is still that hard-driving blend of country and rock and roll his fans are used to, with a little swampier, greasier goodness, tighter playing and stronger vocal delivery.
When the pandemic hit stateside in early 2020, Rob’s extensive tour schedule, which included several opening dates with Southern rock rising stars, Whiskey Myers, came to a halt. Rob admits he is unable to sit still, so he went back to welding to help make ends meet. All the while, he sat on the work he had so far put into Blood, Sweat and Beers until he could get back out on the road to promote it this year. The album isn’t just about the blue-collar experience though; he sings about love, lust, murder and the road-dog way of life.
Although his roots are buried deep in Georgia, Leines grew up in a military family that bounced around Utah and California. Rob identifies most with his Southern home and that is abundantly clear in his music. While Leines honed his guitar-playing and songwriting skills in death metal bands in his teens, he would later turn those skills into the music that most resembled the sound he wanted to formulate and could identify with – rock-amped country music.
Lighting up the album right out of the gate is the electrified track “Bailing Hay” then right into the blow-off the steam of the workweek anthem, “Saturday Night.”
“Southern Breeze” is a sentimental nod to his southern home. “I’ve seen the Rockies down to Montgomery / but brother I’m just like you / That ol southern breeze has got a hold of me.” “All I Need” is a honky tonk proclamation to finding love over the lust of a woman at the end of a beer-drinking night. “Maybe, Baby you’re all I need / Lust comes easy with a bottle of wine, but the love of a woman is hard to find / I’ve been thinking, drinking, looking at the stars / A grade A fool for gals that work the bar / Honey can’t you see, you might be all I need.” A lover scorned transforms a rhythm-pulsing love song into a murder ballad on “Patty Lynn,” before turning into the rollicking “Rock ‘n’ Roll Honky Tock Life” that will be sure to get the barroom crowd fired-up and rowdy. Switching gears, we roll into a more funky, swampy anthem about the life of a touring musician bringing the “Good Time” to fans all across the country. Written for his cousin’s wedding, the acoustic ballad of “Hold On” shows the more tender side of Leines which contrasts the lighthearted single, “Drinkin’ Problem:” a raucous grievance on the trouble the bottle brings. “I ain’t got no drinking problem, but drinking’s got a problem with me / Every time I hit that stuff I wind up some place I shouldn’t be / I got trouble to my left and trouble to my right / Now give it to me baby / I can’t sit tight / Save that glass and throw the cap / I’ve got some place I shouldn’t be.” The album ends on the guitar-riff laden “Curse the Sun” that bemoans the morning after a rough night or a long, hard work day.
Bold guitar riffs and colossal energy are what stage performance dreams are made of, and Rob Leines is here to deliver. To capture the electricity of Rob Leines’s music and energy of his live performances, he and co-producer, Eric Rennaker, recorded Blood, Sweat and Beers with Rob’s live band. Whether it’s the big stage of an outdoor summer festival or your local dive bar, Ron Leines and company will bring the party.
All songs written by: Rob Leines
Recorded and Mixed by: Eric Rennaker
Mastering: Alex DeYoung
Produced by: Rob Leines and Eric Rennaker
Guitars/Vocals: Rob Leines
Bass: Derrick Elliott
Drums: Felipe Guzman
Pedal Steel: Joel Martin
Keys/B3: Ty Bailie
Fiddle: Xander Hitzig
Dobro/banjo: Adam Hall
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