He's been called "The Ghost" by one writer, for the eerie vocal, musical and spiritual resemblance to his late grandfather, the legendary Hank Williams. He's been called both a genius and a legendary pain in the hole by his record company. And with both his country crew, the Damn Band, and his hard rock backers, AssJack, Hank Williams III won't settle for being called anything but an original. His sound swings wildly between traditional country troubadour balladry and anti-everything punk rage, and this summer Hank3 (as he likes to be called) will be unleashing both on the American musical landscape. His debut for Curb Records, Risin' Outlaw, will soon be followed up by another, even rootsier country recording, he says. And his first hard rock effort, This Ain't Country, should be in stores by June. He departs in May for a national tour with the Melvins and appearances at The Vans Warped Tour. Via telephone to his home in Nashville, I recently spoke with the gaunt, twenty eight year old, self-described "slacker" of anti-alt-country.
Will K. Shilling: Risin' Outlaw took two years to record? Why so
long?
HANK III: 'Cause the label fucked it all up. They assigned me a producer,
who had his way of doing things, and he just wasn't really that into it.
It was the classic example of a label trying to be creative for ya. It's
like, didn't you hire me to be creative? And now you don't wanna let me
do what you hired me to do… I would rather be on a label that's more into
both the rock and country thing… But they've got me by the balls. We've
done everything we could to get kicked off that label, but they would just
not let us go.
Risin' Outlaw sounded almost too rootsy, too "down home" for contemporary
country radio.
Well, this next album's gonna be a lot more [traditional country],
a lot more. I don't write these songs for radio. I write for whoever's
gonna buy the album. This next country album is gonna be different, you'll
definitely hear the difference.
What's the "rock" album with AssJack gonna be like?
A few of the songs have some melody to 'em, and a few of 'em don't
-- it's just full out screamin,' weird shit, get fucked up and blast it
out kind of thing…
You guys like to do punk covers in concert, right?
Oh, yeah, we do a lot of Misfit covers -- "138," "Mommy" or "We Bite."
We've done Black Flag in the past. We got this little medley where we rip
into "Whiplash" from Metallica, and then we rip into Ministry right quick,
and then we rip into Slayer. Ya know, just so people can get into the show
with something they’re familiar with, along with all our original shit.
Your autographed guitar has names like Kid Rock and Loretta Lynn
on it. Who else is on there?
Let's see, you got the Reverend Horton Heat, George Jones, Al Jourgenson,
the Jesus Lizard guys, the Melvins, David Allen Coe, Charlie Daniels, Merle
Haggard, Johnny Paycheck… It's close to about forty five different people,
folks we've worked with, met out on the road, opened up for… and they're
all great.
Critics have suggested that with your family, "talent skips a generation."
Do you think that's a cheap shot or an accurate take on your Dad, Hank
Williams Jr.?
That's gotta be someone that Junior's pissed off. To say Hank Jr. isn't
talented is just bullshit. He can instantly turn on 40,000 people at one
time. He's written so much, he's played all the instruments, he's paid
his dues. Me and my dad don't get along all that well, but I respect him
a thousand percent as a player and an entertainer… You know, it's just
as a father and with personal issues is where I have a problem with him.
Hank Williams III, with special guests Flogging
Molly, will appear at 4th&B on May 16th. For ticket info call: (619)231-4343
or (619)220-TIXS. For a chance to win free tickets, visit 4th&B's website
online at www.4thandb.com.
©2001 Will K. Shilling