Hank Williams III

One gets the feeling that Hank Williams III is caught somewhere in between. The grandson of the country music great talked to Recoil for 25 minutes about his upcoming show at the Intersection in Grand Rapids on July 5. The entire time he was sending another message however – one that inferred that he decided long ago to stop worrying about anyone else’s expectations of his music and the media’s reviews of his albums. You’ll hear the straightforward, unforgiving attitude in his twangy voice. Immediately you get the sense that Hank III doesn’t simply make tour stops – he pulls his family’s name from town to town like a 2,000-pound freight anchor, exhaling puffs of rust along the way. At once he’s proud to be part of such rich heritage, but aware that it takes a certain grit to keep that anchor tearing down America’s highways.

What it boils down to is attitude. Williams – born Shelton Hank Williams III in 1973 – shares the attitude that made his father (country singer Hank Williams, Jr.) and grandfather (Hank Williams) so popular. These men are respected – in some cases downright intimidating. They were known for their legendary music, but also for their rowdy lifestyles. But their partying isn’t why Hank III can’t get a song on the radio. Modern day Nashville simply doesn’t have any place for a rebel.

It’s really too bad, because the masses are missing out on an album that could remind America that you don’t need to slash a guitar at 280 beats per minute to kick ass. Williams said his goal on Straight To Hell was to make the album that he wanted to make.

“That was my way to have fun, and to be able to say there’s no other record off of music row that sounds like this,” he said after his tour bus had dragged up the west coast and landed in Portland. “I can say that in every interview I do with no ifs, ands or buts.” 

In some ways he pushes country further than it’s gone in 25 years. Straight To Hell is probably the first major-label country album with a punk rock feel. It wears a “Parental Advisory” sticker for explicit lyrics. Plus, Williams’ label let him add a second disc of transient acoustic samples, hums, and buzzes – some of which were recorded 10 years ago. The songs are undeniably country, but there’s a certain attitude that makes it easy to believe Hank III is also a credible punk rock guitarist.

This is where the innovation ends, however. The album Williams really wants to release would be comprised of songs from his metal punk band, Assjack, and the songs he calls “Hellbilly.” A typical Hank III show will include all of these genres. It may seem like a nice compromise for a man who hasn’t approached the sales success of his more famous family members, but he’s been very vocal about being held back by a record business that will only sell the country music for which his surname is known.

Recently, fans in San Diego found out that his version of country music isn’t quite like his granddaddy’s. While Hank III will play his mellow, thoughtful slow songs every night, he’ll also play “Dick In Dixie” and encourage mosh pits. Just two days before talking to Recoil, Hank III’s heavy, rusty chain came dragging through Solana Beach, Calif., and left more than a thin layer of dust.

“They’re making it sound like it was a prison riot; it was nothing,” he said. “Go to a fucking real fucking rock show, and if you compare a real rock show to that… it’s bullshit. Nothing but political figures, man. Nothing but stiff-ass motherfuckers.”

According to The San Diego Union Tribune, Williams had promised a pure country set, not the 15-minute encore from Assjack. “He directed vulgar hand gestures toward the audience, cursed the city of Solana Beach and used obscenities that were broadcast into the city because the amplifiers at the Fletcher Cover stage faced east toward homes,” the June 9 article said.

Williams said it was political, and that he worked hard to get out of that show because he knew what it was going to become if the all-ages crowd heard his set. “I did not want to see kids get manhandled and dragged out if there was going to be a pit. They said, ‘We don’t want the rock stuff because if there’s a pit, that’s not the environment we want.’ Well dude, most of the time we have a pit during the country set – so now what happens?”

“I was willing to get sued. I said, ‘Go ahead take this amount of money out of my bank account and I’m ready to get sued and not do this show.’ That’s exactly how far I took it because I knew it wasn’t right, man.”

One gets the feeling this isn’t the first time the straightforward singer has left a trail of wreckage behind him after he hauls his tour out of town. But one also gets the feeling he doesn’t care.

“It’s 2006, kids are dying for our freedom and they’re taking it away more and more every day over here and getting more stiff and anal. So… what the fuck? It ain’t getting nicer out there.”

July 2006