By Luke Voogt
The Wolverines may be the “bad boys” of Australian country music, but they’ve got hearts of gold when it comes to kids.
The Tamworth band earned the nickname for its bawdy songs and crass lyrics three years ago, despite being in the music business since 1994.
“We haven’t been able to shake it,” said drummer and singer John Clinton.
“We did a lot of music that was sort of on the edge of country music.
“We’ve got some kind of cult following that we can’t really understand – anyone that rides a bike really.”
While some of their songs feature edgy, tongue-in-cheek humour, the blokes mostly sing about their love for sailing, riding and the country.
“There’s lots of reasons to put smiles on people’s faces and that’s what we try to do,” Clinton said.
In 2003 the Wolverines sailed to 14 ports for gigs which raised $35,000 for children with cystic fibrosis (CF).
One of their songs, 65 Roses, tells the story of a small boy who could not pronounce the condition, which afflicted his sister.
The band is still donating royalties from the song to CF research.
The Wolverines have performed for tens of thousands at the Gympie Music Muster, Tamworth, Okinawa and in the Middle East for Australia soldiers.
They will make their way down the highway to rock the Sphinx on 2 March.
“This tour down to Melbourne is the first one we’ve done for quite a while,” an excited Clinton said.
“We’re only going down there because some people asked us to go down there.”
