JD Hinton – Ways of Seeing

JD Hinton’s new EP Ways of Seeing feels like it comes from someone who has moved through a few different chapters already: Texas kid, film-and-TV actor, songwriter with credits in Gloria, Tick-Tock, Children on Their Birthdays, and now a quietly heavy Americana voice coming off a praised EP and heading out on the road with Troy Ramey. The new batch stays in that world of late–night bars and half-failed plans, but the writing leans into perspective: how people present themselves, what they actually feel, and the gap in between.

“Once Was Blonde” sets the tone. The sound is straight Americana: grainy vocal out front, sharp old-school keys, roomy drums, guitar licks sliding in and out like side comments. It plays like a modern Western bar scene. Hinton sings it with an easy, talk-sung delivery, still clearly enjoying the details.

“Trying To Get It Right” keeps the same band energy and turns the hook into the whole point. The line “I’m just tryin’ to get it right” lands like a shrug and a confession at the same time, the kind of phrase that works both in a pub and dropped into a TV montage about someone cleaning up their mess. The track feels built for that use: steady tempo, familiar groove, lyric that stays clear and direct.

“San Francisco Dreams” leans into motion. Same Americana / folk core, with a stronger sense of forward drive and a focus on “something is happening” energy, not quiet contemplation. It reads like street footage: cars, hills, bad decisions, big hopes you only say out loud once. “Nearly Sincerely,” the EP’s anchor, flips the mood, a song written like a string of letters fueled by dry wit, double espressos, and that Harry Nilsson–style mix of sweetness and sting the notes talk about.

The Johnny Cash cover “Folsom Prison Blues” gives Hinton room to show his guitar side and his comfort inside the tradition he’s writing next to. It feels like part of the same world, not just a bit of fan service. “Should Have Said Hello” closes on something softer: keys up front, a relaxed band feel, a choir behind him, the sound of someone replaying a missed chance with a lot of detail and not much self-pity.

For sync, Ways of Seeing is full of small, clear scenes: barrooms, road shots, quiet character moments where someone gets close to saying what they really mean.