Hinder marches on with new singer

It’s not easy dealing with the loss of a lead singer. Some bands, such as AC/DC with Brian Johnson and Genesis with Phil Collins, have been fortunate enough to sustain or achieve greater commercial success with new vocalists. And then there were the unmitigated disasters, such as Van Halen with Gary Cherone and Genesis with Ray Wilson, who couldn’t fill the shoes of their predecessors.

So far, so good for Hinder, who replaced lead vocalist Aaron Winkler after 2012’s “Welcome to the Freakshow” with Marshal Dutton. “When the Smoke Clears,” the band’s slick but rousing new album, which dropped in May, is a raucous, straightforward effort co-produced by drummer Cody Hanson and Dutton, who has been writing and recording with the band since 2009.

“We’ve been really good friends for a long time,” Hanson said. “We looked at a number of different singers before it became obvious that (Marshal) was our guy. The vibe has never been better with us than it is now. We’re a happy bunch.”

Hinder, which will perform Thursday at the Cotillion, is turning the page with Dutton. Often, bands replace singers with soundalikes, but not in this case.

“We had no intention of having a singer come in who sounds like Aaron,” Hanson said. “Having a different-sounding singer is not an issue with us. Maybe it is for some people, but this is exciting for us since we’re starting over. It’s new and we love it.”

Hinder, which also includes guitarists Joe Garvey and Mark King and bassist Mike Rodden, has matured with Dutton. The new album features material that is consistent. It’s gritty but has some wit and it still hits listeners in the gut.

“We’re doing what we want to do,” Hanson said. “We’re all on the same page. It’s pretty simple. We just want to make music that we’re happy with. It’ll be interesting to see where we go from here.”

The approach isn’t that different from when Hinder formed in 2001.

“Back then it was cool since we were just coming out of Oklahoma City,” Hanson said. “There wasn’t any pressure to follow what was happening on different parts of the country. We just did what we felt like we wanted to do early on with the band. It feels like that now, and it’s a good thing.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Hinder marches on with new singer."