You all know the legend Hank Williams and his son Hank Williams Jr. (Are you ready for some football?), but not everyone knows about Hank Jr’s son Shelton Hank Williams III. When you see pictures of him you might think your looking at his grandpa. Same goes for when you hear em sing. The one thing about III that sets him off from his grandpa and dad is his true “outlaw” way of looking at things. He signed with Curb Records as a way to help pay child support payments that were starting to pile up. The first record was “Risin’ Outlaw” that had little hints of what type of music he wanted to play, but in my opinion he was held back by the label so that they could sell em to the traditional country fan base. What was supposed to be his second album called “This Ain’t Country” was never released cause it was just that, not country. It was his metal band Assjack doing an album of much heavier music. This cause Hank III to battle with his label and started doing the music he wanted to do. What some call hellbilly as it’s vulgar, faster and just demented country music. His third album “Straight to Hell” was delayed because Wal Mart wouldn’t sell the album do to the artwork not being what they deem appropriate. It was also the first country album to carry a parental advisory label. When he plays live he does a more country set then transitions to his heavier “hellbilly” set then into a full metal set. You’ll have cowboys, punk rockers and metal heads all attend his shows and you can literally see the “changing of the guard” when the style of music changes to the metal stuff.

Now that you’ve had a brief history of what Hank III is all about I’m gonna gonna talk about his new album “Damn Right, Rebel Proud!” The album starts out with the song “The Grand Ole Opry (Ain’t So Grand)”. With a title like that you know it’s gonna be true Hank III. The music sounds like a nice traditional country song but once he starts singing he rips into the Opry. Lines like “To most people listing to this, it might sound like I’m talking shit, But if you look behind the scenes of who’s pulling the strings, well god damn it will make you sick.” He’s been trying forever to get his granddad reinstated into the Grand Ole Opry since they use his name, music and likeness to sell the Opry and country music as a whole, but he was banned from playing the Opry until he got sober then ended up passing away before he could. From the get go this album moves a long pretty quickly. “Wild & Free” and “Me & My Friends” sound like they could of been written back in the 60′s and have the real traditional country feel to em, except the lyrical content is about rasin’ hell and drinkin’ beer and whiskey. The next track “Six Pack of Beer” has fast passed gallop feel to it. This album seems a bit more personal when it comes to the content of the album cause he talks about being broke and livin down a dirt road. “I Wish I Knew” continues with this theme of heartbreak and wish to get back to the past when things were probably a bit better. It’s a bit slower and in my head I could see some folks at Incahoots doing some twirling and dippin on the dance floor.

Now even though Hank III talks a lot of shit on modern country music I think he does have some songs that are a bit early 90′s modern country twangy, but there is only a slight “vibe” of this. I think it’s just in the guitar playing and the way that “twang” is overly used in modern country just to give it that country tag. The only song on this album that has that sort of feel is “If You Can’t Help Your Own”. There is a part of the song I love the best is when it goes from chorus to verse. There is a chord change in there that makes it sound a bit dark and evil all the same time a little rock n roll. “Candidate For Suicide” is another slower track that is a down in the dumps type song that Hank III does so well. With lines like “I hope I feel better when I’m riding in that hears, and all my emotions have left me and I no longer hurt” it’s not that uplifting. Here is what Hank had to say about the song, “But just because you’re a candidate doesn’t mean you’re gonna go through with it. I’ve got no respect for anyone who tries to take the easy way out. Unless you can’t take care of yourself or stuff like that, I’m always standin’ for you to hold onto life as much as you can. There’s a huge amount of depression out there, and that’s really what the song’s about. ‘Candidate for Suicide’ is dark, but it’s not sayin’ do it; it’s just talkin’ about how it crosses your mind a good bit”.

“H8 Line” is the strangest track on the album. The way it’s recorded it completely different than anything else on the album. Kinda sounds like it was supposed to be a track on the 2nd disc of “Straight to Hell” I think this is why it’s going to be a stand out track on the album. Then comes the first single off the album, “Long Hauls & Close Calls” which a video has been made. The song is the true sound of Hank III. After such a crazy song they throw in a songs like “Stoned & Alone” that folks could slow dance to. Once you’ve calmed down from “Long Hauls” he comes right back with a song dedicated to G.G. Allin. You get 2 versions of the song which is pretty cool. You get the crazy hellbilly version followed by a slower country version. The slower version is great cause you can hear what the lyrics are and it’s funny just hearing those lyrics with that type of music. That’s one of the things I love about Hank III albums is that they get you rocking and then they bring you back down. It’s all about dynamics. “3 Shades of Black” is just Hank and his guitar. There are a few screams in the background but it’s pretty dark for such a minimal track. The final track on the album was written and played by Hank’s friend Bob Wayne. He’s a true working man who is just getting by with the way things in the states are going now. There are no drums on the song so it’s very folkish. Hank does some vocals on the song but it’s mainly just done by Wayne. It’s cool seeing a guy like Hank who has the opportunity to make money playing music help a friend out and put one of his songs on an album. Since Hank III will sell a bunch of albums Mr. Wayne will get some money since he wrote and played the song.

So there you go, a track by track “review” of the new Hank III album. If you liked “Straight To Hell” and his other albums you’ll LOVE this one. If you get a chance make sure you go and see em live as well. But you got to stay the entire time. Got to see exactly what Hank III is all about.