Guitarist Jake Lentner Joins Chris Claridy in Cody Jinks Band

Jake Lentner / Chris Claridy / Cody Jinks

Like so many of the great country artists of our time, one of the reasons Cody Jinks' continued success is because of the band behind him, affectionately called the Tonedeaf Hippies. Consisting of steel guitarist Austin "Hit Rod" Tripp, bassist Joshua Thompson, keyboardist and occasional acoustic guitarist Drew Harakal, drummer David Colvin and the venerable Chris Claridy on guitar, the quality of this lineup is one of the reasons Cody Jinks has stayed in the last few years at the top of his game.

We probably don't make a big deal about the importance of Chris Claridy being in Cody Jinks' band. A long-time veteran of independent country, Claridy toured with the late Chris Wall in the 1990s, then joined the legendary Dallas band Eleven Hundred Springs in the early 2000s. Having Claridy in the band was something like Waylon Jennings, who wore Ralph Mooney in his band – an elderly statesman in the country who gives credibility to the outfit.

But the backing band Cody Jinks has had a new member lately, a second guitarist named Jake Lentner. Originally from the small town of Chesterfield, MA, he was primarily a rock guitarist who shared the stage with bands such as Apocalyptica, Saving Abel, Pop Evil, and Candlebox until he moved to Nashville, which is where he also started getting involved with the country crowd rub. along with appearances as a solo artist.

Jake Lentner's ability to alternate between country and rock makes him so perfect as the Cody Jinks band that moves forward. On November 12th, Cody Jinks will not only release his newest country album called Mercy, but also a metal album called None The Wiser under the band name Caned By Nod. As many longtime Cody Jinks fans know, the Fort Worth native began playing music in metal bands before moving to country.

It remains to be seen if Cody Jinks has officially released the Caned By Nod project, if his live shows will include a full set of the heavier music or if he will show just a few songs from it, or maybe a Caned By Nod tour exclusive. Either way, Jake Lentner is now on board to help out wherever he can.

And now Lentner is also doing well in the country material, like Saving Country Music recently. watched Born and raised feast, played rhythm guitar and muffled stuff on many of Cody's songs, sometimes acoustic guitar, and occasionally shared solo chores with Chris Claridy and took his place as second guitarist, at least with the country stuff. Jake Lentner also recently stepped in exclusively on guitar when Claridy missed a show or two in August.

Cody Jinks, Chris Claridy, Jake Lentner and the rest of the Tonedeaf Hippies will be holding court with Travis Tritt this weekend at the Nutty Brown Ampitheater in Austin on September 25th and 26th.